A strong outing can jump-start any slump.

While newly crowned All-American Nathaniel Behnke defined his season by that, the UW-Eau Claire wrestling team, which has placed last in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference the past two seasons, is hoping that it too can become quickly competitive after sending two wrestlers to Nationals for the first time since the 2002-2003 season.

Behnke placed fifth at 141 pounds to cap off a strong freshman season and become the first Blugold All-American since the 2009-2010 season. Junior Mat Rieckhoff also wrestled in the 184 weight class at the National Meet March 15 and 16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, before bowing out due to a hamstring injury he suffered in his first round match.

After starting out the year struggling with a 4-4 record, Behnke said he changed his mindset and exploded to a 44-13 overall record.

“I never thought nationals was in my reach,” he said. “But something switched in my head and my wrestling and I came back and started winning all of these matches.”

Behnke had to flip a switch at the national meet, as well.  He lost in his first round match and had to pretty much win-out to garner All-American status, which is handed out to the top eight places in each weight class.

“I knew I was good enough to place,” Behnke said. “I was like ‘I want to stay and I really want to make this next step.’”

After losing his first round match, he went on to win four in a row before falling in the third-place semi-final match.  In the fifth-place match, he took down the top-seed Joseph Grippi of Springfield College (Ma.) in what his coach thought was one of the best matches he’s wrestled.

“He was fortunate enough to catch the guy where he could get back points,” said Jon Ames, Blugold wrestling coach. “From there he just smelt blood in the water and kept attacking and never looked back.”

Rieckhoff had to flip a switch as well to overcome a different slump, the injury bug.  He battled back problems all year and was forced to forfeit or sit out of a few meets during the season, but it didn’t stop him from his ultimate goal of qualifying for Nationals.

“It didn’t inhibit my ability to wrestle, but it was definitely there and it was also mentally draining,” Rieckhoff said of his injury. “But I was able to refocus and re-evaluate my goals and train harder than I ever have.”

His hard work paid off, as he placed third at the regional meet to get himself a qualifying spot for the National Meet.

During his opening match, he tore a muscle in his hamstring and was forced to sit out the rest of the tournament, forfeiting his second match to  finish his season with a 26-15 record.  Even though he didn’t finish his matches, he said the experience was eye-opening and will get him ready for next season.

“Being down there was huge,” he said. “That was a whole new level.”

Both wrestlers thought that their Nationals trip was successful and could also jump-start the team and turn the program around.

“I think it’s going to help out our team in the future,” Behnke said.  “Hopefully area wrestlers will be like ‘Oh, Eau Claire’s having success and maybe we should go to their school and wrestle.’”

With Behnke and Rieckhoff finishing their seasons at the highest stage in Div. III college wrestling, the Blugolds have a lot of optimism moving into the future.

“We’ve had some down years,” Ames said.  “But now that we have the ability to send people to nationals and do well on that stage, it’s really going to help us show our potential.”