Leaving Las Vegas With Three Wins

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (12/20/14)—No.5-ranked Concordia posted three wins, including a dramatic 21-17 victory over No.4-ranked Coe, in the Desert Duals hosted by Wartburg College in Las Vegas, Nev. The lone loss of the day for the Cobbers came against 4-time defending national champion Wartburg.

The 3-1 record at the Flamingo Hotel ballroom pushes Concordia's season dual-meet record to 6-2. The four dual matches on Sunday were the first against NCAA Division III competition of the year.

The Cobbers breezed to their first two wins on the day. CC rolled Milwaukee School of Engineering 46-6 and then beached Pacific (Ore.) 51-2. Concordia then downed #4 Coe by four points in a match that featured five lead changes and wasn't settled until the final individual bout of the dual. The Cobbers then ran out of gas against the national powerhouse Knights.

Seniors Sebastian Gardner and All-American Jacoby Bergeron led all Concordia wrestlers at the Desert Duals. Both wrestlers were a perfect 4-0 on the day. Gardner, wrestling at 184, pushed his overall record to 13-4. He has now won seven straight matches and hasn't lost to a Division III athlete. Bergeron, who earned All-American honors last season, upped his team-leading win total to 21. He is now 21-6 on the year and has won 10 straight matches. Like Gardner, Bergeron has yet to lose to a DIII wrestler.

Gardner's biggest win on the day came against Ryan Sheldon of Coe. Sheldon came into the match ranked sixth in the latest NWCA Division III rankings. Gardner edged Sheldon 3-2 in one of the best matches of the entire day. Gardner had a pair of pin fall victories in his first two matches and then beat Sheldon before earning a 4-1 decision over Brit Bestow from Wartburg.

Bergeron had a major decision and a technical fall in his first two matches of the day. He then beat Luke Kremer of Wartburg 10-4 and finished the day by scoring a 7-6 decision over Kaz Onoo of Wartburg.

The most dramatic win of the day was turned in by sophomore Justice Davis. Davis scored a pin fall at 285 against Kirk Owens of Coe which sealed the win for the Cobbers. Concordia entered Davis' match trailing the Kohawks 17-15. Davis then seized control of the match from the opening whistle and was able to get the pin at the 4:24 mark to give CC the four-point win at 21-17.

Davis dropped a tough 6-1 decision against No.5-ranked Benjamin Nagle of Wartburg in his only other match of the day.

The Cobbers had three other wrestlers post 3-1 records at the dual meet. Jakob Stageberg, Will McCarthy and Ben Cousins came away with three victories each.

Stageberg, wrestling at 125, won by a technical fall and forfeit in his first two matches and was one of only three CC athletes to win against Wartburg. Stageberg, who continues to impress in his first collegiate season, beat Jake Agnitsch of Wartburg 5-4 to stake Concordia to an early 3-0 lead against the Knights. Stageberg is now 18-8 on the year and has the second most wins on the team.

McCarthy turned in another group of stellar performances at 133. His biggest win of the day came against Brady Ruden of Coe. McCarthy pinned Ruden at 1:35 to give the Cobbers a huge six team points in the dual. McCarthy also had a pin fall against Pacific and scored an 11-5 decision in his first match of the day against Milwaukee School of Engineering. McCarthy is now 10-8 on the year.

Cousins has been having a stellar season at 157 in his first season as a starter. He started the Desert Duals by posting an 11-0 major decision win against his opponent from MSOE. Cousins then pinned his next foe in the team's win over Pacific before coming away with a big victory against Brody Beck of Coe in the Cobbers' upset win over the Kohawks. With his three wins on the day, Cousins upped his season win total to 13. He had 14 wins in all of last season. 

Concordia will have a two-week break for the Christmas holiday before returning to action on Saturday, Jan. 3 when they square off against NCAA Division II opponent Augustana (S.D.). The Vikings are 5-1 in dual meets this year and are currently ranked 16th in the latest Division II poll.