Concordia Cobbers

A Runner-Up and an All-American

CORALVILLE, Iowa — Concordia recorded 16 total wins and had eight of their 10 wrestlers record at least one victory but it was the performances of sophomore Gabe Zierden and senior Alex Skaare that stole the show at the NWCA Division III National Meet.

Zierden and Skaare both got to the podium at the meet to earn NWCA All-American honors. Zierden was second at 197 and Skaare was seventh at 174. They become the first Cobber All-Americans since 2016 when Jakob Stageberg earned NCAA All-American honors. They also push the Concordia All-American total, in either NAIA, NCAA or NWCA to 39.

Zierden stormed through the bracket at 197 and advanced all the way to the championship match. He became the first Cobber wrestler to compete in a national finals bout since Phil Moenkedick won the NCAA Championship in 2011. Zierden also follows the same path as Moenkedick. Moenkedick was the runner-up as a sophomore before he won back-to-back titles.

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Cobbers Send 10 To NWCA DIII Meet

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Cole Kubesh and Gabe Zierden highlight a group of 10 Cobbers headed to the National Coaches Wrestling Association (NWCA) DIII Championship Meet on Mar. 12-13 at the Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. The NWCA meet is in lieu of the NCAA National Championship Meet that was cancelled earlier in the year.

Kubesh is seeded No.2 in the 125-lb weight class while Zierden is No.4 at 197. The Cobbers have two other wrestlers who are also seeded in their weight class. Senior Alex Skaare is No.7 at 174 and sophomore Cade Lundeen is No.10 at 141.

Kubesh is 1-0 on the year with his win coming in the Cobbers’ exhibition dual with St. John’s. He posted a 6-3 decision over Gabriel Ramirez. Kubesh is 23-9 in the past two seasons and earned a spot at the NCAA National Meet last season.

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NWCA Division III Poll – March 5

Manheim, PA – On Friday the National Wrestling Coaches Association released their final Division III individual rankings prior to next week’s NWCA Division III National Wrestling Championships. These rankings do not include a team tournament poll as there will be no team scoring kept at the national tournament.

Only athletes entered into the Division III tournament are eligible for ranking in the top 12 which will serve as the tournament’s preseeds.  Brackets are now available on FloWrestling.

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NWCA Division III Poll – February 26

Manheim, PA – Significant shuffling took place in the latest NWCA Division III Coaches Rankings released on Friday as only teams and athletes that had taken to the mat this season were included. Coming in atop the new team rankings is perennial DIII power Wartburg with eight ranked individuals. Wisconsin-La Crosse, the US Coast Guard Academy, Mount Union, Baldwin Wallace, and John Carroll round out the rest of the top-five.

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Rochester CTC 21 Concordia 18

An Ache In The Back At The End

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Concordia won four of the first seven matches in their dual with Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC) and built a comfortable 18-9 lead with only three bouts left on the schedule. Unfortunately for the Cobbers, they weren’t able to come up with a dual clincher, lost the last three bouts and fell 21-18.

The meet was the first scored competition of the year for Concordia. RCTC, who won the Junior College National Championship last year and is ranked third in the nation this year, is now 2-0 in dual meets. The Yellowjackets other win came against the Cobbers’ next opponent – Cornell (Iowa).

The teams alternated wins in the first seven with the Cobbers grabbing an 18-9 lead by virtue of pins from Cade Lundeen and No.8-ranked Gabe Zierden.

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