Muskego's Quartullo Earns Conference Title for UW-Whitewater Wrestling

2018 Feb 12

Austin Quartullo, a native of Muskego, WI, graduate of Muskego High School and member of the No. 8 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling team, was one of four of the team's conference champions last Friday at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship (Presented by Culver's) at Kachel Gymnasium in Whitewater.

The Warhawks rode four individual titles to a second-place finish.

Seniors Austin Quartullo (Muskego, Wis./Muskego), Jordan Newman (Blaine, MN/St. John's Military Academy), sophomores Hazen Rice (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) and Mike Tortorice (Wauconda, Ill./Carmel) each captured championships in their respective brackets.

The Warhawks tallied 118 team points, trailing only UW-La Crosse, which posted 143 points.

Quartullo posted his first career WIAC title at 149 pounds, outlasting UW-Stevens Point's Luke Smiley in a 5-1 decision in the first-place bout. He finished 2-0 for the day to push his record to 21-9 for the year.

At 197 pounds, Newman earned one pin and one decision on his way to the championship match, where he defeated UW-La Crosse's Wesley Schultz, who is ranked third in the nation by D3wrestle.com and fourth by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, in a 14-2 major decision. The nation's consensus top-ranked wrestler at 197, Newman earned 10 first-period points en route to his second career conference title.

Rice grabbed an early lead with a four-point near fall in the first period and hung on for an 11-9 decision over Josh Stenger of UW-La Crosse at 133 pounds. He finished 3-0 for the day after entering the week ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division III by D3wrestle.com.

At 125 pounds, Tortorice took down Ben Vosters in the first overtime for a 7-5 decision by sudden victory to pick up the title. He is now 27-3 for the season and is ranked seventh by D3wrestle.com and eighth by the NWCA.

All four are set to compete at the NCAA Upper Midwest Regional Championships on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 23-24, at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minn.