The UW-Eau Claire wrestling team kicked off their season at the Yellowjacket Open in Rochester, Minnesota this past Saturday. The open consisted of 14 teams from across the Division III and Community College levels.

It was a good day for the Blugolds as nine wrestlers were place winners in the tournament, these included second-year Ian Pepple who won the 197-pound weight class division and first-year Zak McPhee who won the 184-pound weight class. 

Pepple went undefeated in the afternoon, winning all five of his matches with four coming via fall. Fall is when a wrestler holds their opponent’s shoulders to a mat for a given time. His first-place victory also came via a fall.  

McPhee took part in his first collegiate meet on Saturday and won all four of his matches on Saturday in the 184-pound weight class with three of his victories coming via fall.

The opening meet of the season served as a good introduction for the first and second-year wrestlers on the team and head coach Tim Fader was pleased with how his wrestlers performed on Saturday. 

“It was evident to me that they were trying to be aggressive and score as many points as they can,” Fader said. “They didn’t worry about who their opponent was and what their opponent has done previously.” 

Saturday’s meet was a meet that was exclusively composed of first and second-year wrestlers on the team to get their first college meet under their belt and get them some necessary experience according to Faber. 

Coming into the season, the Blugolds were positioned in the national preseason poll as the fourth-ranked team in all of Division III. They also have a returning reigning national champion in the 174-pound weight class in fourth-year Jared Stricker. 

According to Fader and the team, preseason rankings like this take a backseat to the work that is needed to prove their ranking. The team is willing to put in the work to prove themselves this season. 

“It’s awesome for our program to get recognized and the rankings are for the promotion of our sport,” Fader said. “But that’s all they’re worth, and I don’t think our ranking changes the expectations that we need to keep working hard to show that we’re a force to be reckoned with.”

Other noteworthy performances from Saturday included second-year Landon Church who finished third in the 157-pound weight class and second-year Travis Moelter, who finished fourth in the 133-pound weight class. 

McPhee for his efforts on Saturday still believes there are a lot of things to improve upon going forward. 

“I think it’s focusing on improving on the little things and reviewing our techniques and forms that we use during a match,” McPhee said. “For me personally, it’s upping the physicality and aggression along with finishing some shots during the match.” 

Overall, McPhee said the team is very pleased with its Saturday efforts and looks to improve upon its performances going forward. 

“It was a good first tournament for us and a lot of the guys are very excited for this upcoming tournament,” McPhee said. 

The Blugolds will travel to the Luther Open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9 in Decorah, Iowa. 

Mikalofsky can be reached at [email protected].