Blugold Wrestling Takes Fourth Place at Budd Whitehill Duals

Posted: Jan 14, 2017

By: Jake Krier, UWEC Sports Information

WILLIAMSPORT, Penn. (blugolds.com) - After an impressive showing in day one of the Budd Whitehill Duals, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire wrestling team ran into a bit more of a gauntlet on Saturday, dropping a pair of duals to conclude their trip to Pennsylvania. First, No. 25-ranked York College defeated the Blugolds 23-9, and then previously-ranked and host Lycoming College topped them 25-17 in the third place match.

Against York, the Blugolds were only able to win three of the ten matches. Zackary Sirny (Sr.-Wild Rose, WI) got things off to a good start, defeating Dylan Nuttall 5-3. At 141-pounds, Jordan Meyer (Fr.-Evansville, WI) earned an 8-5 decision over 2016 All-American Gregory Warner. Meyer used an early throw to Warner's back to lead to the decision victory. Finally, Justin Karkula (Sr.-Oshkosh, WI/West) topped Stefanos Karpotinis at heavyweight.

In the final match-up of the day and tournament, the Blugolds put themselves in a better position to win, still in contention with two matches to go. Sirny scored a 12-2 major decision to seal his All-Tournament Team selection. He earned 25 team points in five matches and did not allow a single offensive point all weekend. Cody Vogel (Fr.-Elkhorn, WI/East Troy) matched Sirny's major with one of his own to put Eau Claire up 8-0 to start the match. Lycoming then won five straight matches, two of those being first period pins, to widen the gap to 21-8.

Grant Balconi (Fr.-Muskego, WI) was victorious at 184-pounds to keep the Blugolds alive, but a win for the Lycoming Warriors at 197 secured the win over Eau Claire. To end the trip on a high note, Karkula earned his fourth win and second pin of the weekend in the final match.

The Blugold wrestlers will return to the Midwest and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) action on Thursday night, when they travel to Stevens Point for a conference dual.

Follow all the action on Blugold Game Day.

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Day 2 Results

Match #1 Semifinal: York (PA) defeated Wisconsin-Eau Claire 23-9

125 - Zackary Sirny (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) over Dylan Nuttall (York (PA)) Dec 5-3

133 - Ryan Flynn (York (PA)) over Cody Vogel (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) Dec 7-2

141 - Jordan Meyer (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) over Gregory Warner (York (PA)) Dec 8-5

149 - Jeffery Walker (York (PA)) over Carter Focht (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) Dec 10-4

157 - Chad Wickard (York (PA)) over Connor Hanson (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) Dec 9-3

165 - Tyler Rhoads (York (PA)) over Toby Mosley (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) Dec 8-4

174 - Joseph Sindoni (York (PA)) over Tyler Vogt (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) Dec 6-4

184 - Jackson Drum (York (PA)) over Grant Balconi (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) Fall 0:55