MEQUON - The UW-Milwaukee Panthers brought eight wrestlers to the Concordia Open on Saturday in Koy Kosek's first event as head coach of the team. Five of the wrestlers won at least one match, and four of them recorded a pin.
Darin Kwilinski (Sr, 174) began the tournament by defeating the #9 seed Corey Zuberbier (Jr, 174) of UW-Platteville in a 5-3 overtime match. He then won by injury default in a match he was winning to reach the quarterfinals and face #1 seed Corey VanGroll (Jr, 174) of UW-Parkside, where he lost a close 5-3 battle. Following that, Kwilinski lost another tight match to #3 seed Ryan Woods (Fr, 174), also of UW-Parkside, by a score of 9-6. "They were both very winnable matches," noted Coach Kosek.
Nick Tadeo (Jr, 149) and Tom Hansen (So, 141) also went 2-2 at the tournament, with Tadeo scoring two pins and Hansen netting one.
"This is the best I've seen us wrestle in years," offered Tadeo. "The team rallied around each other and put forth an immense amount of effort. I believe if we keep learning from our mistakes, and improving our technique from tourney to tourney as we did this past week, we will be one of the best NCWA teams in the nation by the end of the year."
Tony Franciosi (Jr, 174) won his first match of the season, and Steve Baradic (Fr, 285) also picked up a win. Both wrestlers won by fall.
Alex Hughes (Fr, 125), Omar Reynoso (Jr, 149), and Coady Schiltz (Fr, 157) all went 0-2.
"Last week at the UW-Stevens Point Open, this team won four matches, and three of those were in the freshmen division. This week, we won eight matches, and there was no freshmen division. So, yeah, I'd say we improved. I'd say the adjustments we made this week worked, by and large," was Coach Koy Kosek's assessment.
"I told the guys that, with the changes we made this week, they would all have a chance to win a match here today, and I felt they all did," continued Kosek. "A few of the matches we lost were close ones that we gave away at the end of a period, so my team is going to have a learning experience about how to finish periods strong in the near future.
"Overall, the biggest thing I want to emphasize is that I'm extremely proud of the effort and class that the Milwaukee Panther wrestling program displayed on Saturday. They were very supportive of each other and even the guys who went 0-2 told me they had fun.
"If the rest of the season goes like last week did, we're going to have a lot of fun in March. There's a long road ahead of us."
The tournament drew 330 athletes, primarily from NCAA college wrestling programs with a few NAIA teams, NCWA teams, and unattached wrestlers as well.
125 - Alex Hughes did not place and scored -3.50 NCWA rankings points.
Jacob Santiago (Elmhurst) won by decision over Alex Hughes (UW-Milwaukee), 7-1
Jason Ray (Manchester) won by decision over Alex Hughes (UW-Milwaukee), 7-0
141 - Tom Hansen did not place and scored +8.70 NCWA rankings points.
Justin Michaels (Wabash) won by pin over Tom Hansen (UW-Milwaukee), Pin 1:30
Tom Hansen (UW-Milwaukee) won by default over David Becker (UW-Whitewater), Def
Tom Hansen (UW-Milwaukee) won by pin over Andrew Roeser (North Central), Pin 1:00
Jamie DeVine (North Central) won by pin over Tom Hansen (UW-Milwaukee), Pin 1:07
149 - Nick Tadeo did not place and scored +8.70 NCWA rankings points.
Ben Kreuzer (UW-Parkside) won by major decision over Nick Tadeo (UW-Milwaukee), 18-7
Nick Tadeo (UW-Milwaukee) won by pin over Enkhbayar Myagmarjau (Wright), Pin 1:00
Nick Tadeo (UW-Milwaukee) won by pin over Steve Odren (Muskegon CC), 3:10
Steve Sanchez (MSOE) won by decision over Nick Tadeo (UW-Milwaukee), 9-6
149 - Omar Reynoso did not place and scored -3.50 NCWA rankings points.
Steve Sanchez (MSOE) won by technical fall over Omar Reynoso (UW-Milwaukee), TF 5:46, 16-0
Eddie Williams (Triton) won by decision over Omar Reynoso (UW-Milwaukee), 7-1
157 - Coady Schiltz did not place and scored -3.50 NCWA rankings points.
Jesse Milks (UW-Platteville) won by pin over Coady Schiltz (UW-Milwaukee), Pin 2:00
Andrew Brew (North Central) won by decision over Coady Schiltz (UW-Milwaukee), 6-1
174 - Darin Kwilinski did not place and scored +7.60 NCWA rankings points.
Darin Kwilinski (UW-Milwaukee) won by decision over Cory Zuberbier (UW-Platteville), 5-3
Darin Kwilinski (UW-Milwaukee) won by default over BJ Greenman (Case Western)
Corey VanGroll (UW-Parkside) won by decision over Darin Kwilinski (UW-Milwaukee), 5-3
Ryan Woods (UW-Parkside) won by decision over Darin Kwilinski (UW-Milwaukee), 9-6
174 - Tony Franciosi did not place and scored +2.60 NCWA rankings points.
Tony Franciosi (UW-Milwaukee) won by pin over Ryan Baird (MSOE), Pin 3:20
Evan Brown (Dubuque) won by pin over Tony Franciosi (UW-Milwaukee), Pin 0:54
Frank Savegnago (Elmhurst) won by pin over Tony Franciosi (UW-Milwaukee), Pin 2:14
285 - Steve Baradic did not place and scored +2.60 NCWA rankings points.
Steve Wozniak (UW-Stevens Point) won by pin over Steve Baradic (UW-Milwaukee), Pin 3:00
Steve Baradic (UW-Milwaukee) won by pin over Ben Lamphire (Northland Baptist), Pin 3:20
Nate Vulgamott (Augustana) won by decision over Steve Baradic (UW-Milwaukee), 6-4
More Information...