Dockter, Zierden Lead Cobbers At Desert Duals

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (12/19/21)---Juniors Chase Dockter and Gabe Zierden led Concordia to a 2-1 record at the Desert Duals Meet held in the Sunset Ballroom at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.

The Cobbers opened the day by dropping a hard-fought 27-10 decision to No.2-ranked Warburg, but then rallied to beat Buena Vista 35-3 and finished the day with a 31-11 victory over Alvernia (Pa.).

Concordia has now won at least two matches in three of the past four Desert Duals meets that have participated. The Cobbers are 14-10 in the Desert Duals since they started heading to Las Vegas in 2009.   

Dockter and Zierden were the only unbeaten Concordia wrestlers on the day. Dockter won all three of his bouts by a decision and was 3-0 at 285. Zierden, who is ranked fourth in Division III in the latest NWCA national rankings, recorded a trio of bonus point decisions at 197.

Concordia (3-3) dropped the first five bouts in their dual with No.2-ranked Wartburg. The Cobbers faced four wrestlers ranked in the Top 7 of the country in the first five bouts in the day's opener.

Senior Bret Wilson got the Cobbers on the board when he scored an 8-4 decision at 165. Wilson, who was wrestling at 165 for the first time this season, earned his first dual-meet win of the year after having not wrestled in almost a full month. The win was Wilson's third of the year and 40th of his CC career.

Like Wilson, Zierden hadn't wrestled in a month and came back to the mat with a quality performance. He recorded an 11-0 major decision to bring the Cobbers to within 20 points at 27-7. The victory was Zierden's fourth in his first five matches of the year.

Dockter was also competing in his first dual meet of the year for Concordia. He ground out a 3-2 win to give CC 11 team points for the meet.

Concordia used the momentum of its two straight wins at the end of their dual with Wartburg to win nine of the 10 bouts against Buena Vista and cruise by the Beavers 35-3.

Cole Kubesh and Ty Bisek gave the Cobbers an 8-0 lead after two matches. Kubesh recorded a 6-0 shutout at 125 and then Bisek posted a dominating 26-6 technical fall victory at 133.

Kellen Schauer, Tyler Bents, Wilson, Kaden Spindler, Ayden Friese, Zierden and Dockter all won consecutive matches after Buena Vista scored its only victory at 141.

Spindler and Zierden had the only bonus-point wins for Concordia. Spindler came through with a pin at 1:21 at 174, and Zierden wasted little time with his opponent – getting his third pin of the year at the 48-second mark.               

The best win of the day for the Cobbers came against Alvernia who entered the match with a 9-2 dual-meet record on the year, and narrowly lost to No.1-ranked North Central 21-18 earlier in the day.

Concordia dropped the first match against the Golden Wolves and held a 1-point lead at 6-5 after Jacob Prunty put up a 9-3 win at 141. The other early win against Alvernia came at 133 where Bisek came through with an 8-6 decision. The victory was Bisek's team-leading 13th of the year.

Schauer came through with his third pin of the year to give CC a 12-5 lead, and then Bents followed with a 12-5 decision at 157 to up the margin to 10 points.

The Golden Wolves got a pin by No.8-ranked Matt Lackman at 165 to push the team score to 15-11 with four bouts left in the meet.

Spindler came through with a huge 19-0 technical fall win to restore the Cobbers' comfortable lead and take the momentum away from the Golden Wolves. The victory was Spindler's eighth of the year and 38th of his career.

Friese, Zierden and Dockter closed out the match for CC. Friese won a 5-4 decision at 184, before Zierden rolled to an 18-2 technical fall and Dockter won 6-2.

Both Zierden and Dockter are now 6-1 on the year.

Concordia brought a second team to Las Vegas to gain valuable college experience. The Cobber second squad went 1-2 with losses coming against the second teams from #1 North Central and #2 Warburg. The win for CC's second squad was a 46-3 decision over Ottawa of Arizona.

Freshman David Platt was unbeaten at 149 to lead the second team. He scored an 8-6 victory in the sudden victory period against his opponent from Warburg, and then finished with a pin at 3:34 in the final match against Ottawa.

Sophomore Elijah Hunt had the other win against Warburg. He earned a pin at 3:17 in his match at 165.

Owen Bertram and Connor Chloupek claimed the non-forfeit wins against North Central. Bertram recorded a fall at 4:41 at 125, and then Chloupek scored a 13-4 major decision at 197.     

UP NEXT: Concordia will have a 3-week break over the holidays before returning to action at the prestigious NWCA National Duals Meet which will be held in Louisville, Ky. on Jan. 6-7.       

Concordia-Moorhead 35, Buena Vista 3
Individual Match Results:
125 - Cole Kubesh (CC) dec. Brandon Foster (BV); 6-0 (CC leads 3-0)
133 - Ty Bisek (CC) tech. fall. Caleb Massari (BV); 25-6 (CC leads 8-0)
141 - Axel Hernandez (BV) dec. Jacob Prunty (CC); 6-1 (CC leads 8-3)
149 - Kellen Schauer (CC) dec. Isaiah Schannep (BV); 5-3 (CC leads 11-3)
157 - Tyler Bents (CC) dec. Jacob Hanssen (BV); 8-2 (CC leads 14-3)
165 - Bret Wilson (CC) dec. Garrett Bruce (BV); 7-5 (CC leads 17-3) 
174 - Kaden Spindler (CC) pin Caleb Rojas (BV); 1:21 (CC leads 23-3)   
184 - Ayden Friese (CC) dec. Bruce Lukehart (BV); 5-1 (CC leads 26-3)
197 - Gabe Zierden (CC) pin Diego Escarcenga (BV); 0:48 (CC leads 32-3)
285 - Chase Dockter (CC) dec. Errol Alden (BV); 2-0 (CC wins 35-3)