By: Neal Johnson

The Warhawks wrestling team remained unbeaten in WIAC play with an upset victory over fifth-ranked UW-La Crosse Friday night at Mitchell Hall in La Crosse, Wis.

Junior Cedric Gibson got on the board right away, scoring a 5-2 decision over James Lewis from La Crosse. He gave the ’Hawks an early 3-0 team lead.

Fellow junior Tyler Becker followed suit and defeated Derek Weinmann. Becker scored a takedown with 1:15 remaining left in the match to place the ‘Hawks ahead in the dual, 9-0.

UW-La Crosse won the next two matches against ’Hawks sophomores Ryan Aprahamian and Justin Birschbach.

“Again, when an individual or team loses, get back to work and observe yourself, what you need to improve, adjust, finish and train on right away, not later,” Birschbach said. “Warhawk wrestlers don’t wait for things to happen. They do it now to make it happen.”

Freshman sensation Shane Siefert held on for an 11-6 decisive victory for the ’Hawks.

“I think this is definitely one of the better teams we’ve had at Whitewater, and I think the sky is the limit with this team,” Siefert said.

Siefert’s win got the ’Hawks back on track. They took a 12-6 lead heading into the sixth match.

In the sixth match, La Crosse’s William Mayer defeated the Warhawks sophomore Anthony Edgren, 8-3.

In the seventh match, UW-La Crosse’s Issac Balsinger followed suit when he convincingly defeated ‘Hawks freshman Joe Meylor, 16-1.

Sophomore Grant Sutter came up big for the ’Hawks, scoring a win over James Bennett of La Crosse, giving the ’Hawks a 17-14 lead.

“A great team effort overall with individuals fighting for every possible team point possible. It was great to see the bench and fans in the stands getting excited during some big-time matches,” Sutter said. “This was a big-time win for us and is a confidence booster, but we’re already moving on and starting to get ready for a busy week of wrestling.”

In the ninth match, ’Hawks senior Jake Fredricksen defeated Mitchell Lexvold, 9-2.

In the final match of the duel, ’Hawks junior Elroy Perkin won by major decision over Dylan Schaffer, 15-3, to seal the team victory.

“We wrestled awesome at La Crosse,” Siefert said. “We started in the middle of the lineup. Cedric and Tyler started us off, getting nine points for the team. That was huge. It’s nice to see all the hard work paying off.”

Next week the ’Hawks play host to visiting conference rival UW-Eau Claire at 7 p.m., Jan. 24 in the Williams Center.