Undefeated Beginning To 2019
Concordia showed no signs of rust after a long break from competition as they earned three dual-meet victories at the Jim Fox Duals in Dubuque, Iowa.
The Cobbers never trailed in any of the dual meets as they opened with a 38-11 win over Cornell and then record a 25-16 victory over Wis.-Platteville before bettering Wis.-Oshkosh 28-15 in the finale. CC has now won five straight dual meets and is 6-2 on the year.
Sophomore 125-pounder Jake Nohre set the pace for the Cobbers by putting them out in front with a win in the first match of each dual. Nohre's pin against Cornell in the first dual of the day was just the spark the Cobbers needed to compete with hustle and aggressiveness throughout the tournament. Nohre earned another pin against his UW-Platteville opponent in dual number two and he dominated his Wis.-Oshkosh foe in the last dual of the day on his way to an 8-2 victory.
Fellow sophomore Benjamin Bogart manned the 133-pound weight class for the Cobbers and went 2-1 in his matches. Against Cornell, Bogart followed Nohre's pin with a 19-0 technical fall to put the Cobbers up 11-0 in the dual. Bogart came up just short against Wis.-Platteville but he would rebound with a dominant 7-0 win over his Oshkosh.
Like Bogart, freshman Bret Wilson went 2-1 in Dubuque. Wilson, competing at 141, came from behind to pin his Cornell and Oshkosh foes but his comeback effort against UW-Platteville was not quite enough as he fell 9-5.
Wilson, who wrestled the third match of each dual for the Cobbers, handed the baton off to senior 149-pounder Ty Johnson with the Cobbers either tied or in the lead.
The first of Concordia's middleweights, Johnson was another Cobber to go 3-0 on the day. He provided key inspiration for the team to continue its relentless attack. Johnson's first opponent from Cornell made the mistake of testing the Cobber's upper body attacks, and Johnson exploited this mistake by earning a pin to stretch Concordia's lead to 23-0. Johnson followed that performance with a tech fall against Platteville to earn five team points and put Concordia back in front 11-6. Johnson was in a tight battle in his final match against Oshkosh until he quickly transitioned from a takedown to a cradle to earn another pin and put the Cobbers up 18-0 in their final tilt.
Freshman 157-pounder Adam Jaeger had to battle through three grueling matches and came away with two wins to help the team's cause. Jaeger won 12-2 against Cornell, dropped a heartbreaking 4-2 decision against Platteville. He then ended his day on a high note with a hard fought 5-3 win against Oshkosh.
Senior Travis Deegan sealed the Cobber victory over Cornell by earning a first period technical fall to put Concordia up 32-0. Deegan followed that with a crucial pin against Platteville to stretch the Concordia lead from 11-9 to 17-9. Deegan's Oshkosh opponent, ranked fourth in Division III, would keep the senior physics major from an undefeated outing, but that would not diminish Deegan's important contribution to his team's undefeated 2019 debut.
Freshman Kaden Spindler ushered in the New Year with three individual wins as well. Spindler's first period pin against Cornell stretched the already-secure Cobber lead to 38-0. When Spindler took the mat against Platteville, the outcome was far from settled, but the 174-pounder's 12-0 major decision victory put the Cobbers ahead 21-9 to provide much needed breathing room for the upper weights. The dual against Oshkosh was also in doubt when Spindler needed a penalty point in sudden victory overtime to come out on top and push Concordia's lead to 24-6.
At 184 pounds, Nick Gravdahl won one match against Oshkosh, overcoming his opponent's nearly three minutes of riding time to earn an exciting 12-4 victory to put Concordia's lead out of reach. Although Gravdahl suffered defeats against Cornell and Platteville, his ability to hang close with Platteville's returning national finalist helped keep the Cobbers in command in that tightly contested dual.
It was freshman 197-pounder Jacob Arends who sealed the win against UW-Platteville with a 9-0 major decision victory. Arends gamely fought off his Platteville counterpart's early onslaught to take control of the match and get the Cobbers the win in their penultimate dual.
In addition to the three duals, several Cobbers competed in exhibition matches which were held concurrently with the dual competition. Freshmen Michael Miller, Aiden Jolley, and Innocent Nsengiyumva joined upperclassmen Bryce Kallenbach and Travis Ostby in gaining valuable match experience in preparation for Concordia's many upcoming duals and tournaments.
UP NEXT: The Cobbers will return to Iowa for their next tournament at Cornell College's Matman Invitational on January 12.