Seniors Deliver On Senior Night Celebration

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/01/24)---No.23-ranked Concordia honored its seven seniors before its Senior Celebration Night and then five of those seniors went out and honored their teammates by getting wins in the Cobbers' 33-13 win over the University of Jamestown.    

Seniors Gabe Bellefeuille, Kellen Schauer, Tyler Bents, Gabe Zierden and Ayden Friese all came away with individual-match wins in Concordia's first home dual meet of the year. CC is now 5-3 in duals this season.

The battle against the Jimmies didn't start the way it finished. Jamestown, who is in the "receiving votes" category in the latest NWCA NAIA national poll, won the first two matches of the night – and both were bonus point victories that put the Cobbers behind 9-0.

Bellefeuille came up with the biggest win of the night when he turned a deficit into a pin in the second period of his match at 141. Bellefeuille's opponent started the second period on the bottom, but then gained a reversal and held the edge over Bellefeuille. Bellefeuille was able to turn over from his back, get on top and then force his opponent's shoulders to the mat.

The pin at the 3:37 mark was Bellefeuille's fifth pin of the year and upped his season mark to 9-13.

After Bellefeuille's quick turnabout energized the crowd, Schauer got the first takedown in the bout at 149 and rode a 4-point second period to grind out an 8-4 win to tie the overall match at 9-9.

Bents made it a trifecta of senior wins when he posted a 9-6 decision at 157. Bents fell behind 3-0 in the first period. He scored an escape and a takedown to grab a 4-3 lead after the first period. He finished his scoring with a takedown in the second period and a pair of escapes in the third frame.

Bents, who just recently returned to the lineup after an early-season injury, is 6-3 for the year and has won five of his last seven matches.

Elijah Hunt gave Concordia its first lead of the night with a pin in the first minute of the third period at 165. Hunt was comfortably in the lead before his pin as he had a pair of takedowns in the first period and one more in the second to take a 9-1 lead into the third period.

The win is Hunt's 17th of the year, which is a season career high. He is 17-7 in all bouts and 9-2 in his last 11 matches.

The Cobbers gained six points at 174 after the Jimmies left the weight class open.

Concordia would finish off the dual in an appropriate fashion with two more seniors getting wins.

Zierden, who is ranked No.11 at 197 in the latest NWCA DIII poll, wasted little time in giving Concordia six more points. He recorded a takedown in the first period and then pried his opponent's arm over the top to get both shoulders on the mat. Zierden's pin at 1:20 was his team-leading 15th of the season.

Zierden is now 26-2 for the season. His 26 wins are the most in a single season for his career and the most by a Cobber this year.

Friese closed out the match in a rare offensive display in the heavyweight division. He scored an escape in the second period after starting in the down position. He won the match in the third when he ha came away with the only takedown of the bout. His 4-3 win gave Concordia three more team points and pushed the final score to 33-13.

Friese in 9-6 on the season.     

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off its multi-team invitationals for the year when they compete in the Northland Open on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 9 a.m.

CONCORDIA vs. UNIV. OF JAMESTOWN HIGHLIGHTS