The Pioneer wrestling team looks to hit the mats hard to start the 2008-09 season. UW-Platteville, coming off of a 5-6 season last year in dual competition, including 2-4 in the WIAC conference, will look to a strong group of sophomore and junior returners to pace this year’s squad. Team wrestleoffs are scheduled for 3 p.m. Nov. 1  with a majority of the team beginning their season two weeks later at the Knox College Duals and Tournament, in Galesburg, Ill.

Photograph by Jodi Krautkramer
Seniors Nick Ossi and Mike Nell wrestle against each other at wrestling practice. The Pioneers have wrestleoffs Nov. 1.

The top returning Pioneers this season will be junior and  All-American, Jesse Milks. The starter at 157 pounds from Rock City, Ill., will lead a young but talented UW-P team during this season. After finishing a solid sixth last season at the national tournament, Milks will look to build on that experience in what he hopes to be another successful campaign.

“My goal for this season is to win the national title,” Milks said, “This summer I worked out a lot in Chicago and also had a weightlifting program I worked on at home to get ready for this season.”

Milks will have a tall order to complete his goal as the top-two wrestlers in his class from last season, including returning national champion Jacob Wernimont of Wartburg College, who defeated Milks last year in the national semifinals.
“If I want to be successful, I have to stay focused and work hard on situations that last year I wasn’t as good at if I want to win this season,” Milks said.
The Pioneers also look to returning letterwinners to provide leadership to a young squad early in the season. Seniors Carsten Carlsen, Matt McGill and Jeff Gale will be called upon to step up in competition and lead. Carlsen at 174 pounds and McGill at 165 pounds will be especially important members of the lineup seeing as they follow Milks in the lineup. The team will need them to help string together several match victories to help earn dual victories.
Other returners to be counted on are junior Brad Zellner at 184 pounds and sophomores Andrew Skog at 125 and Cody Weber at 285 pounds. They need to use the experience they gained last season to help UW-P be competitive in the deep and talented WIAC conference.  Weber will not be joining the team until he is done with football season, meaning someone else will have to be called to wrestle at 285.
“A key for this year is to carry things over from the practice room,” 12th-year head coach Chris Walter said. “We have been wrestling against the same guys for the past month or so, so it will be important to use that same intensity in competition against other schools.”

Having to fill in many spots with underclassmen may be a tall order but the lineup will shake up much more clearly after the annual wrestleoffs.

“Our freshman have been working very well, and our transfers bring experience as well, but we will have to wait and see what they do in competition,” Walter said.

The team will also have to carry on without returning senior and three-time national qualifier Ryan Higgins who is suspended for the first semester but may be eligible to return for the second semester of the season. This puts even more pressure on the younger members of the team who will need to gain experience quickly if the Pioneers hope to improve on last year’s finish in the WIAC.

“We will be leaning on our returners this year,” Walter said, “The sophomores and juniors have a year under their belts and it’s time for them to take the next step.”