One Shining Star Survives Friday The 13th

HERSHEY, Pa. (3/13/15)—In a plot line right out of the movie "Friday the 13th", Cobber wrestlers fell by the wayside in the second session of the NCAA National Meet until there was only shining star left to claim All-American honors.

Concordia started the Friday the 13th night session with all nine national meet entrants left in the field but by the time the night session with all nine national meet entrants left in the field but by the time the session was over only senior Sebastian Gardner had advanced to the semifinals to claim All-American honors.

Gardner earned his first-ever All-American honor by surviving in the second tie-breaker overtime period in his quarterfinal match against Joshua Sibblies from Centenary (N.J.).

Gardner and Sibblies both earned escape points at the start of the second and third periods and then at the start of the first tie-breaker period. Neither wrestler was able to score a takedown at any point in the match as Gardner's defense on Sibblies takedown attempts proving to be a key in the bout.

Gardner won the quarterfinal by wearing Sibblies down and staying on top in the first half of the second tiebreaker session. Gardner then was able to get the escape in the waning seconds of the second half of the tie-breaker period and come away with the victory and his very first All-American award.

Gardner is now 25-7 on the year and will face No.1-seeded Conner Lefever of Wabash in the semifinals on Saturday morning. The two wrestlers faced each other in December in the Mat Mayhem National Duals with Lefever edging Gardner by a score of 5-3.

Sebastian Gardner Double Overtime Tie-Breaker Escape

The hard luck story of the day belonged to All-American Jacoby Bergeron. Bergeron won both of his morning matches in overtime and was poised to earn his second consecutive All-American award. Unfortunately Bergeron lost 2-1 in the quarterfinals in a match where he wasn't able to create offense by shooting for takedowns. The difference in the match turned out to be riding time at the start of the second period.

Bergeron then pulled off one of the most courageous efforts of any athlete in recent Concordia sports history. In the wrestleback quarterfinals, with an All-American honor at stake, Bergeron suffered a knee injury in the first period and was forced to limp on one leg for the remainder of the match. He battled back-and-forth with Layten Binion of North Central until midway through second period when he further injured his knee and could barely stand on one leg.

Bergeron gutted out the final seconds of the second period and then most of the third period but was down 7-5 in the waning seconds of the final period. Somehow, some way Bergeron summoned up the courage to go forward, gain a stronghold over Binion and throw him to the mat for a two-point takedown.

Unfortunately the "Hollywood" ending wasn't to be as Bergeron gave up a takedown in the first sudden death period.

Bergeron ends his senior season with a 37-8 record. His 37 overall wins is the third highest total for a single season in school history. Bergeron only lost two matches to Division III opponents all year and was 20-2 against DIII competition.

The other returning national meet senior was Jake Krogstad. And like Gardner and Bergeron, he also advanced to the quarterfinals during the morning session.

The night portion of the national meet was unkind to Krogstad as he lost 7-0 to No.4-seeded Tyler Schneider of Wis.-La Crosse in the quarterfinals and then dropped a 10-8 decision to Ethan Farmer of Wabash. Krogstad nearly tied the match in the final seconds of the third period. He was forced to try for takedowns and then release Farmer to earn more points. The tactic paid off with a pair of late takedowns but fell one short at the buzzer.

Krogstad ends his year at 22-10.

A pair of NCAA newcomers posted wins in the first round of wrestlebacks on Friday night. Freshman Jakob Stageberg started the night by claiming a 4-3 decision over No. 5-seeded Asher Kramer of Brockport State. Stageberg finished his first year of collegiate wrestling by losing 4-3 to No.6-seeded Paul Bewak of Johns Hopkins. Stageberg almost pulled off the win but a late flurry didn't net any points.

Stageberg comes away with a 27-13 record in his freshman year.

Jake Kostik provided the most dramatic win of the tournament. He was down the entire match in his first round wrestleback match against Daniel Del Gallo of Southern Maine. Kostik was down 8-5 late in the third period but then put together a takedown and near-fall to come away with the last-second improbable 9-8 win.

Kostik lost in the wrestleback quarterfinals and finished with a 15-15 record.

Concordia had another wrestler come down with an injury that played the difference in the wrestlebacks. Sophomore Justice Davis was down by a single point towards the end of the second period when he fell to his back. Davis was momentarily stunned and the medical staff was called to the mat. The NCAA medical staff then ruled it unsafe for Davis to continue and he lost the bout due to an injury default.

Davis was another 20-win wrestler for the Cobbers and finished the year at 24-12.

Gabe Foltz, Ben Cousins and Danny Pike finished off the nine Concordia NCAA Meet entrants. All three were competing in their very first national meet. Foltz lost both off his matches at 133 and finished the year at 14-13. Cousins was one of the great stories of the regional but couldn't find his rhythm on the national stage and lost both matches. He ends the year at 19-22 and gained a world of experience in his junior season which will help him next year.

