EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Jacob Moore came back to avenge two earlier losses and pinned four opponents to finish fifth at the NCAA Division III Region VII Championships on Saturday. He was one of two Wildcats to finish on the podium, after Ethan Ensrud placed seventh. 

The two medalists are Linfield's first since the 'Cats inaugural 2022-23 NCAA season, when Jacob Barnes placed fifth and Micah Worthington finished eighth. 

"These two have been leaders for us most of the season, and they showed up this weekend and were battling hard in every match," said Wildcat coach Frank Johnson. "I couldn't be prouder of these two." 

Moore, a senior from Silverton, had an up-and-down season battling injuries. But he was ready in Wisconsin. 

After dropping his opening match at 125 pounds to Thomas Holmquist of St. Johns (Minn.), Moore ripped off three consecutive wins by pin to advance to the consolation semifinals. One of the pins was over TJ Turner from Pacific, who has consistently been in close matches with Moore for the past few seasons. The two split their matches in the two dual meets this year between Linfield and Pacific, with each claiming a win on their home floor. 

"These guys know each other so well, all the way back to high school and youth wrestling," Johnson said. "So what a dramatic final match it was, with one of them ending the college career of the other. TJ had won the last match not even two weeks ago, so Jacob coming back like that showed real heart." 

In the fifth-place final, Moore then earned a rematch with Holmquist from St. Johns. Having lost the opening match by major decision, Moore didn't leave anything to chance in the rematch — pinning Holmquist with one second left in the first round. 

"This is the best I've ever seen Jacob wrestle," Johnson said. "You want to finish your career on a peak, and he certainly did." 

Ensrud, seeded fifth at 184 pounds, received an opening-round bye  before dropping a 4-1 heartbreaker in the quarterfinals to Easton Hull of WIsconsin-Stevens Point. He bounced back on the consolation side of the bracket with a 26-13 major decision win over London Kiser of Carthage (Wis.).

In the medal rounds, Ensrud drew #1 seed (and nationally fourth-ranked) Tate Flege of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The junior from Canby kept it close most of the match, before ultimately dropping a 10-2 major decision to Flege. 

In the seventh-place final, Ensrud then dominated start-to-finish in a 20-1 tech fall over Alton Mulllinax of Aurora (Ill.). He finished with a 26-6 record on the season — and a remarkable 21 of the wins came by major decision, tech fall or pin. 

"Ethan had a special season, one of the best in Linfield's history, so it was appropriate that he finished in such dominant fashion," Johnson said. "He competed most of the season up a weight class at 197, and was consistently tough on every opponent he faced." 

Three other Wildcats made it Friday evening to the "blood round" — one win away from placing. 

Max Vander Meide earned his way into the high-stakes round at 133 pounds with a 15-0 tech fall win over Tyson Bruce of Augustana (Ill.). It was the McMinnville junior's career-high 1fifth win on the season. 

"Max, along with some of our other guys like Jacob and like Lucien Lefebvre, Julian Ortiz and Alex Tapia, have been stalwarts of this program almost from the time we became an NCAA program," Johnson said. "I'm so thankful of all they've done to put Linfield on the wrestling map." 

At 174 pounds, Trey Dieringer pinned William Hittinger of Augustana in the opening round before falling in the quarterfinals to #3 seed (and 12th-ranked) Carson Trotzer of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. 

On the consolation side, he fell behind early before roaring back in the third round against Maxwell Schmitt of Carthage (Wis.). He pushed Schmitt, who was called for stalling multiple times late in the match, before the Carthage wrestler ultimately pulled out a 16-14 win. 

Freshman heavyweight Camden Roofener earned his way into the blood round with a dramatic 6-4 win over Roman Martell from Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Trailing by a single point as the clock wound down, Roofener was able to secure a takedown with one second left to claim the win. Wisconsin-Oshkosh coaches challenged the call, which went to video review before being sustained. 

"All the wrestlers we brought competed this year, and really had chances to win most matches," said Johnson. "That wasn't always the case in the last couple of years. We're a new NCAA program and just developing. It's great to see the progress against these Midwest teams, which are some of the best in all of Division III." 

RESULTS: 

125: 
Thomas Holmquist (St. Johns) won by major decision over Jacob Moore (Linfield), 22-13
Jacob Moore (Linfield) pinned Elijah Torres (Concordia University Wisconsin), 1:29
Jacob Moore (Linfield) pinned TJ Turner (Pacific), 2:15
Jacob Moore (Linfield) pinned Hunter Mars (Concordia College Minnesota), 2:17
Keno Vanier (Augsburg) won by major decision over Jacob Moore (Linfield), 20-6
fifth-place final: Jacob Moore (Linfield) pinned Thomas Holmquist (St. Johns), 2:59 

133: 
Wyatt Magolski (Wisconsin-La Crosse) pinned Max Vander Meide (Linfield), 1:20
Max Vander Meide (Linfield) won by tech fall over Tyson Bruce (Augustana College), 15-0
Tyler Evitts (Aurora University) won by tech fall over Max Vander Meide (Linfield), 22-4

149: 
Alex Morales (Milwaukee School of Engineering) won by tech fall over Damon Gasilos (Linfield), 17-2
Aidan Ruddy (Concordia College Minnesota) won by decision over Damon Gasilos (Linfield), 17-12

165: 
#2 Tanner Gerber (Wisconsin-La Crosse) won by tech fall over Lucien Lefebvre (Linfield), 17-2
Nicholas Ankeny (Concordia College Minnesota) won by major decision over Lucien Lefebvre (Linfield), 11-2 

174: 
Trey Dieringer (Linfield) pinned William Hittinger (Augustana College), 2:28
#12 Carson Trotzer (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) won by tech fall over Trey Dieringer (Linfield), 17-1 
Maxwell Schmitt (Carthage College) won by decision over Trey Dieringer (Linfield), 16-14

184: 
Easton Hull (WIsconsin-Stevens Point) won by decision over Ethan Ensrud (Linfield), 4-1
Ethan Ensrud (Linfield) won by major decision over London Kiser (Carthage College), 26-13
#4 Tate Flege (Wisconsin-La Crosse) won by major decision over Ethan Ensrud (Linfield), 10-2 
seventh-place final: Ethan Ensrud (Linfield) won by tech fall over Alton Mullinax (Aurora University), 20-1  

HWT: 
#10 Sloan Welch (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) won by major decision over Camden Roofener (Linfield), 12-1
Camden Roofener (Linfield) won by decision over Roman Martell (Wisconsin-Oshkosh), 6-4 
Diego Morales (Lakeland University) pinned Camden Roofener (Linfield), 3:21

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