Milks secures all-American honors with exciting win
Date: Fri 03/07/08 10:14 PM

By Paul Erickson, Sports Information Director

UW-Platteville's Jesse Milks didn't need the last second to defeat
Loras' Erik Hanson, as he did Feb. 1. This time, he got the deciding
takedown with five seconds to spare.

The fourth-seeded Milks clinched NCAA III All-American status with a
thrilling 5-4 decision over the fifth-seeded Hanson Friday at the
157-pound weight at the national championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"It's been my goal all year," the sophomore Milks said of his honor.

To reach his goal, Milks had to defeat Hanson for the fourth time this
season. He beat him 4-2 on Nov. 17, 4-1 on Dec. 8 and then 6-5 in the
Pioneers' dual meet victory Feb. 1.

"To beat the same guy, and one of his caliber, four times, is extremely
tough," Pioneer Coach Chris Walter said, "especially with how
well-coached he is by Randy Steward."

As in their previous meetings, Hanson tied Milks up around the head and
shoulders for most of the first two periods. Late in the match, a
well-conditioned Milks was able to take a few more shots. In the waning
seconds, he stuck one of his favorite moves, sliding underneath Hanson's
overhook and pulling him over, chest to chest.

"It's a slideby; that's the move I hit the most," said Milks. "A lot of
guys know I'll hit it, but I didn't all match. It was there at the end,
I guess."

The victory clinched the all-American honors for Milks, who was
wrestling at nationals for the second time. He credited his conditioning
for being able to wrestle hard for the full seven minutes. His coach
also credited his concentration.

"The biggest thing for Jesse was his mental approach coming in, how
focused he was after coming so close last year," Walter said. "He stayed
focused all season."

Milks, who beat Delaware Valley's Ryan Herwig 9-4 in the opening round
draws the top seed in Saturday's semifinals. He'll face Wartburg's Aaron
Wernimont, 38-1 this season.

The Pioneers' Ryan Higgins had the unfortunate task of drawing the
nation's top-ranked wrestler in the 149-pound weight class right off the
bat. Higgins, making his third straight trip to nationals, lost to
Wartburg's Jacob Naig 9-2 and then fell 6-2 to Buena Vista's Aaron Cook,
seeded eighth.



 

Weekender Profile: Cory Zuberbier

Pioneer wrestlers defeat Titans 31-10 (11/15/2007)

UW-Platteville defeated UW-Oshkosh 31-10 in a match of one-up-man-ship Thursday in Williams Fieldhouse in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

After Titan Coach Mike DeRoehn bumped three wrestlers up weights, Pioneer Coach Chris Walter introduced two wrestlers at 149, then moved three of his own up from their normal weights. The Pioneers won all three of those weights to earn the conference win.

All-American Ryan Higgins, one of the two introduced at 149, moved to 157 and beat the Titans' Dallas Moe 20-10. Jesse Milks followed with a 14-3 win over Brad Welter at 165, and Carsten Carlsen defeated Kevin Luedtke 10-4 at 174.

"I wanted to get the best matchups possible," Walter said. "It was a matter of getting the right guys out there at the right time. You have to have confidence in your guys to do that."

The Pioneers overcame an early 7-0 lead with two impressive freshmen victories. Vinny Alber pinned Alex Mueller in 3:46 at 141, and Dillon Pontnack beat Derek Koenig in a 22-6 technical fall at 149.

"They got us going," Walter said. "Vinny was a great kick-starter, and Dillon followed it up. Another big win was by Carsten. He lost to him the last time he faced him, so it's nice to see how much he improved in two years."

Like Carlsen, Michael Jackowski sat out last season. He returned with an 8-7 decision over Pat Detmer at 197, and Paul Wochinski won the 285-pound match by forfeit.

The Pioneers improved to 3-2 overall, while the Titans fell to 1-3. UWP is back in action Saturday at the Concordia Open in Mequon, Wis.

"I'm happy with the match, although there are some little things we need to work on," Walter said. "Some guys went out to get it and some were holding on."

UW-Platteville 31, UW-Oshkosh 10

125 Chad Leviner (UWO) def. Brett Olson 14-6
133 Jared Jaminski (UWO) def. Jeff Gale 16-13
141 Vinny Alber (UWP) pinned Alex Mueller 3:46
149 Dillon Pontnack (UWP) defeats Derek Koenig, tech. fall, 22-6
157 Ryan Higgins (UWP) def. Dallas Moe 20-10
165 Jesse Milks (UWP) def. Brad Welter 14-3
174 Carsten Carlsen (UWP) def. Kevin Luetdke 10-4
184 Eli Felts (UWO) def. Brad Zellner 4-2
197 Michael Jackowski (UWP) def. Pat Detmer 8-7
285 Paul Wochinski (UWP) wins by forfeit

