Young Cobbers Show Promise In Opener
Concordia had five freshman in the lineup against Division II University of Mary and showed a big improvement over last year's dual with the Marauders.
BISMARCK, N.D. (11/7/19)---Concordia opened its season by traveling west to take on NCAA Division II University of Mary and returned with a sense optimism about the future. The Cobbers, who had five freshmen in the lineup and sent out eight sophomores or first-year athletes, matched the amount of bonus point wins by the Marauders but wound up losing 28-6 in Bismarck.
Last year the Cobbers lost 40-7 at home to Mary and lost five bonus point matches including four by pin fall. Concordia trimmed the margin of defeat against the scholarship-giving Marauders to 22 points and lost only one bonus point match. The other eight losses for CC were all highly contested bouts that could have gone either way.
Concordia came away with the only pin fall in the match as freshman Tyler Bents put his opponent's shoulders on the mat at 1:20 of his match at 149. Bents, who is from Glenwood and a 2-time Minnesota State place winner, beat a Mary wrestler who went 14-13 last season and had a pair of Top 10 finishes in multi-team invitationals.
The most dramatic match of the night came at 197 where sophomore Jacob Arends fell behind 10-1 in the first period to the No.6-ranked wrestler in Division II but then came back and nearly forced overtime. Arends used a takedown in the second period to get to 11-3 starting the third period and was then awarded four points for his opponent stalling as Arends threatened to turn him and get back points.
The highest scoring match of the night came in the opener where junior Cole Kubesh lost 15-8. Kubesh took an early 2-0 lead and used a reversal to tie the bout at 4-4 after one period. Kubesh could only come up with four escapes in the following two periods.
First-year head coach Quincy Osborn also received solid freshman performances from Ayden Friese and Austin Ratliff.
Friese, who is a 4-time Minnesota state meet entrant from Granite Falls, wrestled the Mary captain who placed fourth at the Division II Super Regional last season. Friese was tied with the college veteran at 2-2 heading into the third period before the match was won on a takedown in the third period. The final score was 6-3.
Ratliff also lost 6-3 at 285. The Havre, Mont. native who was second at the Montana state meet last year, was also wrestling a team captain who has over 50 collegiate wins. Ratliff was down 2-1 after one period and then 4-2 after two periods. He was able to get to within one point with an escape to start the third but then got caught and gave up a takedown late in the bout to lose by three points.
The closest match of the night came at 133 where sophomore Jacob Prunty lost 3-1. The first period didn't concede any points and then Prunty took a 1-0 lead with an escape to start the second period. His opponent returned the escape to start the third and then won the match with a takedown late in the final period.
UP NEXT: Concordia will open its multi-team invitational schedule when they host the annual Finn Grinaker Cobber Open on Saturday, Nov. 16 beginning at 9 a.m. in the Olson Forum.
Individual Match Results:
125 - Jeremy Leintz (UM) dec. Cole Kubesh (CC); 15-8 (UMary leads 3-0)
133 - Laken Boese (UM) dec. Jacob Prunty (CC); 3-1 (UMary leads 6-0)
141 - Trevor Faiver (UM) dec. Cade Lundeen (CC); 8-2 (UMary leads 9-0)
149 - Tyler Bents (CC) pin Anthony Velazquez (UM); 1:20 (UMary leads 9-6)
157 - Braydon Huber (UM) dec. Bret Wilson (CC); 7-3 (UMary leads 12-6)
165 - Payton Hume (UM) dec. Alex Skaare (CC); 11-6 (UMary leads 15-6)
174 - Dante Springsteen (UM) maj. dec. Ian Frenzel (CC) (UMary leads 19-6)
184 - Austin Eichmann (UM) dec. Ayden Friese (CC); 6-3 (UMary leads 22-6)
197 - #6 Phillip Springsteen (UM) dec. Jacob Arends (CC); 11-7 (UMary leads 25-6)
285 - Dominic Tudor (UM) dec. Austin Ratliff (CC); 6-3 (UMary wins 28-6)