Chippewa Valley Times

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire wrestling team announced its team award winners for the 2023-24 season during a banquet held on Saturday.

Tristan Massie and Connor Collins, both seniors, were recognized with two awards each. They shared the Ricky Gonzales Teammate Award. Massie also received the Never Better Award, while Collins was honored with the Most Improved Award. Additionally, Massie was one of five recipients of the Move Well Award alongside Preston Carlisle, Ryder Depies, Ryan Goddard, and Jan Hernandez-Soto.

Jared Stricker was named Team MVP. Tyler Fleetwood won the Hardest Worker Award. Carter Melton received the Gary Sedelbauer Fight & Joy Award. Sloan Welch earned Rookie of the Year honors and shared the Hammer Award for most falls with Stricker.

The Blugolds achieved significant success this season by winning a share of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) title for the first time in their history. The team had three WIAC champions: Izzy Balsiger, Stricker, and Collins. They finished fifth at nationals aided by four All-Americans: Zach Sato, Massie, Stricker, and Niall Schoenfelder. Notably, Stricker secured a national championship at 174 pounds.

The team also celebrated academic achievements with ten Scholar All-Americans this season: Carlisle, Collins, Jon Harvey, Hernandez-Soto, Massie, Ian Pepple, Sato, Schoenfelder, Colton Sund and Welch.