Lakeland College Duals Results November 10, 2007

Wisconsin Collegiate Monthly Rankings Page

Wisconsin Collegiate Rankings Page
Ranking #1 - November 9, 2007

TEAMS
1. UW-La Crosse ( UW L)
2. UW-Stevens Point ( UW SP)
3. UW-Whitewater (UW W)
4. UW-Eau Claire (UWEC)
5. Lakeland College (LC)
6. UW-Platteville (UWP)
7. UW-Oshkosh (UWO)
8. Lawrence University (LU)
9. Concordia University (CUW)
10. Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE)
 

INDIVIDUALS
125
1. Jake Calhoun,  UW SP
2. Pat Parrillo,  UW L
3. Jeremy Johnson, UW W
4. David Copp, LC
133
1. Jordan Kolinski,  UW L
2. Andy Miller, UWEC
3. Jared Kern,  UW SP
4. Chris Jackson, MSOE
141
1. Austin Bautista, UW W
2. Mike Rohowetz,  UW L
3. Elliot Gronlund, MSOE
4. Kyle Mueller,  UW SP
149
1. Ryan Higgins, UWP
2. Joel Massman, CUW
3. Tony Norton, LU
4. Fred Lane,  UW SP

157
1. Jesse Milks, UWP
2. Chris Brown,  UW SP
3. Pat Nagel, UW W
4. Jonas Flok, LC
165
1. Tim Palmer,  UW L
2. Tom Trieloff, UW W
3. Kevin Leudtke, UWO
4. Sam Laes, LU
174
1. Josh Chelf,  UW L
2. Eric Bath,  UW SP
3. Calvin O’Neal, LC
4. Joey Miller, UWEC
184
1. Pat Detmer, UWO
2. David Casper, UW W
3. Brad Zellner, UWP
4. Matt Olson, MSOE
197
1. Craig Bollig,  UW SP
2. Paul Hartt, LC
3. Tim Winker,  UW L
4. Josh Holforty, UWEC
285
1. Dan Laurent,  UW L
2. Adam Sutter, LC
3. Mitch Szwet,  UW SP
4. Paul Wochinski, UWP
Rankings compiled by Pete Rogers, Lakeland, and
Chris Walter, UW-Platteville

Jesse Milks is ranked 5th at 157

October 25, 2007

The success of the 2007-08 UW-Platteville wrestling team will depend on how quickly a solid returning group meshes with an outstanding incoming freshman class, 11th-year Pioneer Coach Chris Walter said.

"We may be starting four or five freshmen, so it will be a process in the making," said Walter, who has an 80-66-3 career dual mark. "The biggest thing we need to do is improve each day. The guys have been practicing hard, and it will be interesting to see how it all comes together."

The Pioneers will hold their annual wrestle-offs Saturday, Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. in Williams Fieldhouse. Admission is free for these competitions to determine the starting lineup.

"I want to see who is going to compete," Walter said. "There will be some very good matchups with the mixture of young guys and returning starters. It will be interesting to see who goes out and fights for that starting position."

The Pioneers finished 13th in the NCAA III national championships last year and return all-American Ryan Higgins, who was 30-6 at 149 pounds, and national qualifier Jesse Milks, 26-9 at 157. Higgins begins this year ranked fourth in the nation in his weight class, while Milks is fifth in his.

"With Jesse Milks and Ryan Higgins making the national tournament last year, they'll provide the leadership," Walter said. "We also have returners in Spencer Peterson (13-11 at 125), Jeff Gale (16-12 at 133), Brad Zellner (11-17 at 184), Matt Beschta (11-16 at 184) and Paul Wochinski (16-11 at 285)."

Along with last year's underclassmen, Walter brought in an exceptional recruiting class, with many challenging for mat time right away.

"Our freshmen class is solid from top to bottom," the coach said. "At 125 pounds, we have Andrew Skog, from Darlington, a state placewinner; at 133, we have Ross George, an Illinois state champion; at 141, Vinny Alber, a three-time Illinois state placewinner and state champion last year; at 149, Greg Burke, a multiple state champion from Mineral Point; and then Lodi's Cody Weber, a state runner-up at heavyweight. So we have a bunch of guys coming up right now and some you'll hear from later on."

The Pioneers open their season Nov. 10 at the Lakeland Duals, where they'll wrestle nationally-ranked teams St. John's and Coe as well as the host Muskies and conference foe UW-Eau Claire. The home opener is Thursday, Nov. 15 against UW-Oshkosh at 7 p.m. Coe is ranked seventh and St. John's 23rd in the national preseason poll. UW-Platteville faces six teams ranked in the top 30 in dual meets and face many more in tournaments.