A Very Fine Nine

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (2/28/15) --- Concordia continues to raise the bar when it comes to national qualifiers and quality performances at regional meets. The Cobbers topped last year's seven national meet qualifiers by pushing nine of their 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Meet.

Concordia's school-record nine national qualifiers led to the Cobbers scoring a total of 143.5 points and a second-place finish at the NCAA West Regional. The 143.5 points is also a school record for a regional meet. The previous program best came in 2010 when they also finished second with a total of 142.0 points.

The Cobbers had two region champions and placed six athletes in the championship match of the 10 weight classes. However it might have been one of the three third-place finishers that might have had the most impressive showing. Senior Danny Pike won all five of his matches at 197 by pin fall.

Pike opened the meet with a pin fall in Round 1. He was then beaten by Devin Mahnke of Milwaukee School of Engineering 3-2 in the quarterfinals. Faced with an uphill climb to get to nationals in his very first regional meet, Pike ripped off three straight pin falls to get to the 3rd-place match – and a trip to the national meet. Pike was down late in the third period in a rematch with Mahnke but then pulled off a "Hail Mary" takedown and pin fall in the final 20-seconds of the match.  

Concordia's two region champions came from two of its three nationally ranked wrestlers. All-American No.4-ranked Jacoby Bergeron breezed through the bracket at 141 and No.3-ranked Jake Krogstad was a perfect 3-0 at 165. It's the first region title for both wrestlers who both placed third at last year's regional meet.

Bergeron went 4-0 on the day to run his winning streak to 24 matches and is now 35-6 on the year. His 35 wins are tied for the fourth highest single-season total in program history. Bergeron is now three wins shy of tying the school record of 38 wins in a year.

Bergeron won his first two matches by pin fall and then won 9-3 in the semifinals to punch his second consecutive trip to nationals. Bergeron then bettered No.7-ranked Ben Henle from St. John's 6-5 in the championship match.

Krogstad was 3-0 for the meet. He had a bye into the quarterfinals and then scored a technical fall to0 advance to the semifinals. Krogstad claimed a 4-0 win the national-qualifying match and then won 9-4 in the championship match.

Krogstad is now 21-8 on the season and has won 12 straight matches.

A third ranked Cobber senior advanced to the title match but then lost in a heartbreaking 5-4 decision. No.3-ranked Sebastian Gardner steamrolled his way to the championship match at 174 but was then upset in the final. By finishing in the top three Gardner will be heading to the NCAA Meet for the second straight year. Last year he went 2-2 at nationals.

Gardner is 23-7 on the year and is 17-3 in his last 20 matches.

The feel good story of the day belonged to Cobber junior Ben Cousins. Cousins, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, advanced to the championship match at 157 to earn his first-ever trip to the NCAA Meet. Cousins won two close decisions on his way to a 2-1 record at the regional meet. He recorded a 4-2 win in his quarterfinal bout and then hung on for a 3-2 win in the semifinals to qualify for the national meet.

Cousins has now won a career-high 19 wins on the year and has won five of his last seven matches.

Justice Davis and Gabe Foltz were the other two Concordia wrestlers to compete in a region title bout. Davis has flourished in his first season as the team's starter at 285. He entered the regional with 22 wins and upped that total to 24 by the end of the regional. Davis dominated his opening match by collecting a 9-0 major decision. He then outlasted Zack Gibson of St. Olaf in the semifinals in overtime by getting an escape in the first tie-breaker period. Davis wound up losing in the championship match to No.3-ranked Donny Longendyke who is a transfer from the University of Nebraska.

Davis has now won 24 matches this year after winning only 11 last year. His 13-win improvement is the biggest by any CC wrestler this year.   

Foltz just recently won the starting position at 133 and proceeded to make the most of the opportunity by finishing second at the regional meet. Foltz entered the day on a roll – having won seven of his last nine matches. He started the day by winning 6-4 in the quarterfinals. He then ground out a 6-5 win over No.7-ranked Sean Ambrocio of Concordia University (Wis.). Foltz fell 6-3 in the final of 133 and will enter the national meet with a 14-11 overall record.

