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Senior Ben Cousins is one of four returning wrestlers who participated in the NCAA National Meet last spring.
Senior Ben Cousins is one of four returning wrestlers who participated in the NCAA National Meet last spring.

A Season of Determined Beginnings

Cobber Wrestling Preview 2015-16
Head Coach: Matt Nagel (3rd Season)

Assistant Coaches: Phil Moenkedick (2nd Season),  Nick Magee (4th Season), Jake Long (2nd Season)

2015 NCAA National Meet finish: 27th Place (14.0 points)

2015 Regional/Conference tournament Finish: 2nd Place (143.5 points)

2014-15 Dual Meet Record: 13-5

Returning NCAA Meet qualifiers:
- Jakob Stageberg (125)
- Gabe Foltz (133)
- Ben Cousins (151)
- Justice Davis (285)

Starters Returning:
- Jakob Stageberg (125)
- Gabe Foltz (133)
- Ben Cousins (151)
- Dane Ringquist (184)
- Justice Davis (285)

Season Outlook
Most seasons if you returned four wrestlers that earned a spot in the NCAA Championship Meet you would be ecstatic over the experience coming back for the new season. Unfortunately if you are Concordia and have been in the national rankings for several straight years that means you also lost several national qualifiers from a year ago.

The Cobbers had a school-record nine wrestlers compete at last year's NCAA meet which means head coach Matt Nagel has to fill the shoes of five national caliber athletes.  Concordia lost half of their starting lineup from last year's squad which went 13-5 in dual meets, and was ranked in the top 15 of the nation for the entire season, which means there will be a lot of new faces in this year's lineup.

Undaunted by the prospect of having to replace a huge chunk of his team from 2015, Nagel remains optimistic because of the quality of young wrestlers he has managed to recruit over the past two years.

"The good news is that we have 16 freshmen back from last year and then we've got 16 new guys," stated Nagel. "So between our freshmen and sophomore class we've got over 30 guys and we're excited to see what those guys can do."

Nagel also knows that the team dynamic will change this year as they go from a senior-driven team to one who will have to rely on the experience of a few and the enthusiasm of the many.

"We're not as senior heavy as we were before," said Nagel. "It's a different environment in the room and we're excited about that."

The good news for Concordia is that all four returning NCAA Meet qualifiers have come back to the room determined to make up for last year's early exit at national due to their first-year experience.

Jakob Stageberg, Gabe Foltz, Ben Cousins and Justice Davis all earned their first-ever trip to nationals last spring and all four failed to make it past a third match. The experience will help all four as they are determined to get back to the NCAA Meet and go towards All-American status.

Stageberg was 27-13 in his first collegiate season and placed third at the NCAA West Regional Meet in the 125-lb weight class. Foltz went 14-13 at 133 but came on at the end of the season to finish second in the region. Cousins went 19-22 at 151 and placed second at the regional meet while Davis finished the year with a 24-12 record and was also a runner-up at the regionals.

Nagel has high praise for Stageberg, Foltz and Cousins through the first weeks of work in the wrestling room (Davis is a member of the Cobber football team and hasn't practiced with the wrestling team as of yet).

"I think that for those three guys (Stageberg, Foltz and Cousins) especially for Gabe Foltz and Ben Cousins being seniors now their leadership is starting to come through, said Nagel. "I think the experience that they got last year going to the national tournament and being close to that round of 12 that should be very valuable for them. They are on a mission."

The lone returning regional wrestler for the Cobbers after the four who qualified for nationals is sophomore Dane Ringquist. Ringquist finished sixth at the regional meet last season at 184 and finished the year with a 9-16 mark. Like the four national meet qualifiers, Ringquist should be helped out by his end-of-the-year experience at a high level.  

Concordia will have plenty of chances to sort out the six question-mark weight classes during the course of the season. The Cobbers open the season at the Wis.-Stevens Point Invite on Saturday, Nov. 14 and will participate in four multi-team meets and have three dual meets as well as a pair of multi-dual meets before the calendar flips over to 2016.

Nagel has also changed his scheduling habit for this season knowing that he will have plenty of inexperienced wrestlers at the beginning of the year. In the past the Cobbers have started out by participating in the Bison Open and in tournaments that have primarily NCAA Division I and II athletes.

The invite at Stevens Point will feature mainly Division III wrestlers.

"We're excited to see some completely different teams for the first time and a totally different level," noted Nagel. "We really wanted to tailor it to the group of guys we had."

Concordia's first dual meet of the season will be at MSU Moorhead on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. CC will open their home schedule when they host the annual Finn Grinaker Cobber Open on Saturday, Nov. 21 beginning at 9 a.m.