The UW-Platteville wrestling team went 2-2 to start their season at the Lakeland Duals on Nov. 10 in Sheboygan.

The Pioneers lost to host Lakeland College 23-17 and to Coe College 34-7, but beat nationally-ranked St. John’s twice 23-21and 43-4.

“Everyone wrestled tough, but we have a really young team and a lot to improve on,” sophomore Jesse Milks said.

Half the team that started at Lakeland were freshmen.

Freshman 141-pound Vinny Alber went 4-0 on the day, while teammates Dillon Pontnack at 149 pounds, Milks at 157 pounds, Brad Zellner at 184 pounds and Paul Wochinski at 285 pounds lost one match each, going 3-1 on the day.

“We did well, but our first match really showed some of our inexperience,” Chris Walter, head coach, said.

UW-P wrestlers participated in two tournaments on Nov. 10. The starters traveled to Sheboygan, while the non-starting wrestlers traveled to Dubuque for the Loras College Open.

The Loras Open in Dubuque was mostly a NCAA Division I tournament, Milks said.

“Even though we wrestled against some tough schools, like the University of Northern Iowa, the team did fairly well,” Ryan Higgins, a junior 149-pounder, said.

“I am really happy with how I wrestled,” Higgins said. “I moved around a lot, I felt good.”

The team battled hard and did well against highly ranked national teams, Walter said. Two out of the nine wrestlers that attended the Loras Open placed. Junior 133-pound Jeff Gale
took third and Higgins took fourth.

“One of our strengths would have to be that our middle weights are really good right now, which helps other wrestlers improve,” Higgins said. “We all work together to improve.”

There are some mistakes to correct from this weekend, Walter said. The most important days are practices on the days between tournaments.

“We can always do better, but it was a good first step for a lot of the guys,” Milks said. “For many of them, it was their first time wrestling at the college level.”

The Pioneers begin WIAC competition at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 15, in the Williams Fieldhouse against the UW-Oshkosh Titans.