They don't often live up to the hype.  This one did.  There will never be a match decided by a slimmer margin.  UW-Whitewater, ranked ninth in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Brute/adidas poll, edged UW-Parkside, ranked twelfth in the NWCA Division II poll, 17-16 Thursday night in Kachel Gym of Williams Center in Whitewater.  With the victory Whitewater earns possession of the Sake Bottle Trophy, initiated in 1975, breaking a string of six consecutive wins by Parkside.

photo gallery (courtesy of Andrew Smith, available for purchase)

UW-Whitewater 17, UW-Parkside 16
174  Luke Rynish, PK, defeated Reid Dickerson (Indianapolis, IN/North Central), WW, 22-8 (MD)
184  Matthew Gille, PK, defeated David Dwyer (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), WW, 7-3
197  Davien Willis, PK, defeated Adam Latella (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), WW, 11-5
285  Corey Anderson (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), WW, defeated James Malechek, PK, 11-7
125  Grant Sutter (Dodgeville/Dodgeville), WW, defeated Jake Papke, PK, 9-1 (MD)
133  Jake Fredrickson, WW, defeated Collin Crume, PK, 6-4
141  Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall), WW, defeated Arik Yde, PK, 8-2
149  Mike Migawa, PK, defeated Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/Iowa-Grant), WW, 6-3
157  Dillon Berra, PK, defeated Kegan Arthur (Petoskey, MI/Petoskey), WW, 6-0
165  Cedric Gibson (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield), WW, defeated Monterail Johnson, PK, 12-4 (MD)

The advent of starting collegiate matches with a weight class drawn earlier, as opposed to always progressing from lowest to highest weights, adds an interesting dimension.  UW-Parkside coach Gregg Lewis could not have been disappointed with the 174 class being picked.

Parkside's Luke Rynish, the NCAA Division II runnerup last year at 174 and number one ranked this year, upped his record to 38-4 with a 22-8 win over Reid Dickerson (Indianapolis, IN/North Central), now 19-17, for a 4-0 Parkside lead.  Matthew Gille, a 2010 Division II All-American, extended the Rangers' lead to 7-0 and his record to 14-8 with a 7-3 win over Whitewater's David Dwyer (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), seventh in the Division III ranking and 20-7 this season, at 184.  Davien Willis, 33-12, defeated Warhawk All-American Adam Latella (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), 12-4, at 197 to increase UW-P's lead to 10-0.

Warhawk co-captain Corey Anderson (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), third in the Division III ranking, came from behind to win at 285.  Anderson fell behind James Malechek 5-3 in the second period, tied it at 5-5 with twenty seconds left in the period, but entered the third behind 6-5.  Anderson had a 0:39 riding time advantage at that point.  Anderson scored four points in the third period to raise his team-leading record to 32-3.  Whitewater on the board, but Parkside led 10-3.

Whitewater freshman Grant Sutter (Dodgeville/Dodgeville), a second semester addition to the team, remained unbeaten at 8-0 with a 9-1 win over Jake Papke at 125.  Sutter led 6-0 after two periods, made it 8-0 with 0:46 left in the third, and Papke scored his point with 0:22 left.  Sutter piled up more than four minutes of riding time to give UW-W the major decision, and pull Whitewater closer, 10-7.

Jake Fredrickson, ranked sixth in Division III, pulled UW-W even at 10-10 with a 6-4 win over Collin Crume at 133 pounds, raising Fredrickson's season mark to 25-2.

UW-W freshman Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall) may have come up with his biggest win of the season in the 141 pound match.  Perkin, now 10-12, led 2-0 after period one, and increased that to 5-0 after two periods.  He upped the score to 7-0, with more than four minutes of riding time, in the third.  Parkside's Arik Yde scored two points with seconds left, and Perkin added one for riding time to earn the decision that put UW-W in front, 13-10.

At 149 pounds Whitewater's Cade Sarbacker (Mineral Point/Iowa-Grant), sixth in Division III, matched up with Mike Migawa, a NCAA II tournament alternate in 2011.  Sarbacker led 1-0 after the first period, and it was tied 2-2 after two.  Migawa took a 4-2 lead with 1:09 left in the match, extended it to 6-2 at 0:54, and Sarbacker closed the scoring with a point at 0:23.  The loss is Sarbacker's first of the season after beginning competition in the second semester with six straight wins.  Whitewater and Parkside were knotted at 13-13. 

Parkside's Dillon Berra entered his match ranked first in Division II at 157 pounds with a 12-0 record.  Berra led 2-0 after the first, added an escape from the starting position and a  takedown in the second for a 5-0 lead, and added riding time for a 6-0 decision.  The score, with one bout left, was 16-13 Parkside.

Whitewater needed a major decision in the final match, at 165, to win.   Sophomore Cedric Gibson (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield) rushed out to a 9-3 lead and increased it to 10-3, flirting with the eight point margin that would give UW-W the four points it needed.  When the final whistle blew Gibson led 11-4 on the scoreboard, but his 1:20 of riding time gave him a major decision and boosted Whitewater's total to 17 points.

UW-Whitewater is 20-7 in dual meets.  Parkside, which wrestles in more tournaments than duals, is 2-3.`

The Warhawks and Rangers met earlier this season, although it was in a much different environment in the 31-team field at the Pete Willson Invitational in Wheaton, Illinois January 28.  UW-Parkside won the tourney and UW-Whitewater took second place.  Sarbacker and Gibson won Willson titles for UW-W, Rynish won his weight for Parkside.

Whitewater will host UW-Platteville Thursday, February 16 at 7:00 in the annual Senior Night match.  UW-W will host the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship Sunday, February 26, beginning at 9:00.

For additional information:  Tim Fader, UW-W coach