Seniors Start And Finish Senior Celebration Night
MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/11/14)—It was only fitting on the annual Senior Night that a Cobber senior started the comeback and a senior finished off the dual meet against St. John's in style. No.6-ranked Concordia won five of the last six individual bouts against No.21-ranked St. John's and rolled to a 23-12 victory.
Concordia has now beaten St. John's in seven of the last nine meetings between the two teams. The Cobbers also extended its school record for dual-meet wins in a season. CC finishes its dual-meet schedule with a 15-5 record. The Johnnies are now 8-10 in dual meets this year.
Kyle LeDuc started the comeback trek when he blanked No.10-ranked Ryan Arne 4-0 at 157. Concordia trailed 9-4 heading into the match at 157 and then LeDuc posted a four-point victory. He was able to stay on top of Arne for the entire second period to gain riding time and then added an escape and takedown in the third to pick up his 23rd win of the year.
"Kyle's win was huge for us," commented head coach Matt Nagel. They definitely had the momentum after three straight wins and Kyle was able to give it right back to us. That's the way he has been in his entire career, whatever the team needs, he delivers."
Jake Krogstad, Sebastian Gardner and Chris Harrison followed LeDuc with wins to stake the Cobbers to a 17-9 lead. Krogstad recorded a 7-5 victory at 165 and then Sebastian Gardner came through with a last-minute takedown to earn a 10-2 major decision at 174. In one of the most action filled matches of the night, Chris Harrison battled to an 11-7 win at 184. Harrison's bout featured lots of momentum swings and point-gaining moves. Both Gardner and Harrison collected their 22nd win of the season.
St. John's picked up their fourth decision win of the night at 197 to trim Concordia's lead to 17-12. Cobber senior 285-lb wrestler Cody Kasprick quickly put an end to the Johnnies' upset hopes, and the entire match, when he recorded a pin fall at the 1:10 mark. Kasprick quickly turned a single-leg defensive move into a clutch and pin move and was able to get his opponent on his back for the pin. It was Kasprick's fifth consecutive pin and 11th of the season. He is now 21-9 on the year.
The Cobbers' other win was turned in by sophomore Gabe Foltz. Foltz took control of his match at 125 from the opening whistle and scored a 14-4 major decision. He was never threatened in upping his season record to 17-12.
Concordia will now take an 18-day break to train for the NCAA West Regional Meet which will be held on Saturday, Mar. 1 at Augsburg.
NCAA Wrestling Box Score
Final Score:
#6 Concordia-Moorhead 23, #21 St. John's 12
Date: February 11, 2014
Location: Moorhead, Minn.
Arena: Memorial Auditorium
Start Time: 7 p.m.
End Time: 8:50 p.m.
Total Time: 1:50
Attendance: 303
Individual Match Results:
125 – Gabe Foltz (CC) maj. dec. Alex Rod (SJU); 14-4 (Concordia 4-0)
133 – Alex Peck (SJU) dec. Will McCarthy (CC); 11-4 (Concordia 4-3)
141 – Ben Henle (SJU) dec. Yonas Gebreab (CC); 8-6 (St. John's 6-4)
149 – Joe Hessing (SJU) dec. #7 Jake Long (CC); 14-13 (St. John's 9-4)
157 – Kyle LeDuc (CC) dec. #10 Ryan Arne (SJU); 4-0 (St. John's 9-7)
165 – Jake Krogstad (CC) dec. Brandon Seppelt (SJU); 7-5 (Concordia 10-9)
174 – Sebastian Gardner (CC) maj. dec. Teddy Erickson (SJU); 10-2 (Concordia 14-9)
184 – Chris Harrison (CC) dec. Josh Willaert (SJU); 11-7 (Concordia 17-9)
197 – Ryan Michaelis (SJU) dec. Delson Saintal (CC); 4-0 (Concordia 17-12)
285 – #4 Cody Kasprick (CC) pin fall. John Scepaniak (SJU); 1:10 (Concordia 23-12)
Match Notes:
- Concordia is ranked 6th in the latest NWCA Division III poll.
- #6 Concordia is now 15-4 in dual meets this season.
- The 15 wins is a school record for most dual-meet wins in a season.
- St. John's is ranked 21st in the latest NWCA Division III poll.
- St. John's is now 8-10 in dual meets this season.
- Concordia won 6 of the 10 individual bouts.
- Concordia won 3 bouts by decision, 2 by major decision and 1 by pin fall.
- St. John's won all four bouts by a decision.
- No.4-ranked Cody Kasprick from Concordia was the only ranked wrestler to win and is now 21-9.
