Openers And Closers In Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb. (12/16/23)---It was an opening and a closing for the Cobbers in the middle of December. No.11-ranked Concordia opened its dual meet schedule and closed out the 2023 portion of its schedule all in one day at the Prairie Wolf Duals hosted by Neb. Wesleyan.
The Cobbers came away with a 2-1 record in their three matches on the day. CC opened with a 33-11 win over Schreiner and followed that up with a convincing 40-14 victory over Neb. Wesleyan. The best bout of the meet came in the final, where Concordia was edged by No.13-ranked Central 19-16.
Concordia was led by the quartet of Ty Bisek, Elijah Hunt, Connor Chloupek and Gabe Zierden, who all went 3-0 on the day. Mason Swanson was also unbeaten in multiple matches, as he posted a 2-0 record.
While the Cobbers had five unbeaten wrestlers in Nebraska, sophomore Ethan Lebrija who turned in the match of the day. Lebrija went 2-1 on the day at 141, but his loss got the fan's attention. Lebrija battled No.6-ranked Pierre Baldwin win down to the wire only to lose a nail-biting 2-1 decision. Baldwin is now 19-1 on the year, and Lebrija gave him his closet match against any DIII opponent this season.
Bisek, ranked second in Division III at 133 in the latest NWCA poll, started his day with a pin in only 41 seconds against Domingo Davila of Schreiner. He then doubled his pin total with a fall at the 4:43 mark vs. Quinton Chavez of Neb. Wesleyan. Bisek's closest match came in the finale when he scored a 7-1 decision over Brock Beck of Central, who is ranked third in the Lower Midwest Region.
Bisek leads the team in wins and pins this year. He is 13-1 with seven victories coming by fall.
No.6-ranked Zierden posted the second most eye-opening decision of the meet. He earned pins in his first two matches at 197, and then scored a 12-7 decision over No.3-ranked Gage Linahon of Central, who is 18-2 on the season.
Zierden is now 11-0 on the season, with 10 of those victories as bonus point wins.
Hunt continues to climb the ladder at 165 during his senior season. He opened with a 4-2 decision against Jayden McLean of Schreiner and then pinned Seth Littrell of Neb. Wesleyan. Hunt came through with a big win against Central as he stopped a 3-match win streak by the Dutch. CC was trailing 15-6 after five matches, and Hunt started a string of four out of five wins for the Cobbers.
Hunt's three wins give him seven for the year, and he is 7-4 on the season.
Chloupek was the only Concordia wrestler to post three bonus point wins on the day. He had a 17-0 tech fall against Levi Slaydon of Schreiner to start the meet. He followed that with a pin over Sam Weaver of Neb. Wesleyan and a 12-1 major decision over Samuel West of Central.
Chloupek's three wins up his season record to 7-2. He also has six bonus point wins for the year.
Swanson wrestled in the first and third matches at heavyweight. The 2-sport Cobber athlete recorded a 9-0 major decision vs. Luis Rodriguez of Schreiner and finished with a 1-0 win over Hayden Hearne of Central.
Swanson is 4-2 since joining the team after the football program.
Individual Match Results:
125 - Jose Salinas Nava (SU) pin Robert Sherk (CC); 3:51 (SU leads 6-0)
133 - #2 Ty Bisek (CC) pin Domingo Davila (SU); 0:41 (Tied 6-6)
141 - Ethan Lebrija (CC) dec. Jayden Bustillos (SU): 3-1 (CC leads 9-6)
149 - Julian Montelongo (SU) tech. fall Aidan Ruddy (CC); 17-2 7:00 (SU leads 11-9)
157 - Alex McPhee (CC) maj. dec. Diego Fernandez (SU); 15-6 (CC leads 13-11)
165 - Elijah Hunt (CC) dec. Jayden McLean (SU); 4-2 (CC leads 16-11)
174 - Alex Rapelje (CC) dec. Dominick Evans (SU); 15-8 (CC leads 19-11)
184 - Connor Chloupek (CC) tech. fall Levi Slaydon (SU); 17-0 3:40 (CC leads 24-11)
197 - #6 Gabe Zierden (CC) tech. fall Roman Saldana (SU); 16-0 3:00 (CC leads 39-10)
285 - Mason Swanson (CC) maj. dec. Luis Rodriguez (SU); 9-0 (CC wins 33-11)
UP NEXT: Concordia will take a break for the holidays and then return to action at the NWCA National Jan. 5-6 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.