Cobber All-American Seniors Cap Their Dual-Meet Careers In Style
BISMARCK, N.D. (2/17/11) — Concordia All-American seniors Ross Dankers, Justin Berns and Phil Moenkedick capped their dual-meet careers in style as they helped the Cobbers cruise past the University of Mary 33-8 in the team’s final dual meet of the 2011 season. The victory is the ninth straight for CC and improves their final season record to 11-2.
The dual, which was originally schedule for last week, was decided in the final six matches of the night. After the Marauders tied the team score at 8-8, Concordia showed its mettle by winning six straight matches and rolling to a 25-point win.
Ben Presler and Daron Hohbein gave Concordia an 8-0 lead after the first two matches before Mary tied the match after the 149-lb match Presler claimed an 8-1 decision at 125 and is now 17-11 on the year. Hohbein won by technical fall at 133 and is 11-4 for the season.
The Cobber six-match barrage was started by Berns who put his opponent on his back at the 2:32 mark of his bout at 157. For Berns it was 23rd win of the season and school-record 127th career win. Berns has now won 11 straight matches and 19 of his last 20. He is currently ranked sixth in Division III and appears ready to make a run at his second straight All-American honor.
Concordia freshman Brandon Haluptzok made the most of his first-ever collegiate dual-meet start at 165. Haluptzok won 5-0 and scored all of his points in the second and third periods after a scoreless first frame.
The Cobbers’ murderer’s row of Dankers, Moenkedick, Nathan Schmitz and Tommy Bouressa put the exclamation point on the win by recording a major decision, a pin fall and two decisions in the final four bouts of the night. Dankers won 14-6 at 174. Moenkedick followed with a pin fall at 1:09 at 184 before Schmitz won 6-1 at 197 and Bouressa scored a 5-2 win at 285.
Moenkedick’s win was his team-leading 27th of the season, bringing his record to 27-1. Like Berns, Moenkedick also has 127 career wins. He has also won 20 of his matches on the year by pin fall which is a school record. The old mark of 18 was held by Barry Bennett.
Schmitz improved his season record to 21-7. He is now 52-19 in his first two seasons at Concordia. Bouressa, ranked 10th in the latest Division III poll at 285, continued his late-season tear. He has now won 16 of his last 17 matches and has outscored his opponents 64-4 in eight matches.
The Cobbers will now have a nine-day break before the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Feb. 26 at Lakeland College in Wisc. Concordia will try and up their total of wrestlers that qualify for the NCAA National Meet. Last year they set a school record by sending four athletes to the national meet.
February 17, 2011 at Bismarck, ND
Concordia 33 Mary 8
125: Ben Pressler (CC) 8-1 dec Matt Garcia (M)
133: Daren Hohbein (CC) tech fall at 5:00 over Ryan Swelland (M)
141: Tanner Beaman (M) tech fall at 3:52 over Todd Reynolds (CC)
149: Landon DellaSilva (M) 6-1 dec Chad Mack (CC)
157: Justin Berns (CC) fall at 2:32 over Brandon DeLao (M)
165: Brandon Haluptzok (CC) 5-0 dec Shane Primeau (M)
174: Ross Dankers (CC) 14-6 maj dec Ross Edison (M)
184: Phil Moenkedick (CC) fall at 1:09 over Brady Anderson (M)
197: Nate Schmitz (CC) 6-1 dec Kriss McCleary (M)
285: Tom Bouressa (CC) 5-2 dec Martin Patron (M)