MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire wrestling team strung together one of its best finishes in its eighth place performance at the Matman Invitational at Cornell College (Iowa) today.
Luther College won the event overall, with a total of 134.5 points. Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) and Wartburg College (Minn.) rounded out the top three. Fellow WIAC teams UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh finished sixth and seventh respectively.
The Blugolds had two wrestlers place in the event.
The Blugolds' best finish of the event was from freshman Nathaniel Behnke (Fr.- Bruce, Wis.), who finished first in the 141-pound division. He won the first place match by a 2-0 decision over Beau Westpfahl of Coe College
Behnke has been the Blugolds best wrestler as of late. He was named the athlete of the week for the week of January 7-13. Since then, he has continued to outperform his opponents, including his first place finish in tonight's event.
In the 184-pound division, Mat Rieckhoff (Jr.-Wausau, Wis./D.C. Everest) of the Blugolds finished fifth. He won the fifth place match over Coe College's Scott King by a medical forfeit.
The Blugolds' next event will be next Friday when they travel to Whitewater to face 13th-ranked UW-Whitewater in their fifth and final conference dual of the season. The event will be held at Whitewater's Williams Center at 7 p.m.
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