Textbook Example Of The Word "Rebound" At Dragon Open

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/05/21)---One of the definitions of the word rebound in the  Webster's dictionary is: "to recover from setback or frustration." The fine folks at Webster's might want to add an example to that definition – the Concordia wrestling team's performance at the MSU Moorhead Dragon Open on Dec. 5, 2021.

The Cobbers "rebounded" from being shutout in a dual meet on Thursday against the University of Mary and posted nine Top 3 finishes and had 11 of their 15 wrestlers who competed in the meet finish in the Top 4 of their weight class.

Concordia was led by freshman Ty Bisek who, for the second straight multi-team invitational, won the 133-lb weight class. Bisek rebounded from his first loss in seven matches on Thursday, and ran the table on Saturday to win the red division title.

Bisek opened with a pair of pins, both of which came in the second period, and then outbattled All-American Cole Jones of MSU Moorhead 10-6 in the championship match. Bisek has now won 10 of his last 11 bouts and is 11-2 on the year.

Jake Nohre, Jacob Prunty and Ayden Friese posted Top 3 finishes in the red division which was for the more experienced collegiate competitors.

Nohre earned his Top 3 finish at 133 by virtue of a pin at 1:58 over Division II wrestler Hunter Pfantz from Southwest Minn. State.

Prunty went 3-1 and finished third at 141, while Friese was third at 184 with a similar 3-1 mark. Prunty put up two bonus point wins on the day. He opened with a 16-0 technical fall and then posted a 19-6 major-decision win in the third-place match. Friese lost in the semifinals but then rebounded with two consecutive wins over scholarship athletes to earn his third-place finish.

The biggest news from the Top 3 finishers in the white division was from the 285-lb weight class where junior Chase Dockter competed in his first tournament of the season. Dockter, who was an All-Conference award winner for the Cobber football team, went 3-1 and finished in third place. He opened his year with a 6-2 decision over a wrestler from Northern State. Dockter won by a medical forfeit in the second round before falling 3-1 in the sudden victory period in the semifinals. Dockter rebounded by posting a pin in just 36-seconds against St. John's No.1 heavyweight Thomas Allen in the third-place match.

Danny Monatukwa, David Platt, Alex McPhee and Spencer Wambeke all had Top 3 finishes in the white division. Monatukwa and Platt both recorded three wins on the day, while McPhee and Wambeke were 2-1.

Monatukwa was third at 133 after he won his first three matches of the open and lost a high-scoring thriller 13-10 in the fifth-round bout against Hunter Hayes of DII MSU Moorhead.

Platt also rattled off three straight victories before losing in the final at 149. He had a pair of bonus-point wins on his road to the championship match. He opened with a pin in the first minute of the second period against Declan Malone of MSUM and then recorded a 19-4 tech fall over Ryan Fierro from Southwest Minn. State

McPhee rebounded from opening-round decision loss to win two straight and finish second at 157. His biggest win came in his last match of the day where he scored a pin at the 1:47 mark.

Wambeke won his first two bouts at 165 before falling in the final. He opened with a pin at 6:21 of the third period and then won by a 13-4 major decision over Sebastian Zamorano in the semifinals.

UP NEXT: Concordia will make its first long-distance trip to compete in a meet in over two years. The Cobbers will board a plane and fly to Las Vegas, Nev. to compete in the Desert Duals on Sunday, Dec. 19. Concordia will face all Division III opponents. CC will open with No.2-ranked Wartburg at 7:30 a.m. (cst). They will then square off against Alvernia (Pa.) at 12 p.m. (cst) before finishing with Buena Vista at 1:30 p.m. (cst).