WILLIAMSPORT, Penn. (Blugolds.com) – The No. 21 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire wrestling team took third place at the Budd Whitehill Duals (hosted by Lycoming College) after falling to No. 16 Messiah and defeating No. 25 Washington & Lee.
In Saturday's semifinal against Messiah, the Blugolds fell by a score of 25-17.
Tyler Demo (So. – Loves Park, IL/Belvidere North) tallied a win for Eau Claire at 141, defeating Dalton Daugherty with a 12-7 decision. Jake Drexler (So. - Stratford) followed with a 13-4 major decision win over Nick Barnhart at 149 while Evan Lawrence (Jr. - Hugo, MN/Mahtomedi) also tallied a major decision, defeating Brian Shermeyer 8-0 at 174.
James Huntley (Jr. – Woodbury, MN/Stillwater) and Noah Carter (So. – Rochester, MN/Mayo) earned wins at 197 and 285 as Huntley defeated Joe Embleton 12-5 and Carter downed Samuel Blevins 4-0.
In the third place match against Washington & Lee, Drexler tallied his fifth win of the tournament, getting the fall over Alex Winant (2:36) while Tristan Massie (Fr. – Hillsdale, WI/Barron), Chase Schmidt (Jr. – Rice Lake) and Lawrence followed with pins of their own at 157, 165 and 174, respectively. Massie pinned Joe Salerno at 3:31 while Schmidt tallied his pin at 0:49 over Nicholas Konovalchik. Lawrence earned his fifth victory of the tournament with a fall at 2:05.
The final Eau Claire win came at 197 as Huntley defeated Brad Basham in a 7-6 decision to give the Blugolds a 27-21 victory and lock up third place.
Both Drexler and Huntley were named to the All-Tournament Team. Drexler finished the tournament 5-0 with two pins while Huntley was 4-0 and also recorded two pins.
The Blugolds (10-3) will return to conference action Tuesday, January 21st as they travel to Whitewater to take on the No. 19 Warhawks.