Wrestling performs well at UW-Stevens Point Open

STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Mitchell Slatton finished in second place to lead four Concordia Wisconsin wrestlers who placed on Saturday afternoon at the season-opening UW-Stevens Point Open inside Berg Gymnasium.

THE BASICS
Location: Berg Gymnasium (Stevens Point, Wis.)
Falcon Individual Placers: Ramiro Vasquez (133 pounds) third place, Merrick O'Donnell (184 pounds) fourth place, Mitchell Slatton (197 pounds) second place, Sam Olsen (285 pounds) fifth place

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Senior Mitchell Slatton (Granger, Ind.) was highly successful to begin the final season of his career with a pair of wins by fall and a decision in his favor to take second place in the 197-pound bracket. He began his day with a pin in 2:54 against John DePersia (UW-Oshkosh) before getting by Jordan Lemcke (UW-Oshkosh) by a 7-3 decision. Slatton continued on with a win by fall in 2:57 versus Patrick Reilly before losing by major decision, 11-3, to Dylan Diebitz (UW-Stevens Point) in the title match.
- Sophomore Ramiro Vasquez (Yuma, Ariz.) ended in third place after going 1-2 in the 133-pound division. He began the day with a 13-1 major decision setback against Airk Furseth (UW-Parkside) before Jacob Barnett defeated him by fall in 2:45. Vasquez responded with a win by fall of his own in 1:38 against Nathan Sleik-Vidmar (Lakeland).
- Freshman Merrick O'Donnell (Huntington Beach, Calif.) began his career with a fourth-place finish in the 184-pound bracket. He went 3-2 on the day, which included a pair of wins by fall and a decision. He started with a 9-5 decision loss to Colten Cashmore (UW-Oshkosh) before winning back-to-back matches by fall. O'Donnell pinned Brandon Rothe (UW-Oshkosh) in 2:34 before putting Mason Lind (Lakeland) on his back in 3:26. The rookie defeated Dominic Gunderson (UW-Stevens Point) by decision, 9-6, before dropping his final contest of the day in 0:38 seconds to Cody Nielsen (UW-Stevens Point).
- Junior Sam Olsen (Waukesha, Wis.) ended in fifth place of the 285-pound bracket after compiling a 3-2 record. He defeated Michael Grabe (Lakeland) by major decision, 13-5, to start his day. Olsen then lost a difficult 3-1 SV-1 decision to Michael Dunlap (UW-Oshkosh) before answering with a 6-4 decision win against Steven Anderson (UW-Stevens Point). Ross Agg (UW-Stevens Point) got the better of Olsen with a pin in 1:29.
- Junior Miguel Betancourt (El Paso, Texas) won a 9-3 decision over Ben Kasten (UW-Stevens Point) at 157 pounds.

BEYOND THE RESULTS
- The Falcons had five pins in the tournament totaling 13:29, which ranked fifth.
- Concordia Wisconsin had four wrestlers place at least top-5 of the seven it brought to the tournament.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- Concordia Wisconsin travels to Lakeland on Thursday for a CCIW dual at 7 pm.