6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
May 21, 1999
The Marquette wrestling team celebrated its 50th anniversary this season with one of its most successful campaigns in recent history. The Golden Eagles finished the season with an 11-10 record, the most wins for MU in current head coach Jim Schmitzs 10 seasons. Marquettes Peter Butville also won the NCAA East Regional at 165 pounds, becoming the first Marquette wrestler to win an NCAA Regional competition since Billy Kumprey won the 167-pound title at the NCAA West Regional in 1993.
The 1998-99 season was a success for Marquette both as a team and on an individual basis. In addition to Butvilles win at the East Regional, the Golden Eagles won six other individual titles at various tournaments. As a team, the 11 wins this season coupled with MUs ten wins the previous year gave the Golden Eagles back-to-back double-digit victory seasons for the first time since the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons.
One of the main reasons for that team success was the performance of Butville throughout the season. The sophomore posted a 28-7 record and was 12-1 in dual match competition. His lone loss came to Joe Hesckett of Iowa State, who went through the season undefeated and was seeded first in the NCAA Tournament. Heading into the East Regionals, Butville was the No. 1 seed and proved he deserved it, winning three matches to claim the title at 165 pounds. At the NCAA Championships, Butville lost a 9-4 decision to the eventual runner-up, Rodney Jones of Oklahoma, in the first round.
Another MU wrestler that had a spectacular season was junior Neil Posmer, the teams MVP. Posmer led the team in victories and pinfalls, recording a 36-6 record and 15 pins. Posmer was also the No. 1 seed heading into the NCAA Regionals but he lost a tight 9-8 decision to Doug Cieleski in the finals. Posmer did win the 157-pound title at the Concordia Open in the beginning of the season. He also finished second at the Wisconsin Open and third at the Wheaton Invite. The Algonquin, Ill., native also made history during the season. He recorded his 100th career victory late in the season and finished the year with 105 career wins.
Marquettes winning record as a team was due in large part to a hot streak at the end of the season. The Golden Eagles finished the year by winning six of their final eight matches including a four-match winning streak from Feb. 11-14 in which MU defeated Lawrence, Duquesne, Eastern Michigan and Capital University.
MU was successful in the classroom as well this season. The Golden Eagles were one of 25 teams named to the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Academic Team. Marquette finished 12th as a team with a combined 2.957 gpa, just percentage points behind teams like Harvard, Duke and Northwestern.
