All-American Character Leads To Win At St. John's

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (2/16/13)—Concordia's senior All-Americans showed their Cobber character as they turned a six-point deficit into a one-point win in the final matches of CC's dual at St. John's. Concordia won the first three matches and then the final two bouts to outfight the No.18-ranked Johnnies 17-16.

The No.21-ranked Cobbers trailed 16-10 heading into the final two matches of the night but then got wins from Nathan Schmitz and Tom Bouressa to tie the match at 16-16 and then Concordia earned the one point decision for total team points.

The dual was a bookend story for the Cobbers who up their dual-meet record to 8-5 on the year. Concordia won the first three matches and the last two matches of the meet. In between, St. John's won five straight to take, what seemed like, an insurmountable 16-10 lead. However, with a pair of All-Americans at the back end of their line-up Concordia is never out of a dual and Schmitz and Bouressa showed off their pedigree by coming away with the match-deciding wins.

Schmitz needed to go to overtime to earn a 3-1 win at 197. He got a takedown in the extra period to pick up his fifth straight win. He is now 12-3 since returning to the lineup in January. Bouressa, who is ranked fourth at 285, completely dominated the final bout of the night. He scored a 6-0 win and has not given up a point in his last two matches. Bouressa is now 21-3 on the year as he continues his trek for a second All-American honor.

Concordia bolted to a 10-0 lead out of the gate after the first three matches. Will McCarthy and Chase Austvold earned wins by a decision while Jacoby Bergeron scored the only bonus-point win for CC in the meet. McCarthy put the Cobbers on the board with a 4-1 win at 125. McCarthy has started to find his way in the second half of his second collegiate wrestling season. After starting the year 4-8, he has won eight of his last nine matches and is now 12-9 on the year. Bergeron followed the opening-match win with a 16-3 major decision victory at 133. Bergeron was never pushed as he also won his eighth match in the last nine outings. Austvold capped the trio of wins with a 5-2 decision at 141. Austvold, the lone freshman in the CC lineup, is now 16-13 on the season and has won two straight matches.

The Cobbers will now have a two-week break before competing in the NCAA West Regional on Saturday, Mar. 2 at Augsburg College beginning at 9 a.m.  

Final Score:
#21 Concordia-Moorhead 17 at #18 St. John's 16
Date: February 16, 2013
Location: Collegeville, Minn.
Arena: Sexton Arena
Start Time: 5 p.m.
End Time: 6:35 p.m.
Total Time: 1:35

Individual Match Results:                                                                            
125 – Will McCarthy (CC) dec. Sammy Roundtree (SJU); 4-1
133 – Jacoby Bergeron (CC) maj. dec. Dalton Sowers (SJU); 16-3
141 – Chase Austvold (CC) dec. Evan Guffey (SJU); 5-2
149 – Chris Stevermer (SJU) dec. Jake Long (CC); 3-2
157 – Ryan Arne (SJU) dec. Kevin Fynboh (CC); 6-1
165 – Nick Schuler (SJU) maj. dec. Josten Coleman (CC); 16-8
174 – Josh Willaert (SJU) dec. Sebastian Gardner (CC); 13-10
184 – Mitch Hagen (SJU) dec. Chris Harrison (CC); 2-1
197 – Nathan Schmitz (CC) dec. Ryan Michaelis (SJU); 3-1 OT
285 – Tom Bouressa (CC) dec. John Scepaniak (SJU); 6-0                    

Note – Concordia is awarded a team point, and the win (17-16), for having a 51-42 edge in total points.

Match Notes:
- Concordia is ranked 21^st in the latest NWCA Division III poll.
- #24 Concordia is now 8-5 in dual meets this season.
- St. John's is ranked 18^th in the latest NWCA Division III poll.
- St. John's is now 8-6 in dual meets this season.
- Concordia has now won five of its last six dual meets.
- Both teams won five individual matches.
- Concordia outscored St. John's 51-42 in the match.
- Concordia won the first three individual matches in the dual and the last two.
- St. John's won five straight matches.
- Both teams won four matches by a decision and one by maj. decision
- Concordia senior Tom Bouressa is currently ranked fourth in DIII and earned his 21^st win of the year. He is now 21-3.