Coming into the second day the Division III National Championships on March 8, UW-Platteville sophomore wrestler Jesse Milks had high hopes of possibly becoming a national champion. Unfortunately for him those dreams were shattered and he suffered a disappointing three losses on the day to finish sixth in the nation. While he did attain All-American status, which was his goal for the entire season, being so close to a national championship and falling short was not what he had in mind.

Milks - Semifinal Round

Milks started the day with a tall order to climb, facing No. 1-ranked Aaron Wernimont from Wartburg College. Wernimont lived up to his No. 1-ranking, controlling the match from the opening whistle. He was able to score early on a takedown only 17 seconds into the match. Milks escaped and after an attempted shot Wernimont used a re-shot to score again with only 40 seconds remaining in the first period.

The second period began with a 4-1 score and Wernimont took the down position and escaped quickly. The score was 5-1 at the end of the period. At the beginning of the third period, Milks scored a quick escape and immediately went on the offensive, attempting a shot which was close to scoring points before the wrestlers were carried out of the circle. Wernimont scored another takedown with only 45 seconds remaining to push the score to 7-2. Milks again scored when Wernimont was called for stalling with 11 seconds remaining. With riding time factored in Wernimont advanced to the national championship match by the final of 8-3.

“Jesse wrestled a fair match,” assistant coach Keith Albert said, “He could have wrestled better. We can never be satisfied.”

“Against him, I came out flat. He was quick on his feet and when I was on the bottom I worked to get out but he was just tough to score on,” Milks said.

Milks - Wrestleback Semifinals

With the loss Milks went into the wrestle back round and where he faced Ryan Herwig of Delaware Valley College, an opponent he defeated 9-4 on March 7. Herwig came out and established control early, taking Milks down three times in the first period and all though he was able to escape twice, the period ended with the score at 6-2.

In the second period, Herwig escaped and scored another quick takedown to run the score up to 9-2 with under a minute left in the second. Milks was able to escape once again but right before the end of the period, Herwig scored another takedown to make the score 11-3.

In the third, Milks started from the down position where he escaped but was again taken down with time running out in the match and score at 13-4 time was running. He was able to get another point because Herwig was called for stalling and Milks followed this up by scoring a takedown to make the score 13-7. That was the final margin as Milks lost another disappointing match.

“He [Herwig] was a different wrestler. Much more aggressive, more hungry,” Albert said.

“It was tough to come back, it was a short time between matches and he wrestled really well,” Milks said.

Milks - for Fifth Place

At that point Milks was left to wrestle in the fifth place match against Takafumi Hashimoto of New York University. This match was a battle as the entire first period went by with neither wrestler scoring a point.

Milks took the down position to begin the second and quickly escaped to take the first lead. Hashimoto scored a takedown soon thereafter and the wrestlers were pushed out of the circle. Milks scored an escape to make the score 2-2 at the end of the second period. In the third, Hashimoto scored an escape to begin the period, and followed that up with a takedown.

Milks scored an escape with only 25 seconds remaining in the match and then was on the hunt for a takedown which would have tied the score. Milks attempted a shot and could not score. With only two seconds remaining it was too little, too late, and Milks finished in sixth place in the nation.

“The end was a close call, I could have wrestled better so it wouldn’t have been that close,” Milks said.

“That, I thought, was Jesse’s best match of the tournament,” Albert said. “He just didn’t get a couple of calls.”

The end result was not what Milks had in mind since they came into the day thinking that he could possibly win the national title. He finished the season with a 33-8 record and with two seasons remaining, he could contend for a national title for the next two seasons as well.

The Pioneer wrestling team returns nearly all its members next year, losing only seniors Kyle Luedtke and Mike Jackowski. They also get back several wrestlers who battled injuries during this season, including sophomore Dillon Pontnack and senior Jeff Gale. They also have a good contingent of seniors including Ryan Higgins, Matt McGill, Nick Ossi, Corey Zuberbier and Carsten Carlsen.

“I’m really hoping for a big year from Carsten Carlsen,” Albert said. “He ended the year on a sour note and I hope he works hard to get back for next year.”

“Next year we need to take the next step, ” McGill said. “We think that we can contend with the best teams in the conference.”