After starting the season at Rochester Community and Technical College Yellowjacket Open, the Blugold wrestling team looked to build upon its individual success as they traveled to UW-Stevens Point for the Pointer Open.

Junior Nathaniel Behnke said despite the tough competition in the early season tournament, the UW-Eau Claire wrestlers were able to take home two third place finishes and a second place finish in Stevens Point on Saturday.

Behnke led the Blugolds with his second-place finish at 141 pounds. After a bye in the first round, Behnke beat Robert Uttecht (UW-Parkside), Holden Thompson (Wheaton) and Trevor Spears (UW-Stevens Point) before dropping his match to Luke Rowh (UW-Madison) in the championship match.

During the championship match Nathaniel Behnke broke his hand in two places after his hand came down onto the mat wrong.

The Blugolds top wrestler has remained positive.

“The injury will set me back about six weeks,” he said. “Despite this I will continue to work and hope for a strong recovery.”

After losing in the first round, sophomore Josh Cormican battled back and notched five straight wins to claim third place at 197 pounds.

Sophomore Justin Karkula taking third at 285 pounds by tallying a 5-1 record on the day.  

Behnke said that he felt his team as a whole performed great despite injuries and tough competition.

“I think overall we did great despite getting a little banged up,” Behnke said. “We had three people place at a very hard tournament, but as always, there are things we can improve upon from the weekend.

The Blugolds will next be in action Thursday, November 13 as they travel to Northfield, Minn., to take on St. Olaf. The first match is slated for 7 p.m.