Zierden Makes It Twice As Nice At Augsburg Invite
Gabe Zierden captured his second straight multi-team invite title as he led Concordia at the Augsburg Invite. Zierden was one of six Cobber wrestlers to post Top 8 finishes.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (11/18/23)---Senior Gabe Zierden didn't compete in the first meet of the season for the Cobbers, but since then, he's made up for lost time.
Zierden went 2-0 and captured the 197-lb weight class championship in the gold division to lead the Cobbers at the highly competitive Augsburg Invitational.
Zierden was one of 19 Concordia wrestlers at the multi-team meet and one of six CC athletes who placed in the Top 8 of their weight class.
Zierden missed the opener at Jamestown but returned to capture the 197 crown at the St. John's 4-Team Rumble last weekend. Zierden earned his fourth straight win of the season in the semifinal round at Augsburg when he pinned Garrett Kilgas of Luther in only 36 seconds. Zierden claimed his second title of the year with an 11-6 decision over Tyler Raway of No.1-ranked Augsburg.
Elijah Hunt, Nathaniel Kisgen and Alex McPhee had the other Top 8 finishes for Concordia in the gold division.
Hunt, wrestling in his first meet of the year, went 3-2 at 165 and finished in fifth place. He scored a tech fall win over Seth Littrell of Neb. Wesleyan, a 4-1 decision against Bowen Rothbauer from Augsburg and a pin in 21 seconds in the 5th-place match vs. Peyton Haupt of Neb. Wesleyan.
Like Hunt, Kisgen recorded three wins on the day. He went 3-2 to finish sixth at 184. Kisgen won his opener with a 13-5 major decision but fell in the quarterfinals. He rallied to score a 16-0 tech fall against Jacob Hiemstra of Central in the second consolation round and also got a pin in 72 seconds in the third round of the consolation bracket.
Kisgen is now 8-5 on the year with a pair of Top 8 finishes.
McPhee was eighth at 157 and recorded a pair of wins. He beat Travis Guzman of Neb. Wesleyan by a pin in the third consolation round and followed that with a 10-6 decision victory vs. Jerez Autridge of MSU Mankato.
McPhee also earned his second straight Top 8 finishes and is 4-6 for the season.
Deagen Captain and Isaiah Schmitz led the CC first-year wrestlers in the freshmen division at the meet.
Captain recorded a pair of pins and was third at 141. He came through with a pin in 38 seconds against Austin Franklin of Luther and ended the meet with a fall at 5:59 vs. Jar'kavin Pennell of Neb. Wesleyan.
Schmitz placed third in the flight division at SJU and backed that up with a 5th-place finish at Augsburg. He was 2-2 at 174 with pins against Braike Jones of Neb. Wesleyan and Giovanni Hernandez from Iowa Lakes CC.
UP NEXT: Concordia stays with the multi-team invites when they wrestle at the MSU Moorhead Invite on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 10 a.m.