Bonus Point Bouts Bounce Cobbers

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (1/04/18)---Ricky Briggs and Aaron Dick combined to go 6-0 on Day 1 of the NWCA National Duals Meet but it wasn't enough to see the Cobbers through to the second day as they went 1-2 and were eliminated from the top dual meet of the season.

Concordia started the day by losing 24-19 to No.21-ranked Centenary (N.J.) in the opening round of the championship tournament. The Cobbers then rallied to beat SUNY-Cortland (N.Y.) 34-6 in the second round of the consolation bracket before finally losing 30-10 to No.7-ranked Wabash (Ind.).

The Cobbers are now 3-8 in dual meets this season with seven of their eight losses coming against teams ranked in the Top 25 of the nation.

Briggs, who was seeing his first action for the Cobbers this season, went 3-0 on the day. He posted a pair of one-point decisions against wrestlers from Centenary and Wabash and then earned a forfeit win against Cortland.

Dick continued his stellar senior season. He started the day by pinning Dino Cancellieri of Centenary. He then recorded a 13-4 major decision against Benjamin Ilyod  of Cortland and then finished off the day with another major decision against Chris Diaz of Wabash.

Dick has now won seven of his last eight matches and is 14-6 on the season.

The difference in the opener against Centenary came down to bonus point bouts. Both teams won five individual matches. However, Centenary earned bonus points in all five of their wins as opposed to only two for the Cobbers.

Concordia trailed 19-10 in the match before decisions by Jacob Johnson and Briggs brought CC to within three points at 19-16. Centenary then closed out the match with a technical fall at 197 to take a 24-16 lead.

The Cobbers won the first three matches against Cortland and followed that up by claiming the final five matches in the team dual. Jake Nohre, Dick and Cole Kubesh staked Concordia to a 13-0 lead. CC led 13-6 before Joe Heinz, Johnson, Briggs, Ethan Kimber and Kody Van Den Eykel all recorded wins to push the final total to a 28-point margin.

The final match against Wabash was a one-point affair after Dick posted his major decision a 133. Unfortunately for CC the Little Giants then rattled off five straight wins to take a 27-4 lead with three matches left.

Briggs earned his win at 184 before Kimber came away with a 9-4 decision at 197 to give CC 10 points.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will stay on the road for national-level competition when they travel to Mount Vernon, Iowa to compete in the Matman Invite on Saturday, Jan. 13.

Final Score:
Concordia-Moorhead 19, #21 Centenary University (N.J.) 24
Date: January 4, 2018
Location: Fort Wayne, Ind.
Tournament: NWCA National Duals
Start Time: 10:00 a.m.
End Time: 11:35 p.m.
Total Time: 1:35

Individual Match Results:
1
25 - Tyreek Staton (CU) pin Jake Nohre (CC); 1:29 (Centenary leads 6-0)
133 - Aaron Dick (CC) pin Dino Cancellieri (CU); 3:00 (Score tied 6-6)
141 - Maxwell Nauta (CU) tech. fall Cole Kubesh (CC); 15-0 (Centenary leads 11-6)
149 - Christopher Muce (CU) maj. dec. Ty Johnson (CC); 9-1 (Centenary leads 15-6)
157 - Cole Sladek (CC) maj. dec. Thomas Hinz (CU); 16-8 (Centenary leads 15-10)
165 - Alec Donovan (CU) maj. dec. Joe Heinz (CC); 10-2 (Centenary leads 19-10)
174 - Jake Johnson (CC) dec. Jordan Juliano (CU); 3-2 (Centenary leads 19-13)
184 - Ricky Briggs (CC) dec. Jeremy Nurnberger (CU); 3-2 (Centenary leads 19-16)
197 - Etiini Udott (CU) tech. fall Ethan Kimber (CC); 17-2 (Centenary leads 24-16)
285 - Kody Van Den Eykel (CC) dec. Anthony Colabella (CU); 5-3 (Centenary leads 24-19)

Match Notes:
- Concordia is now 2-7 in dual meets this season.
- Centenary is ranked 21st in the latest NWCA Division III national rankings.
- Centenary is now 2-1 in dual meets this season.
- Both teams won 5 individual bouts in the dual.
- Concordia won 3 of the final 4 individual matches in the dual.
- Concordia won 3 bouts decision, 1 by pin and 1 by major decision.
- Centenary won 3 of the first 4 bouts in the match.
- Centenary won 2 bouts by technical fall, 2 by major decision and 1 by pin.