Youth Is Served In Record-Tying Dual Win
MARSHALL, Minn. (2/18/16)—Concordia's youth continues to impress in 2016 as the No.8-ranked Cobbers edged Division II Southwest Minnesota State 18-16 in the final dual meet of the season.
Competing with only two senior or juniors in the lineup, Concordia earned its 15th dual-meet win of the season to tie the program record for dual-meet victories in a single year. The Cobbers finish the year with a 15-5 record which equals the win total posted in 2014 when they also went 15-5.
Head coach Matt Nagel sent four freshmen and three sophomores to the mat against the Mustangs. The baby Cobbers responded by winning the first five individual bouts in the dual and getting out to a 15-0 lead.
Leading the way for the youth movement the entire season has been No.3-ranked Jakob Stageberg. The sophomore started the night by winning 8-1 at 125. Stageberg scored a takedown in each period en route to his 30th win of the season. He has also won 15 of his last 16 bouts.
Gabe Foltz, one of the two seniors in the lineup, didn't allow a point in his match at 133 – scored three points in the third period and won 3-0. Foltz got the escape to start the final period and then also came up with an escape to improve to 24-4 on the year.
Freshmen Blane Tschida and Ben Baumgartner followed with close decisions at 141 and 149. Tschida, used takedowns in the first and third periods to score the 5-2 win. Baumgarnter then pushed the Cobber lead to 12-0 with a 9-3 win. Neither wrestler managed to score in the opening period before Baumgartner posted three points in the second and six in the third to win decisively.
Senior Ben Cousins capped his dual-meet career with a 5-1 win at 157. Cousins' "MO" all season has been to limit his opponents attacks and then where him down in the second and third periods. He followed that storyline on Thursday by battling through a scoreless first period and then coming out with a 3-1 lead after the second frame. Cousins tightened his grip in the third, scored two more points and earned his eighth win in the last nine matches.
Southwest Minnesota State won the next three matches to get to within five points at 15-10. Knowing that they didn't have an athlete at 285 and would have to give away six points, the Cobbers had to rely on freshman Jake Briggs to win or lose the match at 197.
Like the rest of his first-year teammates, Briggs didn't disappoint as he erased a 1-0 deficit in the second period, scored three takedowns in the final two periods and won 7-4. His three-point decision clinched the match for Concordia by giving CC an eight-point lead heading into the 285-lb open weight class.
Individual Match Results:
125 - #3 Jakob Stageberg (CC) decision Taylor Curtis (SWMNST); 8-1 (Concordia 3-0)
133 - #7 Gabe Foltz (CC) decision Antonio Meikel (SWMNST); 3-0 (Concordia 6-0)
141 - Blane Tschida (CC) decision Cortez Arredondo (SWMNST); 5-2 (Concordia 9-0)
149 - Ben Baumgartner (CC) dec. Zachary Beaumaster (SWMNST); 9-3 (7:00) (Concordia 12-0)
157 - Ben Cousins (CC) decision Justin Haneke (SWMNST); 5-1 (Concordia 15-0)
165 - Kegen Fingalsen (SWMNST) decision Nick Gravdahl (CC); 8-2 (Concordia 15-3)
174 - Kyle Begin (SWMNST) major decision Jake Johnson (CC); 9-0 (Concordia 15-7)
184 - Broderick Goens (SWMNST) decision Ricky Briggs (CC); 8-4 (Concordia 15-10)
197 - Jake Briggs (CC) decision Ashton Bartlett (SWMNST); 7-4 (Concordia 18-10)
285 - #3 Cole Wilson (SWMNST) wins by forfeit (Concordia 18-16)
30 IS THE NEW 20
Jakob Stageberg continued the streak of 30-win wrestlers for the Cobbers. Concordia has now had at least one 30-win athlete in 10 of the last 11 seasons. During the last 11 years CC has had 15 wrestlers win 30 matches in a single season. The Concordia record for wins in a single season is 38 set by Justin Berns in 2009.
NOT A BAD START
Stageberg is now 30-7 on the season and is 56-18 in his first two seasons in maroon and gold. The program record for most wins in a career is 135 held by two-time National Champion, and current assistant coach, Phil Moenkedick.
DUAL MEET DYANMOES
Seniors Gabe Foltz and Ben Cousins have been the foundation of the team's 15 dual-meet wins this year. Both athletes have competed in all 20 dual meets this season. Foltz earned his 14th win his last 15 matches. He is now 24-4 on the season and an impressive 17-3 in dual meets. Cousins is right behind Foltz' stellar dual-meet record. Cousins is now 24-11 on the year and 15-5 in dual meets.
WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia now heads to the "postseason" where they will compete at the NCAA Regional and National meets. The Cobbers will look to continue their success when they head to Minneapolis to square off at the West Regional Meet at Augsburg on Saturday, Feb. 27. Last year the Cobbers had nine athletes qualify for the national meet from the regional.