Wrestling To Host Top Teams In 28th Annual Blugold Invite

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Posted: Thursday, February 2, 2006

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire wrestling team will host the 28th annual Blugold Invitational this Saturday in the McPhee Physical Education Center, which will include five of the top eight teams in Division III.

Teams that will participate in the invitational along with the Blugolds are No. 1-ranked Wartburg College, second-ranked Augsburg College, third-ranked Luther College, fifth-ranked UW-La Crosse, eighth-ranked North Central College, 17th-ranked UW-Stevens Point, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Whitewater, and St. Olaf College.

UW-Stevens Point is the defending champions of the invitational, winning last year with 111.5 points. Wartburg finished second with 63 points. The Blugolds will look to improve from last year's seventh place finish in the invite.

The Blugolds are led by Derek Sikora (Sr.-Neillsville, WI), at 165 pounds, as he is ranked second in his weight class in Division III with a 15-2 record.

Joey Miller (So.-Lake Tomahawk, WI/Lakeland Union), at 184 pounds, has also been very effective this season. Miller has a record of 17-9 and leads the team in pins with seven.

Justin Mc Auly (Jr.-Clintonville, WI), at 197 pounds, has been hot of late as he has won five of his last six matches.

Wartburg has five wrestlers that are ranked first in each of their weight classes, while Luther has two wrestlers ranked at the top of their weight classes and Augsburg has one.

Wartburg is undefeated this season with a record of 25-0, while Augsburg is 7-3 and is the defending division III national champions. Luther has a record of 13-3-1 and is on a five-match win streak. UW-La Crosse has a record of 8-3 this season, while North Central College is a perfect 7-0 in dual meets this season.

The action gets underway at 9 a.m. Saturday morning in the McPhee Physical Education Center.

- JR -