Seniors Lead By Example
Seniors Gabe Foltz and Ben Cousins led by example to help Concordia post a 29-19 win over St. John's on Senior Night
MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/03/16)—No.8-ranked Concordia got a pair of wins from two of its four seniors and rolled to a 29-9 win over St. John's in the annual Senior Celebration Night dual meet.
The victory over the Johnnies gives the Cobbers 14 wins on the season which is one shy of the program record for dual-meet wins in a year. The victory is also the ninth in the last 11 matches against the Johnnies. CC is now 14-5 for the year while SJU drops to 3-14.
Seniors Gabe Foltz and Ben Cousins led by example in their final dual in front of the home crowd. Foltz and Cousins won two of the first five matches of the dual and after Cousins' win at 157, the Cobbers held a 19-3 lead in the match.
Foltz, who is currently ranked fourth in the nation at 133, needed to go to the second overtime period to get 4-3 win. His victory was a part of Concordia's four wins in the first five matches.
Cousins earned a forfeit win at 157 which was significant because it gave him his 20th win of the season. He becomes the third CC wrestler to reach the 20-win plateau and is now 20-10 for the year.
No.5-ranked Jakob Stageberg started the match with a dominating 18-2 technical fall victory at 125. Stageberg nearly got all six points for a pin fall but was unable to come up with enough back time in his three near falls.
After Adam Presler lost a hard-fought 7-4 decision to No.7-ranked Ben Henle of SJU, freshman Ty Johnson posted another technical fall with a 19-4 win at 149. Johnson had a four-point near fall in the second period as he recorded his 15th win of the season.
The Cobbers finished off the dual by winning the final three individual bouts. The Briggs brothers went back-to-back at 184 and 197 and then Justice Davis capped the night with a 3-0 win at 285.
Ricky Briggs never trailed in his match and got an 11-2 major decision at 184. He used a first-period takedown and a pair of takedowns in the third period to win his seventh match of the year.
Jake Briggs gave up an escape to start the second period and then got a takedown in the second. The bout was all tied at 2-2 before Briggs came up with the escape to start the third and then used his defense to win 3-2.
Davis did all the scoring in the third period. He chose the neutral position to start the third period and then got a takedown in the final minute to grab the 2-0 lead. Riding time tacked on another point and Davis won 3-0 for his sixth win of the year.
Individual Match Results:
125 - #5 Jakob Stageberg (CC) technical fall Ben Kollaja (SJU); 18-2 (5:10) (Concordia 5-0)
133 - #4 Gabe Foltz (CC) decision Michael Pleski; TB-1 4-3 (Concordia 8-0)
141 - #7 Ben Henle (SJU) decision Adam Presler (CC); 7-4 (Concordia 8-3)
149 - Ty Johnson (CC) technical fall Adam Sutlief (SJU); 19-4 (7:00) (Concordia 13-3)
157 - Ben Cousins (CC) wins by forfeit (Concordia 19-3)
165 - Teddy Erickson (SJU) decision Nick Gravdahl (CC); 12-8 (Concordia 19-6)
174 - Robert Tait (SJU) decision Jake Johnson (CC); 6-2 (Concordia 19-9)
184 - Ricky Briggs (CC) major decision Glenn Castro (SJU); 11-2 (Concordia 23-9)
197 - Jake Briggs (CC) decision Nick Pegelow (SJU); 3-2 (Concordia 26-9)
285 - Justice Davis (CC) decision Colin Fisher (SJU); 3-0 (Concordia 29-9)
WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE
Concordia is more than happy to have a dual meet start at 125. The Cobbers are now 14-2 when the dual meet starts at the lowest weight class. When the dual starts by choosing the starting weight class, the Cobbers are 0-3.
WELCOME TO THE 20-WIN CLUB
Ben Cousins became the third CC wrestler to win 20 matches on the year (Jakob Stageberg – 26, Gabe Foltz – 21). It is the first time in his career that he has won 20 matches. His previous single-season high came last year when he went 19-20.
NINE TIMES
Gabe Foltz earned his ninth straight win and is now 21-3 on the season. That total is a single season high for the senior who now has 67 career wins. Foltz remains unbeaten in 2016. His last loss came on December 21 at the Desert Duals.
WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will finish off the "regular season" with a multi-team invite and one final dual match. The Cobbers will travel to Eau Claire, Wis. to participate in the Don Parker Open on Saturday, Feb. 6 beginning at 10 a.m. CC will then square off against Southwest MN State on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. in Marshall, Minn.
