In a closely contested match, UW-Platteville defeated the Blugold wrestling team 21-12 Saturday at McPhee.

Senior heavyweight Pete Peterson recorded the largest victory of the dual meet.

His 5-0 decision over Platteville’s Jason Glowdoski gave Eau Claire a 12-9 lead with four matches remaining.

The Pioneers defeated the ‘Golds in all four matches by a total of only seven points.

“The matches were even closer than the scores showed in many cases,” head coach Don Parker said.

The closest match of the day came at the 125-pound weight class.

Platteville’s Brian Olson, who is ranked among the best in NCAA Div. III, narrowly defeated sophomore Davey Starks 3-2.

Sophomore Adam Kolo said the close match against the tough opponent was a confidence booster for Starks.

“(Starks) knows that he can beat that guy some day,” Kolo said.

The next time Starks will have an opportunity to wrestle Olson will be at the WIAC tournament Feb. 18 in Stevens Point.

Parker said Platteville will be a team Eau Claire will compete with at the conference meet.

“They’re a team I think we can contend with for the conference race,” he said.

Parker also noted that several Blugold wrestlers were not as fit as they could be for the match because of recent injuries or illnesses.

Freshman Jon Watson, who lost a 9-7 decision to Mark Shea, recently came off a bout with mononucleosis, Parker said.

Besides Peterson, two other Blugolds picked up victories.

Junior Ryan Hayden started the dual with a 6-4 victory for Eau Claire in the 157-pound weight class.

The other Blugold victory came in the 184-pound weight class that Kolo won by forfeit.

The grapplers will face more tough competition Saturday when they travel to La Crosse to take on the Eagles and UW-Whitewater.

UW-La Crosse is the second-ranked team in the nation, Parker said. “Any team is beatable on any given day,” he said. “I think we’ll match up pretty good with (Whitewater).”

Kolo said the team should do well if each wrestler goes into his match and wrestles as hard as he can.

“I think that we should beat (Whitewater),” he said. “We can’t be intimidated by (La Crosse).”