UW-Whitewater captures Midwest title, sends eight to NCAA Championship

ELMHURST, Ill. — Wisconsin-Whitewater will be represented by eight wrestlers — the school’s largest contingent ever to qualify for a national championship — at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship on March 15-16 after capturing the team title at the Midwest Regional on Saturday. 

Warhawks head coach Tim Fader was named Midwest Region Coach of the Year.

Wrestlers advanced to the national tournament based on their finish at the regional, one of six qualifying regionals. The top three in each weight class advanced to make a field of 180 total wrestlers.

The Warhawks had four weight class champions beginning with Elroy Perkin winning at 149. He opened with an 8-0 win against Brady Schrupp of La Crosse, followed with a 12-4 victory against Joseph Ruettiger of Chicago and edged Gage Pederson of Olivet 9-8 in the semifinal. Perkin, the fourth seed, defeated third seed Ben Strobel of UW-Stevens Point 13-7 in the title bout.

Cedric Gibson won all three of his matches to capture the 165 pound class. After a first-round bye, Gibson topped Josh Sampson of Wabash 10-3, and then won 8-3 versus James Myers of Olivet to move into the championship. He beat Jordan Schulte of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 3-1 in the final match.

Shane Siefert had a first round-bye at 197. He beat Mario Palmissano of Chicago 14-12 to advance to the semifinals, and then won 6-2 against Dustin Wozniak of UW-Stevens Point. In the final match, Siefert defeated Darren Faber of Wheaton (Ill.) 4-2.

Anthony Edgren earned the 285 class title, winning four times, with two pins. Edgren, the number two seed, pinned Abraham Hall of Wabash in 1:23 in the first round, squeaked by Mitchell Steed of Wheaton 1-0 in the second and beat Adam Robinson of Alma 6-1 in round three. Edgren came through with a pin, in 1:29, of William Mayer of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the class title match.

Roland Dunlap had a bye, and then won 10-6 and 3-2 to advance to the championship match at 184 pounds. Dunlap was defeated 8-3 by Josef Rau of Elmhurst in the title match. It was the first loss of the season for Dunlap, now 11-1.

Three Warhawks placed third. That group included Grant Sutter at 133, Jake Fredrickson at 141 and Cade Sarbacker at 157 pounds.