Experience Pays Dividends In NCAA 1st Session

HERSHEY, Pa. (3/13/15)—The first session of the NCAA Division III National Meet went pretty much according to seed for the Cobbers but the route to the finish line was a little bumpier that expected.

Concordia pushed three wrestlers into the quarterfinals after the opening session of the national meet. The six other national qualifiers will have to make their way through the wrestlebacks in order to earn All-American honors.

The three Cobber wrestlers with Division III National Meet experience all advanced to the quarterfinals of this year's NCAA Meet. All-American Jacoby Bergeron earned a pair of overtime wins at 141 while Jake Krogstad earned a 4-2 decision at 165 and Sebastian Gardner won in OT at 174.

Bergeron provided the most dramatic moments of the first session. He entered the day seeded third in his weight class and had to wrestle in one of the opening "pigtail" matches. Bergeron fell behind early and was nearly put on his back for a near fall but he was able to recover and force overtime in the third period with a takedown.

Bergeron then proved his All-American status by coming up with a pin fall in the first sudden death OT period. His pin at 7:26 gave Concordia three team points and put the Cobbers in the lead of the NCAA team standings.

Bergeron would have to go to overtime in his Round of 16 match. He squared off against Bryant Roby of Mount Union and neither wrestler went on the offensive for the bout. Both wrestlers earned a single point for an escape at the start of the second and third periods and the match went to overtime. Neither athlete was able to come up with a takedown in the sudden victory portion of OT. Bergeron then held Roby down in the first tie-breaker period and then scored the match-winning escape midway through the second tie-breaker period.

Bergeron is now 37-6 on the year and has won 26 straight matches. He remains unbeaten against NCAA Division III opponents and needs two more wins to break the school record for wins in a single season.

Bergeron will face No.6-seeded Nick Steger of Loras in the quarterfinals. The winner will advance to the semifinals and be assured of All-American honors.

Krogstad earned his 4-2 win over Francisco Colom of Roger Williams in the second period when he refused to allow Colom to get the escape. Krogstad earned nearly 2-minutes of riding time and took a 3-2 advantage into the third period and then earned the bonus point because of riding time.

Krogstad will square off against No.4-seeded Tyler Schnieder of Wis.-La Crosse in the quarterfinals.

Gardner came up with the only upset of the day for Concordia. Gardner was unseeded at 174 despite being ranked third in the most recent NWCA Coaches' poll. Gardner went up against No.4-seeded Brandon Welter of Wartburg. Gardner gave up an escape at the start of the second period but had enough riding time to force overtime with a 1-1 score. Like Bergeron in his second match, Gardner refused to let Welter escape in the opening period of the tie-breaker overtime period after neither wrestler scored in sudden death. Gardner then used his conditioning to come up with an escape late in the second tie-breaker period.

"I just kept pushing, putting pressure on him," commented Gardner. "Toward the end he (Welter) was gassed out and that was when I closed it out."

Gardner will now get his chance for All-American honors when he goes up against Joshua Sibblies of Centenary (N.J.) who also pulled off an upset of a seeded opponent in the Round of 16.

Jakob Stageberg, Gabe Foltz, Jake Kostik, Ben Cousins, Danny Pike and Justice Davis will all have to come back through the wrestlebacks in order to finish in the top 8 and earn All-American honors.

Stageberg lost 6-2 in the Round of 16 at 125. Foltz dropped a 9-1 major decision to the No.4 seed at 133. Kostik lost a 13-3 major decision to the No.7 seed at 149. Cousins battled to a 4-0 loss to the No.6 seed at 157 while both Pike and Davis lost to the No.1 seeds in their weight classes at 197 and 285.

The second session of the NCAA National Meet is slated to start at 5 p.m. (cdt) on Friday. The second session on Friday is always the most nerve wracking as wrestlers are either knocked completely out of the meet or keep their All-American dreams alive.

Top 10 Team Scores after Session 1
1. Augsburg - 15.0
2. Wartburg - 13.5
3. Wisconsin-Whitewater - 12.5
4. Delaware Valley (Pa.) - 11.0
5. Wisconsin-La Crosse - 7.5
6. Loras (Iowa) - 7.0
7. Wabash (Ind.) - 6.5
8. Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) - 6.0
9. Luther (Iowa) - 5.5
T10. Ithaca (N.Y.) - 5.0
T10. New York University - 5.0      

Concordia Individual Results From NCAA Session I

125 - Jakob Stageberg (26-12)
Champ. Round 1 - Guesseppe Rea (Wilkes) 34-2 won by decision over Jakob Stageberg (Dec 6-2)

133 - Gabe Foltz (14-12)
Champ. Round 1 - Connor Campo (Wartburg) 26-4 won by major decision over Gabe Foltz (MD 9-1)

141 - Jacoby Bergeron (37-6)
Prelim - Jacoby Bergeron won by fall over Adrian Berry (SUNY-Cortland) 24-15 (Fall 7:26)
Champ. Round 1 - Jacoby Bergeron won in tie breaker - 1 over Bryant Roby (Mount Union) 28-12 (TB-1 2-1)

149 - Jake Kostik (14-14)
Champ. Round 1 - Brad Mayville (Rochester Institute Of Technology) 29-4 won by major decision over Jake Kostik (MD 13-3)

157 - Ben Cousins (19-21)
Champ. Round 1 - Richie Jasinski (Ursinus) 28-2 won by decision over Ben Cousins (Concordia-Moorhead) 19-21 (Dec 4-0)

165 - Jake Krogstad (22-8)
Champ. Round 1 - Jake Krogstad won by decision over Francisco Colom (Roger Williams) 33-5 (Dec 4-2)

174 - Sebastian Gardner (24-7)
Champ. Round 1 - Sebastian Gardner won in tie breaker - 1 over Brandon Welter (Wartburg) 21-8 (TB-1 2-1)

197 - Danny Pike (11-11)
Champ. Round 1 - Eric Twohey (UW-La Crosse) 32-1 won by tech fall over Danny Pike (TF-1.5 6:33 (17-2))

285 - Justice Davis (24-11)
Champ. Round 1 - Cody Lovejoy (Ohio Northern) 5-0 won by fall over Justice Davis (Fall 6:50)