The UW-Platteville Pioneer wrestling team competed in the WIAC conference championships on Feb. 22 and came away with sixth place. The Pioneers had a total of 61 points in the tournament. All UW system schools participated as well as Lawrence University.

“Coming into this tournament we needed to fine tune things on top and bottom,” head coach Chris Walter said. “We’ve had some control issues which we’ve addressed as well. Our guys came out to compete and place high. We had a few that did and a few that didn’t.”

Ranked third nationally, junior Jesse Milks won his second straight WIAC conference for his weight division. Milks also advanced to the NCAA III nationals for a third consecutive year and finished the regular season with an 18-1 record.

“Personally, this season has been very difficult for me,” Milks said. “I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries and illnesses this year which has been something I haven’t had to deal with in the past.”

Milks, who earned All-American honors in 2008, will participate at nationals March 6-7 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“I’m going to stick with my regular workout schedule and try to stay as healthy as I can for nationals,” Milks said.

Senior Ryan Higgins, who won the past three years in his weight division at the WIAC championships, lost in the semifinals this year. Higgins finishes his tenure with 2007 All-American honors, three-time national qualifier and a 2008 conference champion.

“Every year we always try to do our best,” Higgins said. “We needed to be competitive and perform at our peak ability for this tournament.”

Freshman Matt Scott took fourth place in his weight division and senior Carsten Carlsen placed fifth in his weight division.

Now that the regular season has came to a close the Pioneers can look back and realize through all the side-tracks, they had a positive season.

“It’s definitely been a weird year with all the injuries we’ve had,” Walter said. “Overall we’ve had a positive season and a lot of guys have come very far since the beginning of the season.”