Another Successful Trip Across 8th Street
The trip across 8th Street has been kind to Concordia this year. In November the Cobbers beat the host Dragons in a dual meet, and on Saturday they returned to Nemzek Fieldhouse and recorded a dozen Top 6 finishes at the Dragon Open.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/02/22)---The trip across 8th Street has been kind to Concordia this year. In November the Cobbers beat the host Dragons in a dual meet, and on Saturday they returned to Nemzek Fieldhouse and recorded a dozen Top 6 finishes at the Dragon Open.
The Cobbers competed in their final multi-team invitational before the holiday break by having all six of their wrestlers competing in the top Red Division post Top 5 finishes. CC also had five of the six athletes come through with Top 3 finishes.
Sam Kulseth (141), Jacob Prunty (149) and Connor Chloupek (184) all finished in second place in their weight classes, while Alex McPhee (157) and Elijah Hunt (165) recorded third-place finishes and Kellen Schauer (149) ended up fifth.
The Red Division featured a mix of Division II and top NAIA wrestlers from the region. Hunt posted the most wins of any Cobber wrestler in the Red Division. He went 3-1 in the 165-lb weight class, and finished his day by beating Brandon Lalla of DII Southwest Minnesota State. Hunt is now 5-2 on the year and has a pair of Top 3 finishes in invites this year.
Both Prunty and Chloupek won their first two matches of the day but then fell in the championship match. Prunty won recorded two wins by decision in his quarterfinal and semifinal matches before losing a 9-4 decision to Nolan Throne of Division II powerhouse St. Cloud State. Prunty is now Chloupek 8-4 on the year.
Chloupek won his opener at 184 by a pin and then claimed a 9-4 decision in the semifinals. He lost in the title bout to Cayden White of Minot State and is 8-3 for the season. He has finished in the Top 5 in all three of the invites that the Cobbers have participated in this year.
Junior Gabe Bellefeuille was the only weight-class champion on the day for the Cobbers. He went 2-0 in the 141-lb weight class in the White Division. He recorded both of his wins by identical 4-3 decisions. The victory was the first invite win of his college career, and he is now 2-4 on the year.
First-year wrestler Xander Spray came away with the most wins of any CC athlete on the day. Spray went 4-1 at 133 in the White Division and finished in third place. His lone lost came in the second round, and then he rattled off four straight wins in the consolation side of the bracket to post his third Top 5 finish of the year.
Freshman Mason Swanson continued his early-season success since joining the team after participating in football in the fall. The 2-sport athlete went 3-1 at and was runner-up at 285 in the White Division. Swanson posted narrow decision wins in his first two bouts, and then came away with the second pin of his career in the semifinals. Swanson wound up losing in the title match to Donnie Hidden of St. Cloud State. Swanson's three wins on the day up his season record to 6-3.
UP NEXT: Concordia will travel to Bismarck to compete at the University of Mary Triangular Dual Meet on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 4:30 p.m. CC will face the host Marauders as well as Dickinson State.