Cobbers Fall To #3 Elmhurst
New Orleans, La. (12/16/12)—Led by perfect 3-0 individual records from Tom Bouressa, Josten Coleman and Kevin Fynboh, Concordia posted a 2-1 team mark at the highly competitive Gator Duals in New Orleans, La. on Sunday.
The Cobbers posted wins over Iowa colleges Simpson and No. 16-ranked Luther and lost to No.3-ranked Elmhurst (Ill.) in the one-day, three-match tournament. The 2-1 record brings Concordia's overall season dual-meet mark to 3-3 for the year.
Bouressa, Coleman and Fynboh continued their impressive senior seasons by not dropping a single individual match. The trio combined for four pin falls and one major decision on the day. Bouressa, who is currently ranked sixth in the latest NWCA rankings at 285, scored a 2-1 decision over Jack Lewis from Elmhurst. He then pinned Tony Saucedo of Simpson at the 2:42 mark before finishing off the day with a 7-3 decision over Nick Pearch from Luther. Bouressa is now 9-2 on the season. Coleman had the most impressive day of any Cobber as he scored pin falls over Yousef Al-Ghoul from Elmhurst and Jarid Groth of Luther and had an 8-5 decision over Brett Roberts from Simpson. Coleman upped his team-leading win total to 14 on the year. He is now 14-5 in 2012. Fynboh won three different ways. He had a 5-1 decision over Nick DiNardo from Elmhurst then came away with a pin fall over Cory Stratton from Simpson and finished off with a major decision over Blake Letney from Luther. Fynboh is now 9-6 on the season.
The Cobbers opened the tournament by falling 27-12 to #3 Elmhurst. Bouressa, Coleman and Fynboh recorded the only wins for CC. Three Cobber newcomers lost in close-decision contests. Yonas Gebreab fell 7-3 at 133 and then Chase Austvold lost 7-2 at 141. Finally, Delson Saintal was barely edged by a 2-1 margin at 197.
Concordia then wrestled in one of the most bizarre matches of the year. The Cobbers won all 10 individual matches against Simpson College and posted a 48-(-1) victory over the Storm. It marks the first time in CC wrestling history that an opponent has been held to under zero points. Concordia recorded five pin falls and had one forfeit win in the unusual score-line victory.
The highlight of the dual tournament came in the third match of a grueling 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. stretch. The Cobbers lost the first three matches against No.16-ranked Luther but then roared back to win five straight and six of the last seven to post a 26-16 win. Kyle LeDuc started the comeback trail as he won by a major decision at 149. Fynboh followed suit and then Jake Krogstad earned a 10-8 victory in the pivotal match of the team meet at 165. Coleman then pinned Groth at 174 before Christian Harrison pinned Jayden DeVilbiss at 2:03 to turn a 12-0 deficit into a 23-12 advantage. Bouressa finished off the day by winning his match at 285.
The Cobbers will now take a three-week break for the holidays before returning to action on Saturday, Jan. 5 when they host Augustana in a dual meet at 6 p.m.
#3 Elmhurst College 27, #12 Concordia 12
125 - Miguel Venecia (EC) pin fall Gabe Foltz (CC); 1:12
133 - Dalton Bullard (EC) dec. Yonas Gebreab (CC); 7-3
141 - Ryan Earley (EC) dec. Chase Austvold (CC); 7-2
149 - James Spangler (EC) dec. Kyle LeDuc (CC); 3-0
157 - Kevin Fynboh (CC) dec. Nick DiNardo (EC); 5-1
165 - Josten Coleman (CC) pin fall Yousef Al-Ghoul (EC); 6:56
174 - Mike Benefiel (EC) pin fall Jake Krogstad (CC); 0:00
184 - Josef Rau (EC) dec. Christian Harrison (CC); 6-2
197 - Danny Balderas (EC) dec. Delson Saintal (CC); 2-1
285 - Tom Bouressa (CC) dec. Jack Lewis (EC); 2-1