Nagel Knows Seven National Qualifiers

 

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.  (3/01/14)—The list of school record and outstanding achievements continues to grow for No.5-ranked Concordia in 2013-14. On Saturday the Cobbers added a program-record seven NCAA Meet qualifiers and an NCAA West Region Coach of the Year honor to their ever-growing trophy case.

Concordia had seven athletes finish in the top 3 at the NCAA West Region Meet held at Augsburg and head coach Matt Nagel was named the Region Coach of the Year. Both achievements are firsts in program history.

In order to qualify for the NCAA National Meet a wrestler had to finish in first, second or third place in his weight class and that is exactly what Jacoby Bergeron, Jake Long, Kyle LeDuc, Jake Krogstad, Sebastian Gardner, Chris Harrison and Cody Kasprick did on Saturday. Long and Harrison were the two region champion wrestlers for Concordia.  Long went 4-0 at 149 while Harrison was 3-0 at 184.

The Cobbers have now qualified 13 wrestlers for the NCAA Meet in the past two seasons and has had at least four athletes qualify for five consecutive seasons. CC has sent a total of 25 wrestlers to the national meet during that stretch. 
 
The super septet helped the Cobbers finish in second place in the final team standings in the regional. CC had a total of 136.5 points which trailed region champion No.6-ranked Augsburg by 11.5 points. The two top 10 teams were the only squads to finish with more than 100 total team points. St. John's finished third in the region with 92.0 points and UW-Oshkosh was fourth at 72.5.
 
Long methodically made his way through the 149-lb bracket. He posted bonus-point wins in his first two bouts and then earned an 8-3 decision in the semifinals and a 5-3 victory in the championship match. Long will be making his second straight trip to the national meet and is now 7-0 in his last two region championship meets. Last year he finished fifth and earned All-American status. Long now has a team-best 27 wins on the season.  He was 27-32 in his freshman and sophomore seasons at CC and has gone 48-18 in the past two seasons.     

Harrison had competed in two previous region meets and had a 5-5 record coming into Saturday's event. He proceeded to earn a pin fall in the opening match and then a 6-3 decision in the semifinals before beating Tom Teigen 7-4 in the championship bout. Harrison is now 26-8 on the year after posting a combined 35 wins in his first two seasons in maroon and gold. Harrison will be competing in his first-ever national meet.

After patiently waiting in the wings for two seasons to get his crack at earning a trip to the national meet by competing in the regionals, Kasprick went 2-1 and finished in second place at 285. Kasprick entered the day ranked third in the nation and steamrolled his first two opponents – winning both by pin fall. He then lost a tough 5-3 decision to Chad Anderson of Augsburg, the No.1-ranked wrestler in the country. Kasprick is now 23-10 on the year and has won seven of his last eight matches by pin fall. 

Bergeron joins Long as the only wrestlers to earn a return trip to the national meet. He went 4-1 at 133 and won the third-place match by pinning his opponent at 5:40. He also earned a pair of major decisions. Bergeron is now 26-8 on the season and has ammased 52 wins in his first three-plus years at CC. Last year he won the region championship. He will be looking to improve on his 1-2 record at last year's NCAA Meet. 

LeDuc is the third member of the Cobbers who will be headed back to the NCAA National Meet. LeDuc lost in the championship match at 157 to No.1-ranked Nazar Kulchytsky of UW-Oshkosh. LeDuc won by technical fall in his first-round bout and then advanced by injury default in the semifinals. LeDuc has now recorded 25 wins on the season and 69 for his career. He did not compete at last year's regional meet after barely missing out on making the national meet as a sophomore when he went 5-2 and finished in fourth place.   

Krogstad has been one of the team's hottest wrestlers as of late and it showed on Saturday as he went 4-1 at 165 and won his third-place match by a final score of 7-6. His third-place win was probably the most dramatic of the day. Krogstad trailed 6-5 late in the third period and then got late takedown and stayed on top for the win. Krogstad is the eighth member of the Cobbers to earn 20 wins in the season he is now 20-9 on the year. That ties a program record for most wrestlers with at least 20 wins in a year.   

