A Second Straight Top 3 Finish At The National Duals
Concordia posted its second straight top 3 finish at the National Duals as they edged No.3-ranked Wabash (Ind.) and placed third at the meet.
FT. WAYNE, Ind. (1/10/15)—Concordia loves the National Duals Tournament. The No.4-ranked Cobbers posted their second straight top 3 finish at the prestigious Mat Mayhem National Duals Meet as they beat No.3-ranked Wabash (Ind.) to finish in third place.
Concordia finished second at last year's national duals and continued their national success at this year's tournament by beating three teams ranked in the top 20 of Division III, including two in the top 5. CC went 3-1 at the Mat Mayhem event and improves to 9-4 in dual meets this season. The four losses have come at the hands of a pair of top-ranked NCAA Division squads and the top 2 teams in Division III.
The Cobbers came within a takedown of pulling off one of the biggest upsets in program history as they lost by a mere five points against No.1-ranked Wis.-Whitewater in the semifinals. Concordia had a chance to win the team dual in the final individual bout at 285. CC entered the last match against the Warhawks trailing 20-18 with a win by decision giving Concordia the upset victory. In one of the most thrilling matches of the entire tournament, Cobber sophomore Justice Davis came up one point shy against the No.8-ranked wrestler in the country. The match finished at 11-10 which is one of the highest scoring 285-lb matches of the entire season.
Concordia got into the pot for an upset behind wins from senior Will McCarthy at 133, No.6-ranked Jacoby Bergeron at 141, No.5-ranked Jake Krogstad at 165 and Sebastian Gardner at 174. The Cobbers led Whitewater 18-14 after Gardner's win but then dropped the final two bouts of the dual.
The Cobbers refused to let their heartbreaking loss to Whitewater carry over to the third-place match against No.3-ranked Wabash. Concordia won six individual matches against the Little Giants including the final two bouts which turned a 19-12 deficit into a 21-19 thrilling comeback victory.
The Concordia lighter weights staked the Cobbers to a 9-0 lead but it was the two Cobber heavyweights which closed out the win.
The biggest of the win the entire weekend came from senior Danny Pike at 197. Pike stepped into the starting lineup after an injury sidelined CC's regular. Pike didn't let the chance go a-begging as he posted a pin fall in the first period. The six points earned for the pin got Concordia within one point at 19-18 and set the stage for Davis at 285.
Davis, who also had the match-clinching win in the Cobbers' victory over No.5-ranked Mount Union on Friday, didn't let a second opportunity for a team win go by. Unlike the match with Whitewater, Davis was in charge and came away with the one-point win. The huge win also pushed Davis' season total to 20 as he becomes the third CC wrestler to win 20 matches on the year.
McCarthy, Bergeron and Krogstad also posted wins against the Little Giants. Freshman Jakob Stageberg returned to his winning ways by claiming an 8-3 victory at 125. Stageberg had his six-match win streak ended against Whitewater. He is now 22-9 on the season.
McCarthy's two wins on Saturday up his season record to 13-10.
Concordia's two nationally ranked wrestlers, Bergeron and Krogstad, continue to get in top form for regionals and the national meet. Bergeron has been the hottest Cobber wrestler in 2015. He went 2-0 on Saturday to earn his 15th straight victory. He is now 25-6 on the season. Krogstad has wrestled against top DI and II competition all season long and it is starting to pay off at the DIII level. He won all four matches on the weekend and has won six of his last eight bouts.
While Bergeron's win streak continued, another Cobber had his extended string come to an end. Gardner lost 5-3 to the No.2-ranked wrestler in DIII against Wabash which ended an 11-match win string. Gardner went 3-1 at the national duals including a pin fall against the wrestler from Whitewater who was ranked ninth in the nation. Gardner is now 17-4 for the year.
Concordia will stay with their dual meet schedule when they compete against former conference foe St. Olaf on Friday, Jan. 16 in Northfield at 7 p.m.