Feb. 4, 2015 By Evan Carlin

The UW-Whitewater men’s wrestling team traveled to Wheaton, Illinois, Jan. 30 and Jan. 31 where it competed in the annual Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational. The Warhawks won it for the second consecutive year.

Head coach Ned Shuck was only worried about the ’Hawks performance.

“We are just trying to focus on us and not be our own worst enemy,” Shuck said. “This is probably the second toughest tournament of the year aside from Nationals.”

The closest match of the weekend was between Jordan Newman and Josh Thompson from Messiah, with Jordan Newman winning by a close score of 14-13.

Coach Shuck loved Newman’s efforts.

“Jordan did all the right things these last two weeks,” Shuck said. “He put himself in a great position to rest for this weekend.”

He beat a two-time All-American and won the semifinals in a very high-scoring match. Shuck said Jordan’s match “may have been the best match I’ve seen in about five to six years.”

Shane Seifert also put on quite a performance, pinning all of his opponents on the weekend except one due to a technical fall 15-0 in the first period of a match.

Although the ’Hawks seemed to be untouched with its performance this past weekend, Shuck still sees the area for improvement going forward.

“The next goal is to beat UW-Parkside,” Shuck said.

The ’Hawks’ 285 pound senior Anthony Edgren said the match against UW-Parkside is “always a competitive one.”

“If we come into the duel focused and ready to wrestle,” Edgren said.  “I feel we will walk away with the Sake Bottle again.”

The team looks to continue its success as the season progresses.

“I love my team and they continue to get better every day,” Shuck said. “They are motivated.  They have great attitudes and they are putting forth a ton of effort.”

Edgren added to that.

“For the rest of the season, I feel if we keep working hard and making gains in the wrestling room and during competitions, we can accomplish our goal and win a national title,” Edgren said. “That’s my only goal, to win a national title.”

The Warhawks continue its battle against the Division II UW-Parkside Rangers in the annual Sake Bottle Battle where the men in purple have won two out of the last three meetings and hope to continue its streak.

The match will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 4 at UW-Parkside.