Illinois Has Been Very, Very Good To The Cobbers

WHEATON, Ill. (1/28/23)---You'll have to forgive head coach Quincy Osborn if he wants to move Concordia's campus to Illinois. For the second time in three weekends, the Cobbers went to the Land of Lincoln and posted some eye-opening regional results.

On Jan. 14, Concordia competed in the Al Hanke Invite in Elmhurst and came away with eight Top 6 finishes and a second-place team result. On Saturday, CC capped off the 2-day prestigious Pete Wilson Invite at Wheaton by having six wrestlers place in the Top 6 and finished third in the final team standings.

The Pete Wilson Invite featured 31 total teams, and most of the top teams in Concordia's region for qualification to the NCAA Championship Meet, and will go a long way in determining seeding for the regional.

Sophomore Ty Bisek proved he is the class of the region at 133 as he went 4-0 for the meet, won the 133-lb weight class and was named the George Nelson Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

Bisek is now 23-1 on the year and has won all four multi-team invites he has entered. He is currently ranked 6th in Division III, but his stock might be going up after the weekend results where he posted two pins and a major decision.

The newest member of the Cobbers continues to post eye-opening results. Freshman Alex Rapelje, who joined the team after the holiday break, finished second at 174. He went 4-1 with four straight decisions to reach the championship match. His only loss came against Jared Sticker of Wis.-Rau Claire who is currently ranked fourth in the nation.

Rapelje is now 8-3 in his three appearances for CC and has a pair of Top 4 finishes in the three multi-team invites.

Senior Gabe Zierden was third at 197. He lost in the quarterfinals but then rallied to win four straight to claim the 3rd-place finish. Zierden ended the invite with a 6-1 record. The six wins were the most by any CC athlete at the meet.

Zierden is now 22-5 on the year and has 62 career victories for the Cobbers.

Cade Lundeen continued his successful senior season. After going 5-13 last year, Lundeen has come through with a breakthrough campaign. He went 4-2 and finished fourth at 141.       

The 4th-place finish is Lundeen's third Top 4 finish of the year. He is now 23-5 for the year.

Freshman Kie Anderson continues to give the Cobbers quality bouts at 125. He advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual wight-class champ, and current No.3-ranked DIII wrestler, Zac Blasioli of Millikin. Anderson went 1-1 in the consolation bracket to finish fifth.

Anderson went 4-2 for the weekend and is now 9-6 on the year, and has posted Top 6 finishes in three straight meets.

Senior Jacob Prunty rounded out the Top 6 finishers for CC. He went 3-3 and finished sixth at 149. Prunty is now 17-10 for the year, and has placed in the Top 6 in all five meets he has participated in this season.        
          
UP NEXT: Concordia will have a midweek dual meet at the University of Jamestown before heading to Wis.-Eau Claire to compete in the Don Parker Open on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 10:30 a.m.        

Pete Wilson Wheaton Invitational Final Team Standings
1. North Central (IL) 136.0
2. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 125.0
3. Concordia College (Moorhead) 117.0
4. John Carroll University 85.0
5. Ozarks 78.5
6. University of Chicago 77.0
7. Ohio Northern 74.0
7. Wisconsin-Whitewater 74.0
9. Cortland State 72.0
10. Cornell College 68.5
11. Wheaton 67.0
12. Roanoke 64.5
13. University of Mount Union 53.5
14. Millikin University 51.5
15. Augustana College 49.5
16. Messiah College 47.5
17. Ferrum College 43.5
18. Olivet College 41.5
19. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 37.0
20. Otterbein University 32.0
21. Adrian College 29.5
22. Nebraska Wesleyan University 26.5
23. Milwaukee School of Engineering 19.0
24. Concordia University (WI) 18.5
25. Defiance College 18.0
26. Case Western Reserve 17.0
27. Heidelberg University 11.0
28. Alma College 8.5
29. Muskingum University 8.0
30. Buena Vista University 4.5
31. Elmhurst University 3.5
31. Mount St. Joseph University 3.5