Movin' On Up In The National Rankings

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/29/30)---Concordia moved up three spots in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III national rankings.

The Cobbers opened the year ranked 18th in the NWCA poll, and through the strength of their early-season competition and results, have moved up to No.15 in the DIII rankings.

Concordia also has two individuals who continue to be ranked in the Top 15 of their weight class. Junior Ty Bisek (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer HS) is locked in the No.3 spot at 133. He is 7-1 on the season with three pins and three wins by tech fall. Bisek claimed the 133-lb title at the St. John's 4-Team Rumble on Nov. 11.

Like the Cobbers in the team rankings, senior Gabe Zierden (Albany, Minn.) has used the success in his first two meets of the year to rise in the rankings. Zierden started the year ranked 12th at 197 and has moved up to the No.6 spot. He captured the championships at 197 in each of the St. John's meet and the Augsburg Invitational on Nov. 18. Zierden is unbeaten at 5-0 and has a pair of pins.

The Cobbers continue to have multiple wrestlers ranked in the Upper Midwest Regional poll. Bisek is second at 133, Alex McPhee (Jr., Duluth, Minn./Proctor HS) is sixth at 157, Elijah Hunt (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.) is sixth at 165 and Zierden is second at 197.     

Concordia will stay with multi-team invitationals this weekend when they compete at the MSU Moorhead Dragon Open on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 10 a.m.  

NWCA Divsion III National Team Rankings - Nov. 28
1. Augsburg
2. Wartburg
3. UW-Eau Claire
4. UW-La Crosse
5. Alvernia
6. Baldwin Wallace
7. Johnson & Wales
8. VTSU Castleton
9. North Central
10. Wabash
11. U.S. Coast Guard Academy
T12. TCNJ
T12. McDaniel
14. NYU
15. Concordia-Moorhead
16. Ithaca
17. Centenary
T18. Ohio Northern
T18. Central
20. Millikin
T21. Williams
T21. Springfield
T21. Muhlenberg
T21. Elizabethtown
T19. SUNY Oswego
T25. Stevens Institute of Technology
T25. Loras