One More Trip Through Wisconsin
Concordia closed out the multi-team invitational portion of its schedule by competing in the Don Parker Wis.-Eau Claire Open – an invite that featured wrestlers from NCAA Division I and II schools.
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (2/04/23)---Concordia closed out the multi-team invitational portion of its schedule by competing in the Don Parker Wis.-Eau Claire Open – an invite that featured wrestlers from NCAA Division I and II schools. The tournament marked the third time in the last four weekends that the Cobbers had traveled across the state of Wisconsin to compete in a meet.
Concordia had 20 wrestlers compete in the invite that featured athletes from 35 different schools. The Cobbers ended the day with three podium finishes, and had several other athletes advance deep into their weight class.
Senior Gabe Zierden posted the best finish among the Cobber contingent. He went 2-0 on the day and placed fourth at 197. Zierden won his first two matches by a technical fall and then a pin, before electing not to compete in the semifinals and 3rd-place match.
Zierden's pin in the quarterfinals adds to his team-leading total for the season. Zierden has 15 pins for the year, and is 24-5 for the season.
Fellow seniors Sam Kulseth and Tyler Bents both recorded 8th-place finishes. Kulseth was eighth at 141, while Bents was eighth at 157.
Like Zierden, Bents elected to only compete in the first two bouts. He won by a pin in his first bout, and then claimed an 8-1 decision over Isaac Riddle who wrestled at Purdue last season. Bents is now 16-6 on the year.
Freshman Mason Swanson came up with the most wins of any Cobber wrestler on the day. He lost his first match of the day against Gannon Rosenfeld of the Univ. of Wisconsin, and then rattled off three straight wins to capture the consolation bracket at 285. Swanson's three wins all came by pin.
Swanson is now 14-9 in his first collegiate season of wrestling and has seven pins.
Gabe Bellefeuille (141), Brady Kasprick (149), Kellen Schauer (149) and Jacob Prunty (149) were the other CC wrestlers who came posted more than one win on the day. All four athletes had a pair of wins in the meet.
UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off its pre-regional schedule with a pair of dual meets against former MIAC opponents. The Cobbers will face No.2-ranked Augsburg in Minneapolis on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m., and then host St. John's on Tuesday, Feb. 14 in the annual Senior Celebration Night.