A Fine Nine

STORY LINE: Concordia won three of the first four matches, jumped out to a 16-8 lead and beat cross-town rival MSU Moorhead 19-18. The Cobbers and Dragons both won five individual matches in the dual but it was the strength of a pin by Benjamin Bogart at 133 that gave Concordia the biggest bonus-point win of the night and helped secure the 1-point win.

DID I HEAR A NINER?: The win over MSU Moorhead is the ninth straight for Concordia in a streak that dates back to the 2010-11 season. It is also the fourth straight season that the CC/MSUM dual has been determined by six or fewer points.

B.B. KING: Concordia fell behind 4-0 after the first match but then sophomore Benjamin Bogart started the 3-match win streak for the Cobbers by coming up with a pin fall in the first minute of the third period. Bogart had a 4-point near fall in the second period and led 7-0 heading into the third period. He then earned a takedown and was able to get his opponent turned on his back which led to the pin at the 5:58 mark. Bogart has now won three of his last five matches and is 8-3 on the year. He has won both his bouts in dual-meet action.

OVERTIME SUCCESS: Freshman Bret Wilson had the closest match of the night. He also had the biggest rally of the night. Wilson was down 6-4 late in his match at 141 but then earned a pair of stall warning points to tie the bout at 6-6 and send it into the sudden victory period. Wilson used a takedown in the minute period to win 8-6. Wilson has now won four of his last five matches and is 4-4 after starting the year 0-3.

EXPERIENCE PAYS OFF: Ty Johnson, one of only two seniors in the line-up for the Cobbers, used his experience and patience to grind out a 3-1 win at 149 and give CC a 12-4 lead. His opponent scored the only point of the bout when he earned an escape to start the third period. Johnson then got the decisive takedown midway through the last period and earned the riding time point to come away with the hard-fought 2-point win. Johnson, who didn't wrestle in last weekend's Finn Grinaker Cobber Open, is now 4-2 on the season.

BIG D DEEGAN: Junior Travis Deegan earned the only other bonus point victory for the Cobbers when he recorded a 10-0 major decision at 165 which put CC up 16-8. Deegan was on the attack from the start and forced his opponent into a stall warning in the first period. Deegan then scored a takedown in the second period before pulling away in the third. Leading 2-0 to start the third, Deegan was in the down position and earned a reversal for two points. He then got a 4-point near fall and a stall warning point to go along with riding time to get the 10-point victory. The win snapped a 2-match losing skid and pushes his overall record to 5-4 for the year.

EXPERIENCE PAYS OFF 2: Nick Gravdahl was the other senior in the line-up for the Cobbers and he earned the match-deciding points when he won 5-4 at 184. The match was stopped several times for blood cleanup on his opponent. The bout hung in the balance all the way through the third period. The match was tied 2-2 at the start of the third period when his opponent escaped from the down position. Gravdahl then went up 4-2 on a takedown and upped the riding time to over 1:00 to get it into the bonus point status. Gravdahl then went on the defensive for the remainder of the match, and despite giving away two stall points, he still fought his way to a 1-point victory. Gravdahl has won three straight matches and is 5-3 on the year.

DRAMA UNTIL THE END: The match wasn't fully decided until the final seconds of the bout at 285. The Dragons earned a 4-2 decision at 197 before freshman Noah Carter finished off the victory with a 7-6 loss. Needing to win or lose only by a decision to give Concordia the team win, Carter started slowly but then came up with a huge takedown and 4-point near fall to take a 6-0 lead late in the first period. His opponent then got two points back with a takedown in the second. Carter then had to fight off a near fall to start the third and was close to getting pinned but willed his way out of the hold and lost by a single point at 7-6.

UP NEXT: Concordia will have an 11-day break before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 1 when they compete in the Dragon Open starting at 9 a.m.