National Learning Curve Grows At NWCA National Duals

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (01/06/22)---Concordia continued their national-level learning curve at the NWCA National Duals meet. The Cobbers went 1-2 with both losses coming to teams ranked in the Top 10 of Division III.

Concordia started the meet by dropping a 22-18, nail-biting decision to No.3-ranked Wabash (Ind.). CC led the Little Giants 18-16 with two individual matches left in the contest, but a pair of close decision wins by Wabash sent the Cobbers to a 4-point loss.

The Cobber rebounded in the opening round on the consolation side of the bracket by rolling over Dubuque 31-6. CC won eight of the final nine individual bouts against the Spartans, including a trio of technical fall wins.

Concordia ran out of gas in their second-round consolation match against No.10 Johnson & Wales (R.I.). CC won two of the first four matches against the Wildcats to bring the score to 8-6, but then Johnson & Wales rattled off six straight victories to post the 33-6 decision.

Freshman Ty Bisek was the only Concordia wrestler to post an unblemished record on the day. He went 3-0 with a pin and a pair of decision wins at 133. Bisek recorded a pin at 2:52 of his opening match against Andrew Sinkovics of Wabash. He then won 9-2 over Carson Sauriol of Dubuque and ground out a 12-10 win against Gabriel Leo-Esparolini of Johnson & Wales.

Bisek has won eight of his last nine matches and is 15-3 on the season. His 15 wins are team high.

Kellen Schauer (149), Kaden Spindler (174) and Ayden Friese (184) all recorded a pair of wins at the meet. Schauer's only loss came against No.10-ranked Alex Barr of Wabash in the opener. He responded with a 5-3 decision over Luke Radeke of Dubuque and then capped off his day with a 4-3 win over Thomas DiResta of Johnson & Wales.

Schauer is now 9-7 on the season.

Spindler came through with the only other win for CC against Wabash. He scored a 4-2 win over Raymond Arebalo. Spindler then made it two straight wins with a 20-2 technical fall cruise against Julius Boimah of Dubuque. Like Schauer, Spindler's only loss on the day came at the hands of nationally-ranked wrestler. He lost to No.6-ranked Michael Ross of Johnson & Wales.

The two wins pushes Spindler's season record to 10-8 on the year.

Friese followed the theme set by Schauer and Spindler as he went 2-1 with his only loss coming against a Top 10 opponent. Friese was involved in the closest match of the day for a Cobber in his opening bout against Charles Baczek of Wabash. Friese prevailed 3-2 in the second tie-breaker period. He then put up his second decision win with a 7-2 victory over Jaymoreye Gonzales of Dubuque. The only loss for Friese was against No.8-ranked Ryan DeVivo of Johnson & Wales.

Like Spindler, Friese has now upped his season win total into double digits. He is 10-9 and the fourth member of CC to have at least 10 wins for the season.

The best 1-2 wrestler of the entire tournament was Cobber heavyweight Chase Dockter. He lost a narrow 3-0 decision against Max Bishop of Wabash who is the No.1 heavyweight in the nation. Dockter's other loss on the day came in the first sudden victory period against No.8-ranked Liridon Leka of Johnson & Wales.

UP NEXT: Concordia will participate in its first multi-team invitational meet since Dec. 5 when they compete at the Cliff Keen/Mike Dunroe Invite on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. 

Individual Match Results:
125 - #5 Carlos Champagne (WC) maj. dec. Cole Kubesh (CC); 17-3 (Wabash leads 4-0)
133 - Ty Bisek (CC) pin Andrew Sinkovics (WC); 2:52 (Concordia leads 6-4)
141 - Gavinn Alstott (WC) dec. Jacob Prunty (CC); 7-5 (Wabash leads 7-6)
149 - #10 Alex Barr (WC) pin Kellen Schauer (CC); 3:53 (Wabash leads 13-6)
157 - Tyler Bents (CC) pin Tyson Nisley (WC); 4:02 (Wabash leads 13-12)
165 - #1 Kyle Hatch (WC) dec. Bret Wilson (CC); 8-5 (Wabash leads 16-12) 
174 - Kaden Spindler (CC) dec. Raymond Arebalo (WC); 4-2 (Wabash leads 16-15)   
184 - Ayden Friese (CC) dec. Charles Baczek (WC); TB-2 3-2 (Concordia leads 18-16)
197 - #13 Jack Heldt (WC) dec. #4 Gabe Zierden (CC); 5-0 (Wabash leads 19-18)
285 - #1 Max Bishop (WC) dec. Chase Dockter (CC); 3-0 (Wabash wins 22-18)