3rd Straight Top 4 Finish At NWCA Duals

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (1/09/16)—It wasn't the two results they wanted but Concordia was still able to post a third straight top 4 finish at the NWCA National Duals meet.

The Cobbers lost a pair of matches to NCAA Division III Top 10 teams and placed fourth at the top dual meet tournament of the season. Concordia has now placed in the top 4 at the meet for three straight years including a second-place finish in 2014.

Concordia was able to get early leads in their matches on Saturday but then watched as their opponents strung together win streaks to earn the dual-meet victory.

In the semifinal match on Saturday morning, Concordia went up 6-0 on No.8-ranked Wabash (Ind.) but then watched the Little Giants rattle off seven straight wins to claim a 25-12 win. The Cobbers were up 12-0 after three bouts in their third-place match against Roger Williams (R.I.) but then had the Hawks win six of the final seven bouts and win 26-18.

The two losses drop Concordia's overall dual-meet record to 12-4 on the season. CC needs only three more dual-meet wins to tie the school record for wins in a single season.    

The Cobbers' two nationally ranked wrestlers didn't disappoint on Saturday. No.4-ranked Jakob Stageberg and No.8-ranked Gabe Foltz both won two matches on the day.

Stageberg claimed a 5-4 decision over Chris Diaz of Wabash and then went on to beat Nick Barbaria of Roger Williams 5-2. Stageberg went 3-1 at the National Duals, continues to lead the team in wins and is now 23-7 on the season.

Foltz was the only Cobber to win four matches at the National Duals. After posting two wins on Friday he claimed a 7-2 decision over AJ Belden of Wabash and then won 2-0 over Jean-Luc Lemieux. Foltz has won six straight and upped his overall mark to 18-7.             

Against Wabash it was junior Justice Davis who earned the only other victory for Concordia. Davis closed out the dual by claiming a pin fall at the 1:29 mark. The win was the fifth of the year for Davis and all five have been by pin fall.

Blane Tschida and Dan Marquette came away with the other Cobber wins against Roger Williams and both wrestlers were able to get their opponent's shoulders on the mat.

Tschida earned his pin fall at 141 at 1:50. His six-point team win gave Concordia a 12-0 lead over the Hawks.

CC wouldn't claim another win until Dan Marquette pinned Carter Matecki at 1:47. The win at 184 brought CC within one point at 19-18 with two individual matches to go in the dual.   

The big difference against Roger Williams was that the Hawks were able to score bonus point victories in five of their six wins.

WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will compete in the Matman Invite at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 16 beginning at 9 a.m.

Individual Match Results:
125 - #4 Jakob Stageberg (CC) decision Nick Barbaria (RW); 5-2 (Concordia 3-0)
133 - #8 Gabe Foltz (CC) decision Jean-Luc Lemieux (RW); 2-0 (Concordia 6-0)
141 - Blane Tschida (CC) pin fall Justin Cochoran (RW); 1:50 (Concordia 12-0)
149 - Daniel Downes (RW) technical fall Ben Baumgartner (CC); 15-0 (Concordia 12-5)
157 - #7 Ty Herzog (RW) major decision Ben Cousins (CC); 12-4 (Concordia 12-9)
165 - Alec Golner (RW) pin fall Joe Heinz (CC); 1:52 (Roger Williams 15-12)
174 - #9 Dan Ressler (RW) major decision Jake Johnson (CC); 13-2 (Roger Williams 19-12)
184 - Dan Marquette (CC) pin fall Carter Matecki (RW); 1:47 (Roger Williams 19-18)
197 - #2 David Welch (RW) major decision Jake Briggs (CC); 9-0 (Roger Williams 23-18)
285 - #4 Kyle Foster (RW) decision Justice Davis (CC); 5-4 (Roger Williams 26-18)