Fast Start, Faster Finish

No.22-ranked Concordia pounced on St. John's early and continued their high pace in the final five matches as they beat the Johnnies 31-12. The win is the seventh straight against the Johnnies and is the end of their dual meet schedule against Division III opponents.

The Cobbers won three of the first four matched in the dual and then closed out the night by winning four of the final five bouts. Concordia is now 7-3 overall in dual meets and 4-1 against DIII opponents.

Sophomore Jake Nohre staked the Cobbers to an early lead with a 9-4 decision victory at 125 pounds. Nohre scored in every period and tacked on an extra point for riding time as he kept his opponent down for more than a minute.

The Johnnies came out on top at 133 pounds to tie the score, but then freshman Bret Wilson put the Cobbers in the lead for good with a 9-2 victory over the Johnnies' Anthony Hennen at 141 pounds. Wilson's win was unorthodox as he earned his points via two reversals, a four-point near fall and another point for riding time.

Senior Ty Johnson took the mat at 149 pounds for Concordia with his team ahead 6-3.  Johnson's match was hotly contested early as the first period ended with a tie score, but the veteran Johnson was able to build a lead over the next two periods and eventually earned a crucial pin at the 6:16 mark to put the Cobbers up 12-3.

Concordia would drop the 157-pound bout, but another senior, Travis Deegan, quickly widened Concordia's lead with a dominating technical fall. Deegan jumped to a 9-point lead in the first period on the strength of a takedown and a pair of four-point near falls. Deegan's opponent then chose to start the second period in the bottom position and Deegan exploited that decision with four more points from near falls. The Concordia senior earned a takedown in the final period to take a 15-point lead and end the match.

The next two matches were similarly dominant for the Cobbers. Freshman Kaden Spindler took his 174-pound opponent down on several occasions and earned a 17-5 major decision victory. Spindler also accumulated more than five minutes of riding time and scored a four-point near fall in the match.

Senior Nick Gravdahl matched his younger teammate's feat by also winning by a major decision at 184 pounds. Despite bumping up a weight class for the match, Gravdahl overpowered his larger opponent with multiple takedowns and near falls and came away with a 15-4 victory.

Freshman Jacob Arends put on a very strong showing at 197 despite falling just short by a score of 5-4. He closed the gap considerably on St. John's senior Luke Dodd, who had beaten Arends 11-4 at the MSUM Dragon Open earlier in the season, by using an extremely high pace and which tired out the SJU wrestler.

Freshman Noah Carter finished off the dual meet on a high note as he outworked and outmuscled his opponent the whole match. Carter's high intensity was rewarded as his opponent was warned for stalling on four different occasions. Ultimately, the Cobber freshman would be able to get his opponent on his back and won by pin. Carter's pin at 6:21 pushed the final team score to 31-12.

UP NEXT: The Cobbers will be back in action when they travel to Wisconsin to participate in the Don Parker Open held at the Wis.-Eau Claire on Saturday, Feb. 2.

Individual Match Results:
125 - Jake Nohre (CC) dec. Josh Clark (SJU); 9-4 [Concordia leads 3-0)
133 - Noah Becker (SJU) dec. Ben Bogart (CC); 6-1 (Score tied 3-3)
141 - Bret Wilson (CC) dec. Anthony Hennen (SJU); 9-2 (Concordia leads 6-3)
149 - Ty Johnson (CC) pinned Andrew Smith (SJU); 6:16 (Concordia leads 12-3)
157 - Jerod Novak (SJU) pinned Innocent Nsengiyumva CC); 3:49 (Concordia leads 12-9)
165 - Travis Deegan (CC) tech. fall Caleb Jungling (SJU); 17-1/5:31 (Concordia leads 17-9)
174 - Kaden Spindler (CC) maj. dec. Jacob Scherber (SJU); 17-5 (Concordia leads 21-9)
184 - Nick Gravdahl (CC) maj. dec. Dominic Skawiniak (SJU); 15-4 Concordia leads 25-9)
197 - Luke Dodd (SJU) dec. Jake Arends (CC); 5-4 (Concordia leads 25-12)
285 - Noah Carter (CC) pinned J.W. Windsor (SJU); 6:21 (Concordia wins 31-12)