2006-07 WIAC Wrestling
Athletes of the Week

Week of Feb. 5 - 11
Dustin Robinson, Junior (Florence), 197 pounds of UW-Stevens Point
Robinson provided two big wins for UW-Stevens Point in their two dual matches last week against top-ranked Augsburg (Minn.) and UW-Eau Claire.  He provided the lone Pointer win against Augsburg pinning Wally O’Connor in 2:08.  In a 24-18 win over the Blugolds on Feb. 10, Robinson gave the Pointers a three-point lead with his 8-5 decision over Ted Sikowski.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Dave Vanevenhoven, Senior, 149 pounds, Appleton (Kaukauna)
UW-Oshkosh, Derek Koenig, Sophomore, 141 pounds, Cleveland (Manitowoc Lincoln)
UW-Platteville, Brad Zellner, Freshman, 174 pounds, Luxemburg (Luxemburg-Casco)
Lawrence University, Tony Norton, Sophomore, 149 pounds, Carol Stream, Ill. (Montini Catholic)

Week of Jan. 29 - Feb. 4
Tyler Wozniak, Senior (Stanley/Stanley-Boyd), 197 pounds of UW-Stevens Point
Wozniak extended his winning streak to 11 matches at 197 pounds and improved to 29-4 overall with four victories during the week.  In a 28-12 win over UW-Whitewater on Feb. 1, he earned an 11-0 major decision over Sean Pietrzyk.  At the UW-Eau Claire Invitational on Feb. 3, Wozniak claimed Most Outstanding Wrestler honors after winning the 197-pound title.  He defeated UW-Eau Claire’s Josh Holforty (12-0), UW-Oshkosh’s Justin Schmalfeldt (8-2) and Augsburg’s Wally O’Connor (8-2) enroute to the title.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Justin McAuly, Senior, 285 pounds, Clintonville
UW-La Crosse, Scott Dorn, Senior, 165 pounds, Arcadia
UW-Oshkosh, Justin Schmalfeldt, Freshman, 285 pounds, Burlington
UW-Platteville, Scott Nicholas, Freshman, 197 pounds, Rock City, Ill. (Dakota)
Lawrence University, John Budi, Senior, 174 pounds, Kimberly

Week of Jan. 22 - 28
Tim Palmer, Junior (Mankato, Minn./West), 165 pounds of UW-La Crosse
Palmer won the 165-pound title at the Pete Willson Wheaton (Ill.) Invitational.  He went 5-0 in the meet to improve to 32-8 on the season.  Palmer, seeded first, defeated Ian Rammel (Heidelberg) by major decision (15-7); Jon Forbes (MacMurray) by fall (3:28); eighth-seed Kyle Becker (UW-Parkside) by decision (3-1) and fifth-seed Joe Hoover (Manchester) by decision (6-3) to reach the championship match.  Palmer defeated second-seed Phil Kruzel (Univ. of Chicago) by decision (10-4) in the title match.  Kruzel was ranked fifth in NCAA Division III at 165 pounds, while Palmer is unranked.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Andy Johnston, Freshman, 141 pounds, St. Cloud, Minn. (Tech)
UW-Oshkosh, Justin Schmalfeldt, Freshman, 285 pounds, Burlington
UW-Stevens Point, Dennis Reckelberg, Freshman, 174 pounds, Luxemburg (Luxemburg-Casco)


Week of Jan. 15 - 21
Jesse Milks, Freshman (Rock City, Ill./Dakota), 157 pounds of UW-Platteville
Milks earned the Most Outstanding Wrestler award after leading UW-Platteville to the team championship at the North Central (Ill.) Invitational.  He won the 157-pound weight class, defeating the nation’s fifth-ranked wrestler in the final.  Milks used a late reversal to beat North Central’s Bobby Gingerich, 7-6, to win the championship.  He won his first two matches by technical fall, then beat second-seeded Chris Kelly of MacMurray (Ill.), 6-3, in the semifinals.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Lance Valiquette, Senior, 165 pounds, Washburn, Wash.
UW-La Crosse, Jake Larsen, Senior, 149 pounds, Turtle Lake
UW-Oshkosh, Adam Dorner, Senior, 174 pounds, Casco (Luxemburg-Casco)
UW-Stevens Point, Jake Calhoun, Junior, 125 pounds, Plover (SPASH)
UW-Whitewater, Austin Bautista, Freshman, 141 pounds, Des Plaines, Ill.

Week of Jan. 8 - 14
Justin McAuly, Senior (Clintonville), 285 pounds of UW-Eau Claire
McAuly won four of five matches during the week, including an exciting win by pin to help UW-Eau Claire defeat UW-Platteville, 22-18, on Jan. 10, after trailing 18-3 in a WIAC dual meet.  McAuly found himself on his back in the second period against Ryan Rozek, but managed a reversal after the two-point near fall and went on to pin Rozek in 4:35.  At the Dan Gable Open hosted by UW-Oshkosh on Jan. 13, McAuly finished third at 285 pounds.  He won his first match pinning Hafeez Quereshi of Central Michigan at 5:11.  McAuly lost in the semifinals to eventual champion and top-seeded Jordan Hein of the University of Wisconsin 2-1.  In the wrestleback bracket, McAuly defeated teammate John Berlin by pin at 1:45 to advance to the third place match where he defeated Quereshi for the second time by a 9-2 margin.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Justin Schmalfeldt, Freshman, 197 pounds, Burlington
UW-Platteville, Ryan Higgins, Sophomore, 149 pounds, Oconomowoc
UW-Stevens Point, Tyler Wozniak, Senior, 197 pounds, Stanley (Stanley-Boyd)
UW-Whitewater, Adam Moe, Senior, 174 pounds, Burlington

