MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/12/11) — No.7-ranked Concordia rallied from a 13-0 deficit, won the last six matches against Ridgewater on Wednesday and claimed a 26-16 dual meet victory.
The win marks the second straight season that the Cobbers have bettered the Warriors and pushes their dual-meet record in 2010-11 to 4-2.
Concordia used a mix of newcomers and veterans to come away with the win against Ridgewater. The Cobbers fell behind 13-0 after the first three matches of the meet before freshman Jake Long started CC on their rally road. Long earned a tight 5-3 decision at 141 to cut the lead to 13-3. For Long it was his seventh win of the season and evens his season record at 7-7.
All-American Justin Berns then scored the only pin fall of the match for CC as he pinned his opponent at the 4:04 mark in the 157-lb match. Berns is now 15-3 on the season and has 118 career wins which puts him seven away from breaking the school’s all-time win mark.
After a Ridgewater win at 165, Concordia closed out the match with four straight wins from their “murderer’s row” lineup at the end of the weight classes. All-American Ross Dankers beat nationally ranked Travis Peralta 7-3. Dankers, who is currently ranked fifth in Division III, came up with his 14th win of the year over Peralta who is ranked fourth in the NJCAA.
National Champion Phil Moenkedick won by forfeit at 184 to claim his team-leading 19th win of the year and 119th career victory. He is one win ahead of Berns and only six shy of breaking the all-time win total.
Sophomores Nathan Schmitz and Tom Bouressa sealed the team win with victories at 197 and 285. Schmitz posted a 7-1 decision at 197 and is now 13-7 on the year while Bouressa recorded a technical fall at 285 by beating his opponent 16-0. For Bouressa it was his 13th win of the year which is one shy of his overall total from last season.
The Cobbers will now take on Calumet College (Ind.) on Friday, Jan. 14 at 5 p.m. at the University of Minnesota. The match is part of the NCAA National Championship Celebration the Gophers are holding to honor the 2001 DI title team. Concordia assistant coach Matt Nagel was a part of the 2002 national championship team while Calumet head coach Leroy Vega was a member of the 2001 title team.
NCAA Wrestling Box Score
#7 Concordia 26, Ridgewater 16 Team Score
125 – Lonny Boosu (RCC) maj. dec. John Busch (CC); 21-10 0-4
133 – Nate Friedrich (RCC) pin fall John Kryska (CC); 3:53 0-10
141 – Javior Portillo (RCC) dec. Tim Ruter (CC); 4-3 0-13
149 – Jake Long (CC) dec. Mariono Portillo (RCC); 5-3 3-13
157 – Justin Berns (CC) pin fall Sam Perrin (RCC); 4:04 9-13
165 – Trevor Krueger (RCC) def. Josten Coleman; 9-6 9-16
174 – Ross Dankers (CC) dec. Travis Peralta (RCC); 7-3 12-16
184 – Phil Moenkedick (CC) wins by forfeit 18-16
197 – Nate Schmitz (CC) dec. Aaron Samuelson (RCC); 7-1 21-15
285 – Tom Bouressa (CC) tech. fall Derek Carlson (RCC); 16-0 26-16
Match Notes:
– #7 Concordia is now 4-2 in dual meets this season.
– Cobbers won six of the final seven matches after falling behind 13-0.
– Concordia won 6 of 10 individual matches in the dual
– Cobbers won three matches by decision, one by technical fall, one by pin fall and one by forfeit.
– Cobber senior Phil Moenkedick earned his team-leading 19th win of the year (19-1)
– Moenkedick is now 119-10 in his career and needs six more wins to break the school’s all-time win record