A Perfect 10 At The Dragon Open

MOORHEAD, Minn.  (12/07/13)—Christian Harrison led a swarm of Cobbers across 8^th street as he won the 184-lb weight class at the MSU Moorhead Dragon Open. Harrison was a part of the group that posted top 5 finishes in all 10 weight classes of the red division reserved for the team's top returning wrestlers.

In an event that was attended by 20 teams and over 250 wrestlers, Concordia's record of top 5 finishes in ever weight classes continues the team's streak of successful multi-team invitationals to start the season.

No.10-ranked Concordia recorded six top 3 finishes including runner-up postings from Jake Krogstad at 165 and Sebastian Gardner at 174. All totaled, the Cobber top 5 finishers came away with 24 wins.

Harrison picked up his second open format championship of the season. He also won the 184-lb title at the Finn Grinaker Cobber Open earlier in the month. Harrison went 3-0 at 187 and upped his season record to a team-best 13-2. He has now won nine straight matches. Harrison started the Dragon Open by beating Dylon Braun of DII St. Cloud State 5-2. He then beat Aero Amo of Augustana 6-5 in the semifinals before coming away with a 7-5 decision over Matthew Lewellen of MSU Moorhead in the championship match.

Krogstad and Gardner were both 3-1 on the day. Krogstad earned a pin in his first bout of the day and then won 5-4 over Christophe Pfarr of the University of Minnesota in the quarterfinals. He then won 6-0 in the semifinals over Justin Bowland from Augsburg before falling 6-2 in the championship against Nicholas Wanzek from the U of M. Krogstad is now 7-4 on the year. Gardner became the third CC wrestler to push his season win total into double digits. Garnder posted a major decision in his first match then won 7-2 over Jack Barnes from St. Cloud State in the quarterfinals. He went on to beat Tom Teigen of Augsburg 4-3 in the semifinals before losing a tough 3-2 decision to John Nething of DI South Dakota State. Gardner is now 11-6 on the season.

Yonas Gebreab had the most wins of any CC wrestler on the day. He won his first match, then dropped his bout in the quarterfinals and then rattled off three straight wins to claim fifth place at 141. Like, Gardner, Gebreab has now won 10-plus matches on the year. He runs his season record to 13-6.

Jacoby Bergeron and Kyle LeDuc were the other three-win wrestlers for Concordia at the Dragon Open. Bergeron went 3-1 and finished third at 133. LeDuc was also 3-1 and came in third place at 157. Bergeron also enters the double-digit win club for the Cobbers and is now 11-5 on the year while LeDuc ups his season record to 13-3.

Delson Saintal was the final top 3 finisher for Concordia. He went 1-1 at 197 and is now 7-7 on the year.

Nationally ranked individuals Jake Long and Cody Kasprick recorded fourth-place finishes at the meet. Long, who is ranked third in DIII, went 2-2 at a very tough 149-lb division while Kasprick, who is sixth in the lastest national rankings, was 1-2 in a stacked 285-lb class. Long is the final member of the team to step into a double digit season win total. He is now 11-5. Kasprick runs his season total to 9-5.

Gabe Foltz rounded out the Cobber top 5 finishers in the red division at the meet. He was 1-1 at 125 and placed fifth.

Concordia also had a pair of freshmen earn fourth-place finishes in the white division at the meet. Shane Undem earned fourth-place honors at 157 and Justice Davis was fourth at 285.  

The Cobbers will step back into dual-meet competition when they host No.4-ranked St. Cloud State on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. The Huskies were runners-up at the Division II national Championship Meet last season.


Concordia Individual Results
125 Red – Gabe Foltz 1-1, 5^th place
133 Red – Jacoby Bergeron 3-1, 3^rd place  
141 Red – Yonas Gebreab 4-1, 5^th place
141 Red – Jake Kostik 0-2
149 Red – Jake Long 2-2, 4^th place
157 Red – Kyle LeDuc 3-1, 3^rd place
157 Red – Ben Cousins 0-2
157 Red – Zach Barber 0-2
157 White – Shane Undem 2-2, 4^th place
157 White – Jake Berens 0-2
165 Red – Jake Krogstad 3-1, 2^nd place
174 Red – Sebastian Gardner 3-1, 2^nd place
174 Red – Dylan Hanson 0-2
174 White – Travis Cripe 0-2
184 Red – Christian Harrison 3-0, 1^st place
197 Red – Delson Saintal 1-1, 3^rd place
197 White – Kyle Willette 0-2
197 White – Tim Wychor 2-2
285 Red – Cody Kasprick 1-2, 4^th place
285 White – Justice Davis 2-2, 4^th place   
285 White – Richy Soto 1-2, 6^th place