Stageberg & Johnson Set Table For Feast

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/11/15)—Jakob Stageberg and Ty Johnson set the table and the rest of the Cobbers feasted in a 46-6 win over St. Olaf.

Stageberg and Johnson needed only 68 seconds to finish off the first two contested bouts of the night in Concordia's 40-point win over the Oles. The win is the seventh of the year for the Cobbers who are now 7-1 on the year. St. Olaf falls for the second time in two days and is now 0-4 for the season.

"It was nice to see us put Wednesday's dual behind us and come out on the attack," commented head coach Matt Nagel. The Cobbers got roughed up by defending Division II national champion St. Cloud State in the middle of the week but responded with their 10th straight win over the Oles since 2000.

Nagel also stressed the fact that he wanted his wrestlers to take the attack to St. Olaf right from the start and Stageberg and Johnson heeded their coach's mandate.

Stageberg charged forward, flung his opponent to the mat, kept control as both wrestlers got to their feet and then drove him to the mat for the final takedown and pin. His pin at 36-seconds gave the Cobbers a 6-0 lead to start the dual. It was also Stageberg's team-leading 16th win of the season. He is now 16-6 on the year.  

Concordia then earned 12 points on a pair of forfeits before Johnson lowered the boom in the opening minute in his match at 149.   

Johnson's match was more drawn out because the two wrestlers went off the mat before the pin at the 32-second mark. Like Stageberg, Johnson charged straight from the opening whistle. Once they resumed action after going out of bounds, Johnson was able to get a lock around his opponent's shoulders and he twisted him to the mat and on his back. Seconds later Johnson had staked Concordia to a 24-0 lead.       

The Cobbers would claim a pin and a major decision in the next two matches to go up 34-0.

Senior Ben Cousins won his fifth straight match by scoring a pin fall at 5:56. Cousins had a near fall in each of the first two periods before finally getting his opponent's shoulders stuck in the third period. The win was Cousins' 12th of the season but first non-decision win of the year.

Parker Jackson never trailed in his match at 165 and posted a 12-1 major decision. He scored a takedown and near fall in the first period and kept up the attack until he recorded his 11th win of the year.

St. Olaf's wins would come in two of the final four matches on the night. The claimed an 8-2 win at 174 and then a 5-1 decision at 285. Sandwiched between the Ole wins was a pin fall at the 1:05 mark by Cobber sophomore Dan Marquette. He claimed his eighth win of the year and is now 8-5.

Jake Briggs was credited with the forfeit win at 197 which pushed Concordia's lead to 46-3.

The final match of the night was the most anticipated because it marked the return of junior Justice Davis to the CC lineup.

Davis sat out the first month of the season because of his duties with the Cobber football team. He locked horns with No.9-ranked Zach Gibson and the two battled through three grueling periods. The deciding factor in the match was a takedown at the end of the first period by Gibson.

Davis came away with the escape to start the second period and then neither wrestler would score until the final minute of the third period.

Davis trailed 2-1 on the scoreboard but was behind by over a minute on riding time so he went for a takedown in the final 30 seconds of the match, got caught and gave up a takedown to bring the final score to 5-1.

WHAT'S NEXT:  Concordia will have the next week off to take final exams. CC will then return to action in Las Vegas when they take part in the Desert Duals on Dec. 21.  


Individual Match Results:
125 - Jakob Stageberg (CC) pin fall Guillermo Gorrin (STO); 0:36 (Concordia 6-0)
133 - #5 Gabe Foltz (CC) wins by forfeit (Concordia 12-0)
141 - Karl Keeler (CC) wins by forfeit (Concordia 18-0)
149 - Ty Johnson (CC) pin fall Bryant Ridgeway (STO); 0:32 (Concordia 24-0)
157 - Ben Cousins (CC) pin fall Jesse Leamon (STO); 5:56 (Concordia 30-0)
165 - Parker Jackson (CC) major decision Hugh Ellerman (STO); 12-1 (Concordia 34-0)
174 - Garrett Beaman (STO) decision Jake Johnson (CC); 8-2 (Concordia 34-3)
184 - Dan Marquette (CC) pin fall Daniel Parmenter (STO); 1:05 (Concordia 40-3)
197 - Jacob Brigg (CC) wins by forfeit (Concordia 46-3)
285 - #9 Zach Gibson (STO) decision Justice Davis (CC); 5-1 (Concordia 46-6)