Pioneer junior 133-pounder Jeff Gale talks to coach Keith Albert after a recent practice as the team prepares for the WIAC meet on Feb. 24 hosted by Lawrence University.

Consistency was key during a WIAC dual meet between UW-Whitewater and UW-Platteville. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, the Warhawks were consistent, and the Pioneers suffered a disappointing 30-8 loss. Platteville was resting two top starters and UW-W took advantage of this en route to a big home win.

The Pioneers were wrestling without top starters Vinny Alber and Ryan Higgins, who were both resting injuries as Whitewater took advantage winning the first four matches of the dual meet. From there the Pioneers tried to inch back into the meet thanks to wins from Jesse Milks at 157 pounds and Corey Zuberbier at 174 pounds but it was not enough as the Warhawks finished out the dual meet with three more victories.

The matchup was rough from the start with the first match that UW-W’s Max Oldenburg won by a major decision over Andrew Skog by the final of 10-2. Kyle Wachholder narrowly defeated Spencer Peterson 6-1, in a closely contested match.

UW-W’s Austin Bautista, ranked No. 7 in the country at 141 pounds, was taken to the limit by UW-P’s Jeff Gale before finally winning 10-6. Gale, who was filling in for the injured Alber, performed admirably, as did Matt McGill who was pinned in the second period by the Warhawks Matt Schuck. McGill, who was filling in for Higgins at 149 pounds, wrestled hard but was overcome by an experienced Schuck.

Milks got UW-P on the board with a 20-6 major decision over Gary Reid of UW-W. Following that, Pat Nagel, ranked No. 8 in the nation, edged Carsten Carlsen by the score of 11-3. The Pioneers added to their score one last time with Corey Zuberbier winning at 174 pounds with a 15-2 major decision over the Warhawks Kyle Geary.

From there UW-W was able to show why they were the No. 11-ranked team in the country as David Casper edged Brad Zellner by the score of 5-1 followed by Jason Johnson’s 9-4 victory of Michael Jackowski increased the difference in the matchup to 26-8.

The final match of the night was between UW-P’s Cody Weber and Sean Evans of UW-W. Evans scored a major decision over the freshman Weber and finished the meet with a 30-8 margin. The victory was a setback for the Pioneers who had only two weeks earlier scored their biggest dual meet win of the season over Loras College.

For UW-P, it’s time to look forward to the post-season and the WIAC tournament which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 24 in Appleton hosted by Lawrence University. For the Pioneers it will be a time to qualify for Nationals which will be held March 7 and 8 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.