STEVENS POINT, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh men's wrestling opened the 2025-26 season at the non-scoring UW-Stevens Point Pointer Open on Saturday (Nov. 1). The Titans collected 26 wins during the meet and claimed eight top-8 finishes.
 
Desmond Walker (Oshkosh/Winneconne) and Roman Martell (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) were Oshkosh's top finishers in the gold brackets, each placing seventh, however neither wrestled in the seventh-place match of their respective brackets because the open was ended due to the length of the meet. At 197-pounds, Walker earned a 20-4 technical fall win over Erik Schmelling and advanced past Augustana College's (Ill.) Conor Phelan on a medical forfeit to reach the seventh-place match. At 285-pounds, Martell posted major decision wins over Preston Krueger and his brother Garth Martell (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West).
 
Jacob Ward (Green Bay/Bay Port) collected a pair of wins that included a 41-second pin of Luther College's (Iowa) Austin Franklin while Logan Harel (Cadott/Cadott), Ryan Bergman (Watertown/Watertown), and Garth Martell (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) all earned a win in their respective brackets.
 
Also competing in gold brackets were Leonardo Ruggiero (Rome, Italy/Madison West), Jacob Hibbard (Mishicot/Mishicot), Joey Spizzirri, and Kyle Rasper (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg).
 
UW-Oshkosh collected the bulk of its top-eight finishes in the silver brackets.
 
Ryan Hanson (McHenry, Ill./McHenry Community) started his collegiate career at 133-pounds with a 4:20 pin of UW-Whitewater's Tyler Tiangco and followed it up with a 17-2 technical fall over Manchester University's (Ind.) Joshua Marlin before advancing to the first-place match by defeating Lane Karsten from UW-Stevens Point, 12-5. He was pinned in 6:14 to force a second-place finish.
 
Also competing at 133-pounds, Nick Jenkins (Kaukauna/Kaukauna) won a pair of major decisions in his first meet in black and gold before dropping a 14-8 decision to move over to the consolation bracket. He then beat Concordia Moorhead's (Minn.) Kaleb Lodahl, 4-1, and won a third-place position by defeating Tiangco, 8-2.
 
At 125-pounds, Nick Ersland (Wisconsin Dells/Wisconsin Dells) won his first two matches with a 3:24 pin of Marian University's Jacob Kaake and a 13-1 major decision over Anthony Strong from Concordia Moorhead. After a loss, he pinned Kaake again (6:36) to reach the third-place match. Ersland was shutout in that match.
 
The Titans' final place winner on Saturday was Nathan Lenz-Messman (Menasha/Menasha), who took fourth at 174-pounds. He collected a 4-0 decision, a 12-11 decision, and a 6:00 fall in his first collegiate meet.
 
Just like the gold brackets, there were still matches to wrestle when the meet was ended, so Garrett Fuller (Vincennes, Ind./North Knox Junior-Senior) was assigned fifth at 184-pounds and Brodie Driessen (West Allis/West Allis Central) was assigned seventh at 285-pounds.
 
Wyatte Nicholson (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty) ad Joe Beavers (Hustisford/Hustisford) each won a match at 141- and 140-pounds in silver brackets while Ben Culver (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg Community), Jeffery Goddard (La Vernia, Texas/La Vernia), Ethan Wusterbarth, Elijah Matzke (Rochester, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran), and Deacon Allen (Plymouth/Plymouth Comprehensive) all went winless.
 
The Titans will remain on the road for their next meet, traveling to face UW-Whitewater on Thursday (Nov. 6) at 7 p.m.