Gardner was one of the feel good stories of the day for the Cobbers. He hadn't posted a winning record at his previous two region meets and was a combined 31-27 in his first two years at Concordia. Gardner has steadily improved all season long and capped his breakout year by going 3-1 at 174 and finishing in third place. He recorded a pin fall in his first bout of the region meet and then lost in the semifinals. Gardner then regrouped to get a technical fall in the consolation semifinals and a major decision in the third-place match. He is 25-12 entering the national meet and has won seven of his last eight matches.

The other two place winners for the Cobbers at the region meet were Gabe Foltz and Yonas Gebreab. Both wrestlers lost heartbreakers in the the third-place match and finished in fourth place. Foltz was 3-2 at 125 and had a chance in the third period to take a lead in the match. He finishes the year 19-14 after going 13-10 as a freshman. Gebreab gave up a late takedown in the third period and was fourth at 141. He also went 3-2 on the day and ends the year with 22 wins after only posting 10 last year.

The seven Cobber wrestlers will now have two weeks to train under the tutelage of Region Coach of the Year Nagel and his top-notch staff before heading to the NCAA National Meet on Mar. 14-15 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.               

NCAA West Regional - Place Winners for Concordia
125 - Gabe Foltz (19-14) – 4th place
133 - Jacoby Bergeron (26-8) - 3rd place
141 - Yonas Gebreab (22-18) - 4th place
149 - Jake Long (27-8) -  1st place
157 - Kyle LeDuc (25-10) -  2nd place
165 - Jake Krogstad (20-9) – 3rd place
174 - Sebastian Gardner (25-12) – 3rd place
184 - Chris Harrison (26-8) -  1st place
285 - Cody Kasprick (23-10) - 2nd place

NCAA West Regional - Coach of the Year
Matt Nagel - Concordia


NCAA West Regional - Final Team Standings
1. Augsburg College 148.0
2. Concordia College-Moorhead 136.5
3. Saint John's University 92.0
4. University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 72.5
5. Concordia University-Wisconsin 58.5
6. Milwaukee School of Engineering 58.0
7. Pacific University (Ore.) 53.0
8. St. Olaf College 52.5
9. Lakeland College 51.5
10. University of Wisconsin-Platteville 49.5
11. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 36.0
12. Maranatha Baptist University 0.0

NCAA Regional - Individual Results for Concordia
125 - Gabe Foltz (19-14) placed 4th and scored 13.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Gabe Foltz (CC) 19-14 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Gabe Foltz (CC) 19-14 pin over John Wells (SJU) 11-13 (Fall 6:17)
Semifinal - Sean Ambrocio (CU) 16-4 pin over Gabe Foltz (CC) 19-14 (Fall 1:51)
Cons. Semi - Gabe Foltz (CC) 19-14 pin Matt Damp (LC) 15-17 (Fall 2:36)
3rd Place Match - Cole Ferguson (UWP) dec. over Gabe Foltz (CC) 19-14 (Dec 7-4)

133 - Jacoby Bergeron (26-8) placed 3rd and scored 15.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Jacoby Bergeron (CC) 26-8 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Jacoby Bergeron (CC) 26-8 maj. dec. Eduardo Orihuela (LC) 13-16 (MD 16-6)
Semifinal - Marcus Lubner (CU) 17-5 dec. over Jacoby Bergeron (CC) 26-8 (Dec 8-6)
Cons. Semi - Jacoby Bergeron (CC) 26-8 maj. dec. Alex Peck (SJU) 9-10 (MD 8-0)
3rd Place Match - Jacoby Bergeron (CC) 26-8 pin Eric Harder (PU) 27-9 (Fall 5:40)

141 - Yonas Gebreab (22-18) placed 4th and scored 10.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Yonas Gebreab (CC) 22-18 dec. Joshua Curcio (CU) 2-17 (Dec 12-5)
Quarterfinal - Yonas Gebreab (CC) 22-18 maj. dec. J.Wolfenden (MSOE) 14-13 (MD 16-5)
Semifinal - Ben Henle (SJU) 19-9 dec. Yonas Gebreab (CC) 22-18 (Dec 9-4)
Cons. Semi - Yonas Gebreab (CC) 22-18 dec. Mason Bohm (UWP) 16-11 (Dec 6-2)
3rd Place Match - Marcus Hamer (AC) 24-13 dec. Yonas Gebreab (CC) 22-18 (Dec 8-1)