The final two NCAA Meet qualifiers for Matt Nagel's crew both had to earn their spot by coming back through the consolation round. Freshman Jakob Stageberg lost in the semifinals at 125 but then won two straight to get to third place and a spot at nationals while senior Jake Kostik lost his opening match at 149 and then rattled off four straight wins to gain third place

Stageberg lost in the sudden victory portion of overtime in the semifinals after winning 4-2 in the quarterfinals. Instead of hanging his head about the loss he rose to the challenge and won 8-1 in the consolation semifinal and then cruised to a 23-10 major decision win in the 3rd-place match.            

Stageberg is one of five CC wrestlers with 20 wins on the year. He is now 26-11 for the season.

Kostik's regional meet looked like it might end before it even got started. He lost 5-2 in the quarterfinals and was battling through a 0-0 match in his first consolation bout. Kostik came up with six straight points to win the bout and then spurred him on to three more wins. He earned his trip to nationals by beating Sameh Almousa of St. Olaf who had beaten Kostik in the quarterfinals.

Kostik is 14-13 for the season which is an eight-win improvement over his total last year.

Concordia will take their school-record nine wrestlers to the NCAA National Meet on Mar. 13-14 in Hershey, Pa. The Cobbers will be looking to post their sixth straight top 15 finish at the national meet. 

NCAA West Regional - Place Winners for Concordia
125 - Jakob Stageberg (26-11) – 3rd place
133 - Gabe Foltz (14-11) – 2nd place
141 - Jacoby Bergeron (35-6) - 1st place
149 - Jake Kostik (14-13) - 3rd place
157 - Ben Cousins (19-20) -  2nd place
165 - Jake Krogstad (21-8) – 1st place
174 - Sebastian Gardner (23-7) – 2nd place
184 - Dane Ringquist (9-16) -  6th place
197 - Danny Pike (11-10) - 3rd place 
285 - Justice Davis (24-10) - 2nd place

NCAA West Regional - Final Team Standings
1. Augsburg College - 179.0
2. Concordia College - 143.5
3. St. John`s University - 74.5
3. University Of Wisconsin-Platteville - 74.5
5. Concordia University (Wisconsin) - 65.5
6. University Of Wisconsin-Oshkosh - 47.0
7. University Of Wisconsin-Eau Claire -   46.0
8. Pacific University (Oregon) - 43.5
9. Milwaukee School Of Engineering - 42.0
10. St. Olaf College - 38.5
11. Lakeland College - 15.5
12. Maranatha Baptist University - 0.0 

NCAA DIII Regional - West Results for Concordia College (Moorhead)

125 - Jakob Stageberg (26-11) placed 3rd
Champ. Round 1 - Jakob Stageberg 26-11 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Jakob Stageberg won by decision over Tevin Zavadil (SJU (Dec 4-2)
Semifinal - Cole Ferguson (UW-Platteville) won in sudden victory - 1 over Jakob Stageberg  (SV-1 3-1)
Cons. Semi - Jakob Stageberg won by decision over Cory Wilson (UW-Oshkosh) (Dec 8-1)
3rd Place Match - Jakob Stageberg won by major decision over Colin Kenyon (MSOE) (MD 23-10)

133 - Gabe Foltz (14-11) placed 2nd
Champ. Round 1 - Gabe Foltz (Concordia College (Moorhead)) 14-11 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Gabe Foltz won by decision over Nick Miceli (MSOE) (Dec 6-4)
Semifinal - Gabe Foltz 14-11 won by decision over Sean Ambrocio (Concordia Wis.) (Dec 6-5)
1st Place Match - Eric Harder (Pacific) won by decision over Gabe Foltz (Dec 6-3)

141 - Jacoby Bergeron (35-6) placed 1st
hamp. Round 1 - Jacoby Bergeron won by fall over Jacob Somann (UW-Platteville) (Fall 4:24)
Quarterfinal - Jacoby Bergeron won by fall over Ian Gioacchini (Lakeland) (Fall 6:26)
Semifinal - Jacoby Bergeron won by decision over Craig Mason (UW-Oshkosh) (Dec 9-3)
1st Place Match - Jacoby Bergeron 35-6 won by decision over Ben Henle (SJU) (Dec 6-5)

