Warhawk Wrestling Championship Central
Austin Bautista (Des Plaines, IL/Maine East) won his third consecutive title at 141 pounds leading UW-Whitewater to a second place finish in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship Sunday in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Bautista, along with teammates Adam Latella (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) at 197 and heavyweight Jon Schmidt (Menomonee Falls/Hartford), earned berths in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championship March 5-6 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Bautista, ranked number one in Division III at 141, received a first round bye. He defeated Andy Casper of Stevens Point 11-4 in the semifinal, then was forced into double overtime in a 4-2 win over Alex Dahl of La Crosse. Bautista is the fifth Warhawk in school history to win three conference championships, with heavyweight Tim Carmin the only UW-W wrestler to win four titles (1979-82). The most recent to accomplish the feat was Rob Llorca, who won three WIAC titles at 158 pounds (1989-91). Bautista's two wins Sunday also moved him into a tie with Llorca for the most career wins in the school record book, both with 133. Bautista, with a record of 33-2, has advanced to the NCAA III championship three years in a row, earning All-American honors in his two previous appearances, seventh in 2008 and third place last year.
In addition to Carmin and Bautista, the other UW-W wrestlers to win three league crowns were Garry Zizzo at 118 (1973-75), Ed Brady at 142 in 1985 and 150 in '86 and '87, and Rick Rabensdorf, who won the 167 pound title in 1977 and 1978, then added the 190 championship in 1979.
Latella also had a first round bye. In the second round he defeated Bad Zellner of Platteville 5-3, then lost in the title match at his weight class, 9-3 to Andy Moore of La Crosse. In a pigtail for true second, Latella won by rule for second place, having already defeated his would be opponent, Zellner. Latella, who earned one of the WIAC's nine at-large berths in the national meet, is 21-11.
Schmidt, like his teammates, began with a bye. In the semifinals he pinned Bret Oswald of Stevens Point in 2:23. He then lost to Dan Laurent, who is ranked third in the Division III National Poll, in the title match, but won the true second match by rule because he would have faced Oswald and had already beaten him. Schmidt, who earned a NCAA wild card berth like Latella and will also be making his first appearance in the national meet, is 12-5.
In addition to Bautista's automatic berth, and the wild cards for Latella and Schmidt, two more Warhawks were chosen as alternates. The alternates, who will compete in the NCAA III meet if someone cannot compete for any reason, are Kyle Wachholder (Salem/Westosha Central) at 133 and David Casper (Westby/Westby) at 184. Wachholder, 25-13, placed second at 133 pounds and received the second alternate spot, and Casper, third at 184 and 16-11 on the season, is the fourth alternate.
UW-Whitewater's second place finish is the school's best since winning the WIAC title in 1991. The Warhawks have steadily progressed under head coach Tim Fader, advancing from fourth in his first year at UW-W in 2005, to four consecutive third place finishes, and now second.
For additional information: Tim Fader, UW-W coach
