On Dec. 7, UW-Eau Claire’s wrestling team won 25-14 against UW-Whitewater at the McPhee Strength and Performance Center.
UW-Eau Claire had fallen behind to 0-14 for the first three matches in the meet. But after a match of Zach Sato against UW-Whitewater wrestler Scott Busse, UW-Eau Claire had five straight wins putting them in the lead 25-14.
The two matches that set UW-Eau Claire ahead of UW-Whitewater were when wrestlers Jared Stricker and Niall Schoenfelder pinned their opponents.
The meet also held a tuition giveaway, with the pot starting at $250 and adding one dollar for every UW-Eau Claire student in attendance. The total came to $379 and was won by student Libby Huber.
Tristan Massie, fourth-year wrestler, said one thing the team did well was focus on scoring points rather than the points already on the board.
“We just went out there to score points, I don’t think we really cared too much about winning or losing,” Massie said. “We just went out there and focused on doing our best.”
First-year wrestler Cole Matulenko said the team did a good job of going out and scoring points.
“Especially in the upper weights, going out there and scoring more points, really focusing on the points scored as opposed to turning guys right away,” Matulenko said. “Just scoring points and having fun.”
Head coach Tim Fader said the team could work on continuing to keep a fight from start to finish.
“Those first five weight classes we had kind of a slow start and hesitant,” Fader said. “I think we got to get back to attacking and believing in the pace we can set out there. I think that’s something we will continue to work on and see improvements on.”
Matulenko said the team could improve on getting up from the bottom.
“I think just getting up from bottom,” Matulenko said. “ Getting up from bottom instead of just staying down, that’s something we got to work on, just popping up to our feet right after the whistle.”
Massie said the team can improve on their offense.
“We still want to keep being on the offensive,” Massie said. “Not getting down when we get down. I think we did a good job of rebounding through losing the first few weights.”
Fader said that he enjoyed all the fans in the bleachers, and mentioned that when he started they only needed one set of bleachers, but at this match, it was a full house with multiple UW-Eau Claire varsity sports teams in attendance.
“There was a time not too long ago when we would only pull one little set of bleachers out because that would be the crowd,” Fader said. “The support from all the teams that were here, it was awesome to have out there. It creates a better environment for our guys to wrestle in.”
The wrestlers’ next home match will be on Feb. 3. More information about their schedule can be found at Blugold Athletics.
Boggess can be reached at [email protected].
