Royal Purple

Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Joy Kowald Warhawk sophomore Austin Bautista pins down an opponent in Saturday's Border Brawl. Bautista went undefeated in the meet, raising his record to 19-5.

Citizens of Wisconsin and Illinois have spent years arguing about football and baseball.

Now they can add wrestling to the debate.

The Warhawk wrestling team, ranked No. 10 in the country, went 3-1 at Saturday's Border Brawl, an eight-team dual tournament that matched four Wisconsin schools against four Illinois schools. UW-Whitewater, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Oshkosh and Lakeland College represented Wisconsin, while Elmhurst College, Augustana College, North Central College and the University of Chicago made up the Illinois teams. Each school faced only the four teams from the other state.

UW-Stevens Point claimed the Border Brawl championship with a 4-0 mark.

The 'Hawks Austin Bautista, ranked No. 5 in the nation at the 141-pound weight class, went 4-0 for the day, pushing his record to 23-5.

"I wrestled really well because I kind of opened up a lot," Bautista said. "I found my move on the mat, so it was a good day."

UW-Whitewater cruised through the first two rounds, knocking off the University of Chicago 25-13, and then demolishing Augustana, 42-2.

The competition stiffened in the third round, when UW-Whitewater squared off against the Elmhurst College Blue Jays.

The 'Hawks already trailed the Blue Jays 16-9 when UW-Whitewater's Rob Schoner faced Elmhurst's Greg Horn in the 174-pound bout. Schoner fell behind 4-0 early in the first period, but his relentless attacks wore down Horn's defense en route to a 7-5 comeback victory.

Schoner's win helped the 'Hawks gain some momentum in the round's final matches, as 184-pounder Mike Schmidt and 197-pounder Jason Johnson both scored victories to seal the dual for UW-Whitewater.

In the final dual of the round-robin, the 'Hawks took four of the first five matches from the North Central Cardinals. However, the Cardinals struck back, winning four straight bouts to take a 19-14 lead.

In the final match at heavyweight, the 'Hawks Sean Evans faced Rod Knowlton, needing a pin to earn six team points and help UW-Whitewater end the day undefeated.

Evans couldn't pick up the pin, but controlled Knowlton for the duration of the match, earning a 5-2 decision.

Asked if he felt any extra pressure to save the team, Evans said that Head Coach Tim Fader put his mind at ease.

"We should have won our last dual," Evans said. "But I didn't have that pressure at all. The coaches told me not to worry about it, and just go out and wrestle."

The Warhawk grapplers next hit the mat Saturday at 2 p.m. in Wheaton, Ill., for the Wheaton Invite.

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