Pike surprised everyone at the regionals and almost pulled off a great win in the wrestlebacks. He put up the most high-scoring match for the Cobbers at the NCAA Meet. He also made a late flurry in his bout with Todd Gaydosh of John Carroll but ran out of time and lost 10-8.

Gardner will now represent Concordia on Saturday when he squared off against Lefever in the semifinal session which begins on Saturday, Mar. 14 at 9 a.m.

Top 20 Team Results After Friday 
1. Wartburg - 58.0
2. Augsburg - 56.5
3. Wisconsin-Whitewater - 41.0
4. Wabash - 36.5
5. Delaware Valley - 29.5
6. Wisconsin-La Crosse - 28.5
7. Luther - 26.0
8. Coe - 25.0
9. Messiah - 24.5
10. Wilkes - 21.5
11. Loras - 21.0
12. New York University - 19.5
13. Williams College - 17.5
14. The College Of New Jersey - 15.5
15. SUNY-Cortland - 15.0
16. Baldwin Wallace - 14.0
16. Concordia-Moorhead - 14.0
18. Ithaca - 13.5
19. Hunter - 13.0
20. Ursinus - 12.5
20. Waynesburg - 12.5

Concordia Individual Results

125 - Jakob Stageberg (27-13)
Champ. Round 1 - Guesseppe Rea (Wilkes) 35-2 won by decision over Jakob Stageberg (Dec 6-2)
Cons. Round 1 - Jakob Stageberg decision over Asher Kramer (Brockport State) 23-9 (Dec 4-3)
Cons. Round 2 - Paul Bewak (Johns Hopkins) 35-4 won by decision over Jakob Stageberg (Dec 4-3)

133 - Gabe Foltz (14-13)
Champ. Round 1 - Connor Campo (Wartburg) 27-5 major decision over Gabe Foltz (MD 9-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Jacob Spearman (Wash. And Jeff.) 28-8 decision over Gabe Foltz (Dec 11-5)

141 - Jacoby Bergeron (37-8)
Prelim - Jacoby Bergeron won by fall over Adrian Berry (SUNY-Cortland) 24-15 (Fall 7:26)
Champ. Round 1 - Jacoby Bergeron decision over Bryant Roby (Mount Union) 28-13 (TB-1 2-1)
Quarterfinal - Nick Steger (Loras) 27-1 won by decision over Jacoby Bergeron (Dec 2-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Layten Binion (North Central (IL)) 15-4 dec. over Jacoby Bergeron (SV-1 9-7)

149 - Jake Kostik (15-15)
Champ. Round 1 - Brad Mayville (RIT) 30-5 major decision over Jake Kostik (MD 13-3)
Cons. Round 1 - Jake Kostik won by decision over Daniel Del Gallo (S.Maine) 36-5 (Dec 9-8)
Cons. Round 2 - Elroy Perkin (UW-Whitewater) 8-2 tech fall over Jake Kostik (TF-1.5 6:02 (18-2))

157 - Ben Cousins (19-22)
Champ. Round 1 - Richie Jasinski (Ursinus) 28-4 won by decision over Ben Cousins (Dec 4-0)
Cons. Round 1 - Antonio Mancella (TCNJ) 27-10 won by decision over Ben Cousins (Dec 10-7)

165 - Jake Krogstad (22-10)
Champ. Round 1 - Jake Krogstad 22-10 decision over Francisco Colom (Roger Williams) (Dec 4-2)
Quarterfinal - Tyler Schneider (UW-La Crosse) 22-5 decision over Jake Krogstad 22-10 (Dec 7-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Ethan Farmer (Wabash) 16-4 won by decision over Jake Krogstad (Dec 10-8)

174 - Sebastian Gardner (25-7)
Champ. Round 1 - Sebastian Gardner dec. over Brandon Welter (Wartburg) 21-9 (TB-1 2-1)
Quarterfinal - Sebastian Gardner dec. over Joshua Sibblies (Centenary (NJ)) 30-10 (TB-2 3-2)

197 - Danny Pike (11-12)
Champ. Round 1 - Eric Twohey (UW-La Crosse) 33-1 tech fall Danny Pike (TF-1.5 6:33 (17-2))
Cons. Round 1 - Todd Gaydosh (John Carroll) 25-9 decision over Danny Pike (Dec 11-9)

285 - Justice Davis (24-12)
Champ. Round 1 - Cody Lovejoy (Ohio Northern) 5-1 won by fall over Justice Davis (Fall 6:50)
Cons. Round 1 - Cole Tristram (Brockport State) 30-9 inj. default over Justice Davis (Inj. 4:50)