149 - Jacob Long (27-8) placed 1st and scored 18.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Jacob Long (CC) 27-8 won by fall over James Warren (MBU) 1-9 (Fall 1:09)
Quarterfinal - Jacob Long (CC) 27-8 won by maj. dec. Adam Woitalla (STO) 13-17 (MD 11-1)
Semifinal - Jacob Long (CC) 27-8 dec. Jacob Maechtle (LC) 9-9 (Dec 8-3)
1st Place Match - Jacob Long (CC) 27-8 dec. Will Keeter (AC) 27-15 (Dec 5-3)

157 - Kyle LeDuc (25-10) placed 2nd and scored 16.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Kyle LeDuc (CC) 25-10 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Kyle LeDuc (CC) 25-10 tech. fall Mike Uliana (UWP) 4-12 (TF-1.5 2:54 (15-0))
Semifinal - Kyle LeDuc (CC) 25-10 inj. default over Ryan Arne (SJU) 20-8 (Inj. 2:11)
1st Place Match - Nazar Kulchytskyy (UWO) 36-2 maj. dec. Kyle LeDuc (CC) 25-10 (MD 12-3)

165 - Jake Krogstad (20-9) placed 3rd and scored 12.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Jake Krogstad (CC) 20-9 dec. over Brandon Seppelt (SJU) 8-18 (Dec 8-3)
Quarterfinal - Jake Krogstad (CC) 20-9 maj. dec. Trent Larson (UWP) 15-13 (MD 11-3)
Semifinal - Justin Bowland (AC) 25-14 dec. Jake Krogstad (CC) 20-9 (Dec 7-3)
Cons. Semi - Jake Krogstad (CC) 20-9 dec. Mitchell Fucile (LC) 30-13 (Dec 6-2)
3rd Place Match - Jake Krogstad (CC) 20-9 dec. over Bruce Balcita (PU) 22-13 (Dec 7-6)

174 - Sebastian Gardner (25-12) placed 3rd and scored 16.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Sebastian Gardner (CC) 25-12 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Sebastian Gardner (CC) 25-12 pin fall Dylan Deshane (UWP) 18-14 (Fall 2:14)
Semifinal - Dan Schiferl (UWO) 29-4 dec. Sebastian Gardner (CC) 25-12 (Dec 6-2)
Cons. Semi - Sebastian Gardner (CC) 25-12 tech fall R.Carey (MSOE) 14-18 (TF (17-2))
3rd Place Match - Sebastian Gardner (CC) 25-12 maj. dec. D.Deshane (UWP) 18-14 (MD 10-0)

184 - Christian Harrison (26-8) placed 1st and scored 17.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Christian Harrison (CC) 26-8 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Christian Harrison (CC) 26-8 pin fall Korey Kleinhans (UWO) 12-15 (Fall 3:54)
Semifinal - Christian Harrison (CC) 26-8 dec. Luke Ortscheid (UWEC) 24-18 (Dec 6-3)
1st Place Match - Christian Harrison (CC) 26-8 dec. over Tom Teigen (AC) 19-12 (Dec 7-4)

197 - Delson Saintal (14-16) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Delson Saintal (CC) 14-16 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Caleb Staub (MSOE) 33-15 dec. over Delson Saintal (CC) 14-16 (Dec 3-1)
Cons. Round 3 - Tyler Wetenkamp (UWO) 3-6 pin fall Delson Saintal (CC) 14-16 (Fall 2:16)

285 - Cody Kasprick (23-10) placed 2nd and scored 17.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Cody Kasprick (CC) 23-10 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Cody Kasprick (CC) 23-10 pin fall Kyle Andreae (UWP) 12-20 (Fall 2:38)
Semifinal - Cody Kasprick (CC) 23-10 pin fall Zack Gibson (St. Olaf) 28-6 (Fall 6:29)
1st Place Match - Chad Johnson (AC) 31-1 dec. Cody Kasprick (CC) 23-10 (Dec 5-3)