Status Quo Starts NCAA National Meet For Cobbers
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (3/14/14)—It was status quo for Concordia in the first session of the NCAA Championship Meet on Friday afternoon in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The two seeded Cobber wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals while the five unseeded athletes will have to carve out their path to All-American honors through the wrestlebacks.
The Cobbers won four matches in the first session and have 8.0 total team points. That is good for a tie for fourth place in the team standings.
No.3-seeded Cody Kasprick won a pair of matches at 285. He started the day by earning a tight 2-1 decision over Mackenzie Green from Trine University. The match was marred by several stops and starts. Green had an injury in the first period and then the referees had to deliberate for several minutes as they reviewed an escape/reversal decision. Kasprick eventually earned a single point for the escape at the start of the second.
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In his second match he methodically wore down Matan Peleg of Ursinus in the first and start of the second period before coming away with a pin fall at 4:37. Once Kasprick got Peleg on the mat he was able to turn him and come up with the bonus points for the team.
Kasprick will now face No.6-seeded Jacob Minske of UW-La Crosse in the quarterfinals. The winner of the match will be guaranteed to finish in the top 6 and earn All-American status. Kasprick pinned Minske earlier this season at the NWCA National Dual Meet.
Senior All-American Jake Long was the other Cobber wrestler to advance to the Round of 8. Long, seeded sixth at 149, started his quest for a second straight All-American honor by pinning Mark Pinero of No.1-ranked Warburg at the 6:09 mark. Long and Pinero battled through the first two periods with Long able to come up with a pair of takedowns. He then won the match in the third period when he was able to go at Pinero, get him on his back on a takedown from his knees.
Long will know square off against No.3-ranked Mark Hartenstine of Wilkes. Hartenstine is 41-1 on the season. The winner of the quarterfinal match will earn All-American honors.
The other Cobber victory was turned in by Sebastian Gardner. Gardner won his pigtail match at 174 over No.7-seeded James Roach of St. Olaf. Gardner seized control of the bout in the second period when he came up with a pair of takedowns. He then earned riding time and claimed a 10-5 decision.
Gardner lost in the Round of 16 to unseeded Anthony Bonaventura of Waynesburg. Gardner was never able to get inside on Bonaventura to get a takedown and lost 8-3. Gardner will now face Joshua Sibblies of Centenary (N.J.) in the wrestlebacks.
Jacoby Bergeron, Kyle LeDuc, Jake Krogstad and Chris Harrison all lost their opening matches of the NCAA Meet and will have to come through the wrestlebacks to get a spot in the top 8.
Bergeron lost 7-4 to No.6-seeded Jimmy Nehls of UW-Whitewater in the first round and will now face Minnesota rival Chad Bartschenfeld of Augsburg. Bergeron beat Bartschenfeld 6-2 in a dual meet in January.
LeDuc fell 9-3 to Jorge Lopez of Williams in the first round. His path to All-American honors was made tougher when No.3-seeded Steven DeWitt of Loras lost in the Round of 16. LeDuc will most likely face DeWitt in his opening round of the wrestlebacks. DeWitt beat LeDuc 11-6 earlier in the season.
Krogstad lost in the pigtail match at 165. He battled Dylan Foley of Springfield but eventually lost 5-3. Kroggstad will open the second session for the Cobbers by wrestling in a pigtail match in the wrestlebacks. He will face Derek Mizaur of Dubuque in his next match.
Harrison almost pulled off the upset of the meet for Concordia as he went toe-to-toe with No.2-seeded Brian Broderick of The College of New Jersey. Harrison nearly came up with a late takedown in the third period to tie the match at 4-4 but Broderick was able to escape the takedown and come away with the win. Harrison will start his quest for All-American status when he faces No.7-seeded Jayden DeVilbiss of Luther. Harrison pinned DeVilbiss last season at the Gator Duals in New Orleans, La.
The second session of the NCAA National Meet starts at 6 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 14 at the U.S. Cellular Center.
Top 10 Team Scores after Friday's first round:
1. Messiah (Pa.) 12.0
2. Wartburg (Iowa) 11.0
3. Cortland State (N.Y.) 10.0
4t. Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) 8.0
4t. Wisconsin-Whitewater 8.0
6. Augsburg (Minn.) 7.0
7. Wabash (Ind.) 6.5
8t. Cornell (Iowa) 5.0
8t. Delaware Valley (Pa.) 5.0
8t. Wheaton (Ill.) 5.0
