LA CROSSE, Wis. – Logan Hermsen (Amherst Junction, WI/Amherst) capped his senior season with his second-consecutive National Championship in the 165 weight class. Hermsen won by a 4-2 sudden victory with a takedown for the title at the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Saturday in La Crosse.   Sophomore Donny Ralston (Ladysmith, WI/Bruce) placed sixth at nationals to earn his first All-America nod in the 285 weight class.
 
Final Brackets | Day 1 Recap

Hermsen started his title defense match against Johnson and Wales' Stephen Jarrell with a scoreless first period.  Hermsen chose the down position to begin the second period and promptly escaped for the first point of the match.  After a Jarrell takedown, Hermsen quickly escaped again to tie the match at 2-2.  Following a scoreless third period, the title match went to sudden victory where he recorded a two-point takedown to repeat as National Champion.

In the championship semifinals, Hermsen struck first with a first period takedown of Messiah's Larry Cannon.  After taking the down position to start the second, Hermsen escaped to go ahead 3-1.  Later in the period, he escaped again to send the match to the third period tied at 4-4.  With just under 30 seconds remaining, Hermsen got two points for a takedown and added two more on a near fall to advance with an 8-4 decision.
 
Ralston won his first match of the day over Ithaca's Jake O'Brien.  He scored the first point of the match on a stalling call.  Then in the second period, he got a point on an escape and another for opponent stalling.  The match went to overtime and after falling behind 4-3, Ralston got two points on a reversal for the victory, 5-4.
 
In his next match, Ralston dropped a 6-3 decision to the second-seed Lance Evans of Wartburg.  Ralston earned two points on a reversal and another for opponent locked hands to tie the match at 3-3.  A late flurry by Evans sent Ralston to the fifth-place match.
 
Ralston took on Oneonta's James Bethel for fifth place.  Bethel jumped in front 6-0 with a takedown and near fall as Ralston avoided the fall.  Ralston was awarded a point for stalling and two for a reversal to close within 6-3.  He earned two more points with a take down and another from opponent stall, but could not complete the comeback in an 8-6 loss.
 
Hermsen ends his UWSP career with 107 wins including a 35-2 record this season.  He becomes the first repeat National Champion for UWSP wrestling since Perry Miller in 1997 and 1998.  Ralston is the first UWSP All-American at heavyweight since Mike Hayes in 2006. He ends the year with a 38-12 record, breaking the UWSP single-season record for wins, and his 12 falls on the year is second only to Hermsen for the Pointers.