By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
Platteville, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling team finished third while a pair of Warhawks claimed individual titles at the 2024 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wrestling Championship hosted by UW-Platteville Saturday.
Dominik Mallinder defended his 2023 title at 133 pounds by defeating the same opponent he faced a year ago. Ethan Pogorzelski secured the 141-pound crown after battling his teammate in the final. The Warhawks advanced six wrestlers to title bouts Saturday.
Mallinder received a pair of byes to open his day in the semifinal against UW-Eau Claire’s Travis Moelter. He needed just over three minutes (3:18) to register the win by technical fall, 22-3, to punch his ticket to the final. In the championship, Mallinder topped UWEC’s Tyler Fleetwood by 9-3 decision to claim a second consecutive WIAC title at 133 pounds.
Pogorzelski and Justin Fortugno each won their first two matches of the day at 141 pounds to set up an all-Warhawk title bout. Fortugno opened his day with a fall over UW-Stevens Point’s Mohammed Abbosov in 2:46. He defeated Kaiden Schrandt (UW-La Crosse) by 4-1 decision to claim his spot in the final. Pogorzelski went through Bo Niewiadomski (UWEC – 7-4 decision) and Cooper Peterson (UWSP – 6-5 decision) to advance to the final. The pair of Warhawks battled it out taking the bout into extra time with Porgorzelski taking the crown in sudden victory 4-1.
Scott Busse made his way to the championship at 149 pounds. After receiving a first round bye, Busse defeated Riese Thornberry (UWSP) by 7-2 decision. He punched his ticket to the final after Zach Sato of UWEC was disqualified in the semifinal but was forced to forfeit the title bout to finish as the runner-up.
Jermaine Butler, UW-Whitewater’s representative on the All-Sportsmanship Team this season, went 2-1 on the day to finish as the WIAC runner-up at 157 pounds. Following a first round bye, Butler won by major decision over UWL’s Cooper Larson. He topped David Cushman in sudden victory in the semifinal to advance to the championship. In the title bout, Butler fell to undefeated Nolan Hertel of UW-La Crosse by 5-0 decision to claim second.
Ryan Riser added a third runner-up finish for UWW in the 2024 championship. Riser received a first round bye at 174 pounds before taking down Bryce Buchanan (UWSP) by major decision 11-0. In the semifinal, Riser defeated Eddie Simes (UWL) in sudden victory 4-1. Riser fell to UW-Eau Claire’s Jared Stricker by major decision in the title bout.
At 125 pounds, Jalen Dunson advanced to the semifinal before working his way back to a third-place finish. Dunson opened his day with a technical fall (6:47, 22-6) win over Thomas Giere of UWL. He dropped the semifinal bout to Luca Paladino of UWSP by 6-4 decision. Dunson secured his spot in the third-place match with a major decision victory of Platteville’s Chris Karbash, 21-7. He took bronze with a 6-3 decision over UWL’s Quintin Wolbert.
Aden Byal battled back to finish third after dropping his first match of the day at 157 pounds. Byal fell to Colton Sund of UWEC by 4-3 decision in the quarterfinal but worked his way back with a technical fall victory (4:04, 16-1) over Joey Ahern (UWSP) and a major decision (14-3) over UWP’s David Cushman. In the third-place bout, Byal won in sudden victory, 11-8, over UWL’s Cooper Larson.
John Fortugno (133 pounds), Jalin Conner (149 pounds) and Cadin Koeppel (285 pounds) were fourth in their respective weight classes. Warhawks finishing in fifth place included Caden Kirchner (165) and Gavin Kohel (184). Jordan Lewis added sixth-place points to the team total for his finish at 197 pounds.
UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse scored 161.5 to share the WIAC team title with the Warhawks totaling 121 points as a squad. UW-Stevens Point finished fourth (70.5) followed by UW-Platteville (29.5) and UW-Oshkosh (13).
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