Long & Bouressa Survive To Earn All-American Honors

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (3/15/13)—Jake Long and Tom Bouressa survived the long first day of the NCAA National Meet and earned All-American honors. Both wrestlers won their first match, lost in the quarterfinals and rallied to win their first consolation match to advance to the final 8 in their weight class.

For Long it is his first-ever All-American honor while Bouressa picks up his second All-American award in the past three years.

The duo helped the Cobbers score 13.5 team points which has them tied for 13^th place heading into the final day of the championship meet.   

Long provided the biggest highlight of the opening day as he upset No.2-seeded Michael Polizzi from Stevens Institute of Technology in the consolation quarterfinals. He hung with Polizzi until the final half of the third period and then pulled away to earn an 8-5 decision. Long will now face No.4-seeded Emanual Ajagbe of Delaware Valley in the consolation semifinals.    

Long, who was seeded eighth heading into the national meet, won his opening match over Jorge Lopez of Williams College by a pin fall at 2:07. He then lost to No,1-ranked Kodie Silvestri 7-0 in the championship quarterfinals.

Bouressa, who is ranked sixth in the nation at 285 and was the sixth seed for the tournament, also went 2-1 on the day. He won his first round bout by beating Corey James of SUNY-Cortland 2-0. Bouressa fell in the quarterfinals 5-3 at the hands of No.3-seed William Mayer from UW-La Crosse. He responded by grinding out a 7-2 victory in the consolation quarterfinals over Jake Ceslick from Olivet. Bouressa will face No.7-seed Ryan Fank from Wartburg in the consolation semifinals.

Nathan Schmitz, Jacoby Bergeron, Kevin Fynboh and Will McCarthy all lost twice on the first day and saw their chance for All-American honors come to an end. Schmitz had three grueling matches on the day. He lost his opener 2-1 in overtime to No.2 seed Alex Coolidge of Cornell. He started his consolation trek by manhandling Matthew Transue of Wilkes. Schmitz then lost in the final seconds of his consolation quarterfinal match. He led for most of the match but then gave up a takedown in the final :20 of the third period. Schmitz, who earned All-American honors last year, finishes his storied four-year career with a 101-38 record.

Bergeron dropped his opener 7-4 but then rebounded with a 5-4 decision over Chad Lammer of Elizabethtown.  He then lost to No.6-seeded Evan Obert of Luther in the consolation quarterfinals. Bergeron finishes his junior season with a 17-9 overall record.

Fynboh had the toughest first-round draw of any of the six Cobbers and lost the opener at 149 against Chris Burdge of Centenary who won the national championship at 141 last year. Fynboh shook off the first-round defeat by earning a 5-2 decision in the first round of the consolation bracket. He trailed heading into the final half of his match but then used a pair of stellar single-leg takedowns to get four points. Fynboh then lost in the consolation semifinals to the No.1 seeded wrestler in the bracket. Fynboh ends his senior year with a 21-15 mark and won 77 matches in his career.

McCarthy, wrestling in his first NCAA Meet, dropped both of his matches on the day. He fell 10-2 in the first round and then by pin fall in the consolation first round. McCarthy wrapped up his sophomore season with a 14-12 record.  

Long and Bouressa will continue their NCAA National Meet experience on Saturday, Mar. 16 beginning at 10 a.m. 

Day 1 Team Totals

2013 NCAA Division III Championships Results for Concordia-Moorhead
125 - Will McCarthy (12-11)
Round 1 - Brandon Preston (Trine University) won by maj.r dec. over Will McCarthy (MD 10-2)
Cons. Round 1 - Jacob Spearman (Wash&Jeff 23-6 won by fall over Will McCarthy (Fall 5:38)

133 - Jacoby Bergeron (10-4)
Round 1 - Dalton Bullard (Elmhurst) 18-7 won by decision over Jacoby Bergeron  (Dec 7-4)
Cons. Round 1 - Jacoby Bergeron won by dec. over Chad Lammer (Etown) 14-10 (Dec 5-4)
Cons. Round 2 - Evan Obert (Luther) 26-7 won by dec over Jacoby Bergeron (Dec 5-2)

149 - Jacob Long (16-9)
Round 1 - Jacob Long won by fall over Jorge Lopez (Williams College) (Fall 2:07)
Quarterfinal - Kodie Silvestri (Wartburg) won by decision over Jacob Long (Dec 7-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Jacob Long won by decision over Michael Polizzi (Stevens IofTech) (Dec 8-5)

157 - Kevin Fynboh (19-14)
Round 1 - Chris Burdge (Centenary (NJ)) won by fall over Kevin Fynboh (Fall 6:12)
Cons. Round 1 - Kevin Fynboh won by decision over Ryan Warczynksi (Dubuque) (Dec 5-2)
Cons. Round 2 - Elias Larson (Trine University) won by fall over Kevin Fynboh (Fall 2:08)

197 - Nathan Schmitz (13-5)
Round 1 - Alex Coolidge (Cornell College) won in tie breaker over Nathan Schmitz (TB-1 2-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Nathan Schmitz won by maj. dec. over Matthew Transue (Wilkes) (MD 10-2)
Cons. Round 2 - Trent Flegel (Luther) won by decision over Nathan Schmitz (Dec 7-5)

285 - Tom Bouressa (23-4)
Round 1 - Tom Bouressa won by decision over Corey James (SUNY-Cortland) (Dec 2-0)
Quarterfinal - William Mayer (UW-La Crosse) won by decision over Tom Bouressa (Dec 5-3)
Cons. Round 2 - Tom Bouressa won by decision over Jake Ceslick (Olivet) (Dec 7-2)