Wrestling Archives 2002-03

2002-03 Season

MUSKIE WRESTLERS PARTICIPATE IN NCAA REGIONAL
February 25, 2003
Augustana, IL - Four members of the Lakeland College wrestling team participated in the Great Lakes Regional of the NCAA Tournament last weekend, accumulating six team points.
Andy Opsahl, a 165 pound freshman from Iron Mountain, MI, pinned Matt Lowers of Concordia-Minnesota in five minutes and 22 seconds in round one. Opsahl then fell by decision to eventual runner-up Billy Morgan of Augsburg in round two.

At 125, Justin Fortier (Flower Mound, Texas) was defeated in the first round by North Central's Brian Taylor, 16-5 in a major decision.

In the 157 weight class Lakeland's Tim Vallier (Gladstone, MI) pinned St. Olaf's Phil Simondet in just :30 seconds. Vallier then faced Elmhurst's Rick Lamas who defeated Vallier 13-3 in a major decision.

Juderson Desile, a freshman from Miami, Florida, participated in the 285 pound weight class losing in second round action to second place finisher Mike Flanigan of Augsburg College.

The regional was won by Augusburg College. They were followed by Augustana, St. Johns, and Lakeland's LMC foe Concordia-WI.

MUSKIES FINISH FOURTH AT LMC MEET
February 15, 2003
Sheboygan, Wis. - The Lakeland College wrestling team finished in fourth place Saturday at the Lake Michigan conference wrestling meet.
The Muskies accumulated 48 points on the day. They were led by Justin Fortier, who took 1st place in the 125 weight class. Tim Vallier finished in placed second at 157. Andy Opsahl placed third in the 165 weight class, and Scott Blanchard and Donaster Colas placed fourth in the 184 and 197 weight classes.

Outstanding wrestler of the Year went to MSOE's Matt Hunset. Brett Corner pulled in Coach of the Year. Rookie of the Year honors went to Concordia's Kevin Koch who won the 141 weight class.

Meet Results:
1.) Concordia-WI 103.5
2.) MSOE 95.5
3.) Maranatha 66
4.) Lakeland College 48

Individual Results:
Wt. Champion
125Justin Fortier (LC) def. Jonathon Wrobel (MSOE)
133 Nick Bottcher (CU) def. Aaron Gudeyon (MSOE)
141 Kevin Koch (CU) def. Jason Tschida (MBBC)
149 Sam Rugg (CU) def. Andre Villa (MSOE)
157 Steve Weeden (CU) def. Tim Vallier (LC)
165 Dwayne Brigham (CU) def. Greg Snow (MSOE)
174 Shamar Bailey (MBBC) def. Brandon Conley (CU)
184 Andy Peterson (MBBC) def. Andy Witkowski (CU)
197 Matt Hunset (MSOE) def. Nathan Klimek (MBBC)
285 Matt Schoener (MSOE) def. Zeke Lewis (CU)


MUSKIE WRESTLERS HAVE STRONG SHOWING IN ILLINOIS
Feb. 9, 2003
The Lakeland College Wrestling Team traveled to Wheaton College in Illinois over the weekend to compete in the 64th annual Pete Wilson Invitational. The Muskies finished 20th out of 28 teams it what is considered one of the most prestigious Division II-III tournaments in the nation.
Freshmen Tim Vallier (Gladstone, MI) and Andy Opsahl (Iron Mountain, MI) led the way for the Muskies. Opsahl lost in his match to place and left with a 2-2 record. Vallier had a career-best performance by finishing 3-1 and pinning his first three opponents.

In the first round Vallier barely worked up a sweat when he pinned Matt Spurgeon of Rose-Hulman in just 23 seconds. In the quarter finals it was more of the same when Vallier pinned number two seed Adam Miller of Wabash in 2:29. Vallier picked up his third pin of the day over Ric Scannell of Lawrence in 1:05. Vallier fell in the finals to two-time All-American Chad Smith of Lindenwood.

Vallier also won two of the four individual awards handed out at the tournament. His three pins in 3:57 gave him the most pins in the least amount of time award, and his pin in 23 seconds gave him the fastest pin award. Vallier now stands at 20-10 on the year with eighteen of his wins coming by pin, the second most pins in the nation.

The Muskies next time on the mats will be this weekend when they host the Conference Tournament starting at 11am.


