EC Men’s Wrestling Continues to Progress at MSOE Invitational

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Eureka men's wrestling team continued to make progress at the Milwaukee School of Engineering Invitational on Saturday.

After repeatedly testing themselves against Division I and II competition in November, the Red Devils opened December by facing an almost entirely D3 field.

Despite being shorthanded due to injury, Eureka finished 11th out of 18 teams with 45 points and saw four wrestlers place on the day.

"Our guys took big steps towards improvement today," EC wrestling coach Eric Biehl said. "We've been working on a lot in the practice room and you could see it today. We were down four starters, so our team score doesn't reflect the success we saw."

Jake Jozwiak (Lake Villa, Ill./Grasylake North/Lincoln) and Nathan Berta (Channahon, Ill./Minooka/ Calumet College of St. Joseph) both ended their day with a win and placed fifth at 125 and 141 pounds, respectively, while Gaige Owens (Marion, Ill./Marion/Iowa Wesleyan) and Thomas Culp (Quincy, Ill./Quincy/Lincoln) both placed sixth at 133 and 184, respectively.

It was Owens' third time placing this season, and the first for the other three.

Jozwiak, an NAIA national qualifier and American Midwest Conference championship winner at Lincoln last year, went 2-2 on the day with a pair of close decisions.

He opened the bracket with a 2-1 decision over Cornell College's Jayden Rael. Then, after falling to Luc Valdez 4-0 in the semifinal and dropping a 7-4 decision against Wisconsin-Whitewater, he came back strong with a 6-5 win in a rematch against Rael.

"I feel I wrestled the best I have all year, and the team took major steps today towards performing the way we've been striving for all year," Jozwiak said.

Berta, who was an NAIA national qualifier at Calumet College of St. Joseph last year, lost his first match of the day by 4-3 decision against Augsburg's Brady Gross.

He won his next bout by injury default in the first period, then earned a 5-1 decision over Cornell's Carter Fecht and pinned MSOE's Connor Nagela in 2:15.

After losing to Gross by fall in the consolation semis, Berta placed fifth over Central's Pierre Baldwin by medical forfeit.

"Good day all-around," Berta said. "Everyone wrestled to the best of their abilities, and it was nice to have a good amount of guys placing."

At 133, Owens scored two major decisions and a fall en route to his sixth-place finish. At 184, Culp notched a tech and a major en route to his. Both bowed out in the placing match due to medical forfeit.

Andrew Sims (Heyworth, Ill./Heyworth/Lincoln), at 165, and Zach Eaton (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria), at 184, both came close to placing, as well. Both went 3-2 on the day, with Sims coming up with a pin and two decisions and Eaton delivering two pins and one decision.

"I am pleased with the direction we're heading," Biehl said at the end of the day, "and excited to get back and tighten things up."

The Eureka men will be in action again on Saturday, when they compete at the North Central Open. The Eureka women, meanwhile, will wrestle again at the North Central Open on Sunday.