MOORHEAD, Minn. – No. 8 Concordia took advantage of a forfeit and three bonus-point wins in a 29-9 victory over Saint John’s on Wednesday, Feb. 3, in Moorhead.
Three of the Johnnies’ losses were decided by three points or less. Concordia (12-4 dual record) built an 8-0 lead with a pair of wins from its nationally-ranked wrestlers, including a 4-3 overtime victory from No. 4/6 Gabe Foltz over senior Mike Pleski (Stacy, Minn./Forest Lake) at 133 pounds. Down 3-1 entering the third period, Foltz chose down and earned an escape. Riding time in favor of Foltz sent the match to overtime, where neither wrestler scored a point in the first sudden-victory period. Pleski was unable to escape in his first 30-second frame, while Foltz registered one of his own to earn the win.
Senior Ben Henle (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer), who is ranked seventh nationally by the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association (NWCA), improved to 20-10 with a 7-4 win at 141 pounds.
The Johnnies (3-14 dual record) followed the forfeit at 157 pounds with back-to-back wins from juniors Teddy Erickson (Annandale, Minn.) and Robert Tait (Faribault, Minn./Bethlehem Academy). Erickson moved his record to 13-15 with a 12-8 win at 165 pounds, while Tait improved to 7-4 with a 6-2 decision at 174.
Concordia will finish off the regular season with a multi-team invite and one final dual match. The Cobbers will travel to Eau Claire, Wis. to participate in the Don Parker Open on Saturday, Feb. 6 beginning at 10 a.m. CC will then square off against Southwest MN State on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. in Marshall, Minn.
The Johnnies travel to compete at the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Open this Saturday, Feb. 6.
No. 8 Concordia (CON) 29, Saint John’s (SJU) 9
125: Jakob Stageberg (No. 5, CON) tech. fall Ben Kollaja, 18-2/5:10 [0-5]
133: Gabe Foltz (No. 4/6, CON) dec. Mike Pleski, 4-3 (OT) [0-8]
141: Ben Henle (No. 7, SJU) dec. Adam Presler, 7-4 [3-8]
149: Ty Johnson (CON) tech. fall Adam Sutlief, 19-4/7:00 [3-13]
157: Ben Cousins (CON) won by forfeit [3-19]
165: Teddy Erickson (SJU) dec. Nick Gravdahl, 12-8 [6-19]
174: Robert Tait (SJU) dec. Jake Johnson, 6-2 [9-19]
184: Ricky Briggs (CON) major dec. Glenn Castro, 11-2 [9-23]
197: Jacob Briggs (CON) dec. Nick Pegelow, 3-2 [9-26]
285: Justice Davis (CON) dec. Colin Fisher, 3-0 [9-29]