Wrestling Begins Weekend at Upper Midwest Regionals

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The CUW wrestling team headed to Eau Claire on Friday to participate in the Upper Midwest Regionals.

In the 125-pound weight class, sophomore Emilio Acosta (El Paso, Texas) was defeated by the fifth-ranked wrestler in the Upper Midwest Region Jake Mora. Mora defeated Acosta by a 4:23 fall in the first round. In the consolation bracket, Acosta faced the sixth-ranked wrestler in the Upper Midwest Jack Marley. Acosta was defeated by an 18-0 tech fall at 2:32.

In the 133-pound class, senior Val Kochiu (Oak Creek, Wis.) was defeated in the first round of the championship bracket by a 7-10 decision. In the consolation bracket, Kochiu snagged a victory in his first matchup with a 6:22 fall victory. In the next round of the consolation bracket, Kochiu was defeated by a 3-6 decision.  

Austin Vincent (Stockton, Ill.) took on the 141 pounders in the Upper Midwest Regionals. In his first matchup, Vincent was paired with third-ranked Zach Sato. Vincent was defeated by a 0-5 decision. He came back in the consolation bracket with a 2:25 fall victory. He was defeated in the next round by a 4-7 decision.

Junior Jack O'Donnell (Huntington Beach, Calif.) came into Regionals ranked fifth in the Upper Midwest, 157-pound weight class. He snagged a Falcon victory in the first round of Regionals with a 13-4 major decision win. He was defeated by fourth-ranked Darian Estevez by a 3-13 major decision in the next round and moved to the consolation bracket. O'Donnell's first matchup in consolation ended with a 24-6, tech fall victory moving O'Donnell closer to the consolation championship.  He moves on to Saturday to compete in the last matchups of Regionals.

Junior Quinn Hoopman (Cedar Grove, Wis.) competed in the 165-pound weight class. He was defeated by sixth-ranked Matt Rogge with a 0-17 tech fall at 4:36 and moved into the consolation bracket. He snagged a 2:44 fall victory in the first round of the consolation bracket. Hoopman was defeated by a 1:17 fall in the next round.

In the 174-pound weight class, junior Carson Cook (Las Vegas, Nev.) took on a high level of talent.  In his first matchup, Cook took on first-ranked Ben Sarasin and fell at 2:14. He was moved into the consolation bracket. In his consolation bracket matchup, Cook was defeated by his opponent by a 4-10 decision. 

Sophomore Peyton Smith (Milwaukee, Wis.) had to wrestle into the tournament. He was defeated in the initial bout by a 2-18 tech fall at 5:35 but was able to slide into the consolation bracket with a 3:25 fall victory.  He snagged a victory in his first consolation-bracket matchup by a 10-9 decision.

In the 197-pound weight class, sophomore Cam Mercer (Glenview, Ill.) was also forced to wrestle into the tournament. In the initial matchup, Mercer was defeated by a 0:37 fall and then again by a 2:00 fall in the next bout. He was unable to get into the Regional field.

Junior Jerrell Carey (Chicago, Ill.) wrestled in the heavyweight division. He was defeated by a 6:05 fall in the championship bracket and moved into the consolation bracket. In his first bout in the consolation bracket, Carey snagged a 9-0 major decision to advance further in the tournament. Carey was defeated in the next round by a 1-4 decision.

The Falcons ended the day in 13th place with a team score of 22 points. Augsburg leads the tournament with a score of 86 points.