MUSKIE WRESTLERS BATTLE AT PRIVATE COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jan. 25, 2003
The Lakeland College Wrestling Team finished tied for fifth and had many individual standouts at the Private College Championships held at Lawrence University Saturday in Appleton. The Muskies tied with Maranatha Baptist for last place with 27.5 points behind Lawrence (99), Concordia of Wisconsin (68.5), North Central College (56.5) and MSOE (45.5).
The young Muskies were led by freshman Tim Vallier who had a breakthrough tournament at 157 pounds. Vallier had three pins, including a 1 minute 6 second pin of top seeded Ric Scannell (Jr.) of Lawrence in the championship. Tim now has 15 pins, which breaks the Lakeland pin record and improved his record to 15-8 with his fourth consecutive win.

Standout performances were also turned in by freshmen Justin Fortier and Andy Opsahl. Fortier finished third at 125 pounds by defeating Jon Wrobel of MSOE 19-10, while Opsahl finished fourth after falling to John Murphy of North Central in a hard-fought 7-5 defeat.

The Muskies travel to Watertown to take on Maranatha and Wheaton in a dual match on Monday at 6pm.


YOUNG MUSKIES GRAPPLE TOUGH OPPONENTS
Jan. 10, 2003
The Lakeland Wrestling Team traveled to Mequon to dual North Central College (IL) and host Concordia Friday night. The young Muskies (roster is all freshmen except for one sophomore) lost both matches but had three individuals standout.
Lakeland fell to North Central 34-15 but freshman Tim Vallier won by pin just 26 seconds into his match at 157 pounds. Freshman Lee Sparks also won by pin in 5:30 to win at 184 pounds, while fellow freshman Andy Opsahl won 12-6 at 165 pounds.

The Muskies score verses Concordia was a little closer at 31-16. Lakeland was led by Justin Fortier, Matt Benson and Vallier again. Fortier won at 125 pounds with a pin at 1:15, while Vallier had another pin at 157 pounds at 4:55. Benson won the heavyweight division by major decision 11-3.

Lakeland travels to Central College in Pella, Iowa for an invite on Jan. 18th starting at 9am.

MUSKIES FALL TO UW-OSHKOSH
Jan. 6, 2003
The Lakeland College Wrestling team lost a dual match to host UW-Oshkosh 34-15 Monday evening. The Titans, ranked 19th in the nation, won 7 of the 10 matches.

The Muskies three matches were all won by freshmen, which is not a surprise considering the entire Lakeland roster is freshmen with the exception of sophomore Nicholas Brock. Justin Fortier (Flower Mound, TX) won at 125 pounds by forfeit, while Tim Vallier won by pin in 1:05 at 157 pounds. Matt Benson won a thriller 9-7 in overtime in the heavyweight division.

Lakeland's next match is this Friday when they travel to Mequon (WI) to dual both North Central and host Concordia.


WRESTLING TAKES SEVENTH AT LAWRENCE DUALS
December 10, 2002
The Lakeland College wrestling team wrestled to a seventh place finish last weekend at the Lawrence University Duals in Appleton, Wisconsin.
The Muskies, who boast one of the youngest linups in the area, were led by freshmen Matt Preimesberger (Appleton, WI) and Tim Vallier (Gladstone, MI).

Preimesberger placed 3rd in the 141 weight class and Vallier accounted for Lakeland's lone score against meet champion Olivet College by pinning Jesse Grenillo in 4:54.

Lakeland finished with 9.5 overall points. There next meet is January 6th at Oshkosh


MUSKIE WRESTLERS LOCK HORNS AT UW-STEVENS POINT WRESTLING INVITATIONAL
Nov. 9, 2002
The Lakeland College Muskies Wrestling Team traveled to UW-Stevens Point to take participate in the Golden Eagle Invitational featuring 19 schools from Divisions I, II, III and schools from the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) and NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association).
Jake Eigenbrodt became the first Muskie wrestler to ever win his division at the open. Eigenbrodt won at 184 pounds, but is expected to wrestle at 174 in the near future. He defeated Lee Sparks, another Lakeland College wrestler who wrestled unattached for the tournament, 3-1 in his first match. Eigenbrodt then defeated Drew French of UW-LaCrosse 3-1 in overtime before besting Blake Hangland of Wartburg College 10-8 in overtime in the championship.

Other contributors for Lakeland included Tim Vallier who took fifth place at 157 pounds by pinning Kenny Francois of UW-Platteville in 1:17, Matt Preimsberger, who went 1-2 at 141 pounds, and Patrick Redmond who went 1-2 at 174 pounds.

The Muskies will next match will be the Concordia Open in Mequon starting at 9:30am.