The Oshkosh Titans host the Platteville Pioneers in a WIAC showdown. Platteville has more wins historically and won the last meeting 45-3. I expect this matchup to be much closer. This is Platteville’s first competition of 2025. The Titans dualed Whitewater Saturday. This is a battle for the low man of the conference, but the bar is much higher than last year. Both teams are much improved and I don’t expect any forfeits. I’m a rising tide raises all boats type of guy and want to see every school in Wisconsin thrive. A feast not famine mentality is growing through the state and we are starting to reap the benefits nationally.
Our hosting Titans are 0-6 so far this season. A bad loss that sounds out to me is Harper College of the NJCAA. The WIAC schools should have enough resources to pound JUCO schools, even though JUCO offers scholarships. The Titans hit a stretch of winnable duals facing the Pioneers, MSOE Raiders and Lakeland Muskies. I expect them to get at least one win. The team is buying what Coach Konitzer is selling, culture is growing and when they break through the win column I expect them to stay there. Oshkosh showed they can have individual success with Guyton’s Cinderella story last year.
The Pioneers come to town with a 0-3 record to town. Someone’s 0 gotta go. I love matchups like this. The dual is a toss up with conference braggin rights and pride on the line. Platteville took a couple of early season smeshings, but was competitive with Stevens Point in their last outing. With the skimpiest schedule in the WIAC and a weather cancellation, this is the Pioneers best chance to win this season. They have a good chance to do it, but will need to be on their A game.
Tonight’s probables and predictions:
125: Chris Karbash PLAT over JP Culver OSH pin fall 6-0
- Chris has been off to a good start this season and is coming off a fall over Stevens Point. He is a good spark plug for the Pioneers and is ranked 6th nationally. JP has won this season, but will have an uphill battle here. Keys to a great program are on the bookends. If you can have a solid 125 and 285 that’s big time points.
133: Andrew Schad OSH over Brady Grennen PLAT decision 6-3
- Andrew Schad is the team leader on wins for the Titans and ranked 7th regionally. He will swing the momentum back in the Titan’s favor and get the crowd fired up. Grennan is a tough freshman from Illinois, but not ready for Schad, yet.
141: Logan Harel OSH over Garrett Marks PLAT decision 6-6
- In a matchup of Wisconsin preps, I give the nod to the Junior from Cadott. Marks is having a decent freshman campaign but will take some growing pains going through the WIAC. I don’t see the separation being big and expect this to be a close one.
149: Trent DuMont PLAT over Leonardo Ruggiero OSH decision 9-6
- The Junior from Illinois DuMont should be able to get the job done. He is coming off a nice win over Stevens Point and has shown more this year than Leo. Bringing an international style Ruggiero is dangerous, but doesn’t have the tools in the toolbox to secure the win.
157: David Cushman PLAT over Jacob Hibbard OSH pinfall 15-6
- Cushman is the leader of the Pioneers and ranked third regionally. He can put up bonus points, especially if he smells blood in the water. Unfortunately, Hibbard has given up his fair share of bonus this season and is at risk here. If he can keep it close that is valuable for the Titans.
165: Blake Delsman PLAT over Ryan Bergman OSH decision 18-6
- In a matchup of Wisconsin preps the upperclassmen Delsman gets the nod. Experience matters, especially in a tight match. Putting the mat time in and figuring out how things work at the collegiate level is necessary. Some kids now are coming in right away and even capable to win in high school. In the WIAC most kids still need some time before diving into the deep end. For instance, there were no freshman national champions in the NCAA Division three level last season, they are few and far between.
174: Kyle Rasper OSH over Grant Boddicker PLAT decision 18-9
- Kyle is a sophomore from Illinois and will stop the bleeding for the Titans. Boddicker comes to Platteville via Iowa. Both historically powerful wrestling states were overcome by Wisconsin recently. Will we get more recruits to cross the border now that we are the best wrestling state in the Midwest?
184: Cole Smith PLAT over Elijah Matzke OSH decision 21-9
- Cole comes to Platteville from Fairfax, Iowa and is in his sophomore campaign. Platteville hasn’t competed a ton so there is not much besides a gut feeling that Cole rides the momentum and finds a way to win here. Matzke is a freshman from Minnesota. Another battle of out of state recruits is interesting. There are many changes happening everyday in collegiate wrestling. I hope the WIAC continues to have full and booming wrestling rosters.
197: Roman Martel OSH over Kain Killmer PLAT pinfall 21-15
- Oshkosh meat and potatoes of the lineup are in the heavy weights. Led by 9th regionally ranked wrestler Roman Martel they begin the comeback here. Roman finds a way to get the pin and gives the crowd some life back. Killmer the Iowa freshman is tough, but tonight is not his night.
285: Camden Harms OSH over Alex Ashauer PLAT pinfall 21-21
- In the premier weight class Camden steals the show and the dual for the Titans. We know when a heavyweight gets on top of the other one in a fall situation it can be hard to survive. Camden knows how to get into these situations and how to get his hand raised. Ask some nerd to dig through the handbook and tell you who wins. The teams have equal pins and it gets dicey from there. Let’s say the hometown Titans win by criteria F.
Thank you for reading this far. I will leave you with some words from Johni DiJulius “Most people think you need confidence before executing or trying. I believe the opposite. I believe confidence is a reward you get for trying. Effort must come first. The confidence is earned after trying.”