Rally Against No.5 Augustana Comes Up Just Short
MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/15/12)—Concordia nearly rallied from a 16-point deficit against No.5-ranked Augustana (S.D.) but wound up just short as they fell 22-18 to the Vikings in Moorhead. The difference in the match turned out to be the Cobber forfeit at 125 in the opening match of the dual.
Concordia had to leave open the 125-lb weight class after Ben Presler came down with the flu on Saturday night. The situation got even worse for CC as they lost the next three individual matches to fall behind 16-0. Augustana, who entered the match ranked fifth in the nation in NCAA Division II, received two wins to start the match from wrestlers ranked in the top 2 of DII. Concordia's Daron Hohbein, ranked fifth in Division III, lost a hard-fought 3-0 decision to No.2-ranked Jason Jeremiason at 133 and the Cobbers' Kyle LeDuc had a stellar match against the top ranked wrestler in all of DII at 149. LeDuc was edged 7-4 by No.1-ranked Nate Herda and had Herda down in the first period of the match.
Concordia's turnaround started at 157 when Jake Long used a pin fall at 1:27 to pull the Cobbers within 10 points at 16-6. Long looked like he was going to have an uphill battle against No.3-ranked Marcus Edgington but came up with a huge reversal and then got the pin less than 2:00 into the match.
Josten Coleman then followed with a pin at 165 and suddenly the Cobbers were only trailing 16-12. Coleman rallied to come up with the pin after he was also fighting an uphill battle.
The Vikings put the match away with a pair of decisions in the next two weight classes. Freshman Sebastian Gardner lost 7-6 to No.4-ranked Carl Serck and then fellow freshman Chris Harrsion fell 6-2 at 184.
The Cobbers would finish off the match on a high note, picking up wins at 197 and 285. Nathan Schmitz earned his team-leading 18th win of the year when he posted a 5-3 victory over Sean Derry at 197. Schmitz, who is ranked sixth in DIII, never trailed in the match and eased his way to the two-point win. Cody Kasprick ended the meet with a 1-0 win over regionally-ranked Mike Roberts at 285. Kasprick earned the lone point of the match at the start of the second period when he chose to start from the bottom position and earned an escape point.
Concordia is now 4-6 in dual meets on the year. Augustana wins for the fourth straight time in dual meet competition and moves to 8-1 on the year. The Cobbers will continue with their killer schedule when they host St. Cloud State, the top ranked team in NCAA Division II, on Friday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.
NCAA Wrestling Box Score
Final Score:
#15 Concordia-Moorhead 18, #5 Augustana (S.D.) 22
Date: January 15, 2012
Location:Moorhead, Minn.
Arena: Concordia College – Memorial Auditorium
Start Time: 2 p.m.
End Time: 3:15 p.m.
Total Time: 1:15
Attendance: 287
Individual Match Results:
125 – Cody Lensing (AUG) win by forfeit
133 – Jason Jeremiason (AUG) dec. Daron Hohbein (CC); 3-0
141 –Chism Fink (AUG) maj. dec. Michael Holman (CC); 14-3
149 – Nate Herda (AUG) dec. Kyle LeDuc (CC); 7-4
157 – Jake Long (CC) pin fall Marcus Edgington (AUG); 1:27
165 – Josten Coleman (CC) pin fall Harper Swanson (AUG); 4:53
174 – Carl Serck (AUG) dec. Sebastian Gardner (CC); 7-6
184 – Jayd Docken (AUG) dec. Christian Harrison (CC); 6-2
197 – Nathan Schmitz (CC) dec. Sean Derry (AUG); 5-3
285 – Cody Kasprick (CC) dec. Mike Roberts (AUG); 1-0
Match Notes:
- Concordia is ranked 15th in the latest DIII poll and Augustana is 5th in DII
- #15 Concordia is now 4-6 in dual meets this season.
- #5 Augustana is now 8-1 in dual meets this season.
- Augustana won six of the 10 individual matches in the dual
- Augustana won four matches by decision, one by major decision and one by forfeit. – Concordia won two matches by pin fall and two by decision.