Posted: Nov 23, 2024
12 Podium Finishes At The Wis.-Rau Claire 8-Man Battles
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (11/23/24)---Senior Elijah Hunt led a group of 12 Cobbers who all posted podium finishes at the Wis.-Eau Claire 8-Man Battles Invite.
Hunt claimed the championship belt in the Gold Division of the 165-lb weight class and helped Concordia finish second in the final team standings in a tournament that featured seven teams.
In the end, Concordia had four wrestlers claim Top 3 finishes in the Gold Division, three more that finished in the Top 5 and had a pair of first-year athletes place in the Top 3 of the Flights Division.
Hunt went 2-0 to win the title at 165. He had a bye in the quarterfinals and then came away with an 8-4 decision in the semifinals and beat Carter Friend of Wis.-Eau Claire 4-2 in the championship match.
Hunt is now 9-4 on the year and has finished in the Top 5 in two of the team's three tournaments this season.
Ethan Lebrija and Alex McPhee both recorded second-place finishes. Lebrija went 2-1 to place second in the 149-lb bracket and McPhee was 2-1 at 257.
Lebrija started the tournament with a victory by a pin at the 2:49 mark. He won by a major decision in the semifinals before narrowly losing 8-6 in the finals. It was the first Top 3 finish of the year for Lebrija who evened his season record at 3-3.
McPhee earned a pair of bonus point wins in his first two matches before losing in the championship match. He came out with a pin at 2:49 in the quarterfinals. McPhee shut down his opponent in the semifinals and claimed an 8-0 major decision.
McPhee is 8-5 on the year and has won at least two matches in all three invites this season.
First-year wrestler Brody Duke had the other Top 3 finish in the Gold Division for CC. He went 2-1 and placed third at 184. Like McPhee, he started his day with a pin. Duke lost an 8-4 decision in the semifinals but then rallied to claim an 11-5 win over Braiden Young of Augustana (Ill.) in the third-place match.
Kie Anderson, Jack Major, Connor Chloupek and Zach Carnes all came through with Top 5 finishes at the meet.
Jackson Marr and Ayden Flanagan had the Top 3 finishes in the Flights Division. Marr recorded the most victories of any Cobber wrestler at the invite. He went 3-2 and placed third in the 149-lb weight class.
Concordia will take off for the Thanksgiving holiday and return to action on Dec. 7 when they participate in the MSU Moorhead Dragon Open.