Week of Jan. 1 - 7
Dan Laurent, Freshman (Mishicot), 285 pounds of UW-La Crosse
Laurent helped UW-La Crosse to a 24-18 dual victory at third-ranked Luther College (Iowa) on Jan. 6.  He defeated John Miller by fall (3:48) in the deciding match at 285 pounds.  Miller entered the match ranked second in NCAA Division III.   Laurent improved to 18-4 on the season with 10 pins.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Josh Kasuboski, Sophomore, 184 pounds, Wautoma
UW-Oshkosh, Justin Schmalfeldt, Freshman, 197 pounds, Burlington

Week of Dec. 11 - 17
Dan Laurent, Freshman (Mishicot), 285 pounds of UW-La Crosse
Laurent won by fall (1:23) over UW-Stevens Point’s Mitch Szwet in UW-La Crosse’s 26-11 victory over the Pointers on Dec. 13.  Laurent is now 16-2 on the season with nine wins by fall.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Andy Miller, Sophomore, 133 pounds, Appleton (North)
UW-Stevens Point, Kyle Mueller, Junior, 141 pounds, Spring Green (River Valley)

Week of Dec. 4 - 10
Craig Bollig, Junior (Verona), 197 pounds of UW-Stevens Point
Bollig finished 4-0 on the week and led the Pointers to a 23-22 win over No. 11-ranked Buena Vista (Iowa) with a 3-2 triumph over fourth-ranked Ben Strandberg.   Bollig also earned a 7-1 win over Matt Wonderlin of Dubuque (Iowa) and a 9-1 major decision over Logan Frescoln of William Penn (Iowa).  In a 20-17 come-from-behind win over UW-Platteville on Dec. 6, Bollig secured the Pointer victory with a 5-2 decision over Scott Nicholas.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Dave Vanevenhoven, Senior, 149 pounds, Appleton (Kaukauna)
UW-La Crosse, Scott Dorn, Senior, 165 pounds, Arcadia
UW-Oshkosh, Justin Schmalfeldt, Freshman, 197 pounds/285 pounds, Burlington
UW-Platteville, Ryan Higgins, Sophomore, 149 pounds, Oconomowoc

Week of Nov. 27 - Dec. 3
Mike Schmidt, Junior (Menomonee Falls/Hartford Union), 197 pounds of UW-Whitewater
Schmidt went 5-0 on the week, including the 197-pound title at the Wisconsin Open in Kenosha on Dec. 1-2.  He began the week with a 7-6 dual meet decision over Drew Marriott of Chicago (Ill.) in a 34-9 Warhawk victory.  At the Wisconsin Open he pinned Sean Shanahan of UW-Parkside in 5:01; claimed a 4-1 decision over Daniel Heineken of Lindenwood (Mo.); secured a 11-5 win over Ryan Allen of Loras (Iowa) and defeated Matt Juncal of Lindenwood 3-2.  In the championship match, he defeated Octavius Bellamy of Triton JC, 3-1.  Bellamy had beaten Schmidt twice already this year.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Josh Chelf, Junior, 174 pounds, Irma (Tomahawk)
UW-Oshkosh, Adam Dorner, Senior, 174 pounds, Casco (Luxemburg-Casco)
UW-Platteville, Jesse Milks, Freshman, 157 pounds, Rock City, Ill. (Dakota)
UW-Stevens Point, Jake Wozniak, Sophomore, 157 pounds, Stanley (Stanley-Boyd)



Week of Nov. 13 - 19
Jason Lulloff, Senior (Kiel), 184 pounds of UW-La Crosse
Lulloff went 4-0 at the Olivet (Mich.) Duals on Nov. 18.  He defeated John Howell of Mount Union (Ohio) (17-0); Arlon Brister of Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) (15-3); Gabe Youel of North Central (Ill.) (14-5) and Daron Cruickshank of Olivet (Mich.) (pin, 3:23).  Lulloff improved to 7-1 on the season with the four victories.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Josiah Miller, Junior, 174 pounds, Lake Tomahawk (Lakeland Union)
UW-Oshkosh, Pat Detmer, Junior, 184 pounds, Lodi
UW-Platteville, Zach Chambers, Senior, 141 pounds, Mineral Point
UW-Stevens Point, Craig Bollig, Junior, 184 pounds, Verona



Week of Nov. 6 - 12
Josh Chelf, Junior (Irma/Tomahawk), 174 pounds of UW-La Crosse
Chelf won the 174-pound title at the Harold Nichols Open in Fort Dodge, Iowa.  He went 5-0, including three wins over NCAA Division I opponents.  Chelf won by major decision (11-0) over Nuezil of Wartburg (Iowa) in his opening match before a major decision victory (10-0) over Northern Iowa's Andy O'Laughlin. He then won by fall (3:44) over Chris Moran of South Dakota State and by decision (7-2) over Grant Turner of Iowa State in the semifinals.  Chelf then defeated two-time NCAA Division II champion J.D. Naig of Nebraska-Omaha by decision (7-3) in the title match.  Naig was ranked No. 1 at 174-pounds this year in Division II.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Justin McAuly, Senior, 197 pounds, Clintonville
UW-Oshkosh, Eli Felts, Sophomore, 165 pounds, Appleton (East)
UW-Platteville, Ryan Higgins, Sophomore, 149 pounds, Oconomowoc
UW-Stevens Point, Dennis Reckelberg, Freshman, 174 pounds, Luxemburg (Luxemberg-Casco)

Back to the WIAC home page