149 - Jake Kostik (14-13) placed 3rd
Champ. Round 1 - Jake Kostik received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Sameh Almousa (St. Olaf) won by decision over Jake Kostik  (Dec 5-2)
Cons. Round 2 - Jake Kostik won by decision over Mat Gonzalaz (Lakeland) (Dec 6-0)
Cons. Round 3 - Jake Kostik won by decision over Branden Schorr (SJU (Dec 9-2)
Cons. Semi - Jake Kostik won by tech fall over Hunter Mulock (UW-Oshkosh) (TF-1.5 5:56 (17-0))
3rd Place Match - Jake Kostik 14-13 won by decision over Sameh Almousa (St. Olaf) (Dec 3-1)

157 - Ben Cousins (19-20) placed 2nd
Champ. Round 1 - Ben Cousins received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Ben Cousins won by decision over Robert Rocole (UW-Eau Claire) (Dec 4-2)
Semifinal - Ben Cousins won by decision over Gable Frandsen (Augsburg) (Dec 3-2)
1st Place Match - Carl Elmer (St. Olaf) won by decision over Ben Cousins (Dec 7-0)

165 - Jake Krogstad (21-8) placed 1st
Champ. Round 1 - Jake Krogstad 21-8 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Jake Krogstad won by tech fall over Seth Barkosky (St. Olaf) (TF-1.5 6:21 (21-6))
Semifinal - Jake Krogstad won by decision over Jackson Graham (SJU) (Dec 4-0)
1st Place Match - Jake Krogstad won by decision over Mitchell Fucile (Lakeland) (Dec 9-4)

174 - Sebastian Gardner (23-7) placed 2nd
Champ. Round 1 - Sebastian Gardner received a bye (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Sebastian Gardner won by fall over Mason Lind (Lakeland) (Fall 2:34)
Semifinal - Sebastian Gardner won by major decision over Mason Mergener (Concordia Wis.) (MD 16-4)
1st Place Match - Tyrell Martin (Augsburg) won by decision over Sebastian Gardner (Dec 5-4)

184 - Dane Ringquist (9-16) placed 6th
Champ. Round 1 - Dane Ringquist received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Dane Ringquist won by decision over Mitchell Slatton (Concordia Wis.) (Dec 8-4)
Semifinal - Michael Cole (UW-Platteville) won by decision over Dane Ringquist (Dec 9-5)
Cons. Semi - Matt Rieckhoff (UW-Eau Claire) dec. over Dane Ringquist (SV-1 6-4)
5th Place Match - Korey Kleinhans (UW-Oshkosh) won by decision over Dane Ringquist (Dec 11-7)

197 - Danny Pike (11-10) placed 3rd
Champ. Round 1 - Danny Pike won by fall over Jeremy Kroeger (Lakeland) (Fall 3:21)
Quarterfinal - Devin Mahnke (MSOE) won by decision over Danny Pike 11-10 (Dec 3-2)
Cons. Round 2 - Danny Pike won by fall over Nicholas Hopkins (St. Olaf) (Fall 2:13)
Cons. Round 3 - Danny Pike  won by fall over Mycal Sigado (Pacific) (Fall 1:28)
Cons. Semi - Danny Pike won by fall over Jake Reuteler (Concordia Wis.) (Fall 5:39)
3rd Place Match - Danny Pike won by fall over Devin Mahnke (MSOE) (Fall 6:42)

285 - Justice Davis (24-10) placed 2nd
Champ. Round 1 - Justice Davis received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Justice Davis won by major decision over Colin Fisher (SJU) (MD 9-0)
Semifinal - Justice Davis won in tie breaker - 1 over Zack Gibson (St. Olaf) (TB-1 2-1)
1st Place Match - Donny Longendyke (Augsburg) won by fall over Justice Davis (Fall 1:47)