57 Varieties Of A Win Over MSUM

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/16/16)—Concordia won the final two matches with No.25-ranked MSU Moorhead and beat the Dragons 21-15 in the opening dual meet of the year.

The Cobbers have now beaten the Dragons in seven straight dual meets in a streak that dates back to 2011.  

The box score will read that Concordia won the last two individual bouts of their dual with Division II MSU Moorhead to grab the six-point victory. What the box score won't show is the huge momentum swing from the match at 157-pounds where Cobber junior Joe Heinz staged a last-minute turnaround to get a pin fall and turn a possible six-point deficit into a three-point lead.

Concordia would win three of the last five individual matches on the night after Heinz' pin which got the crowd on their feet and pumped the Cobber team with energy.

"The dual was pretty calm until Joe's big pin," commented head coach Phil Moenkedick. "That definitely breathed life into the crowd and set the stage for our final five wrestlers."

The team's traded wins in the first four matches of the dual. Returning All-American Jakob Stageberg got the Cobbers on the board first when he methodically rolled to a 6-4 win at 125. Stageberg, who is currently ranked seventh in Division III, is now 3-1 on the year.

After a pin by the Dragons, Adam Presler grinded out a 2-1 win at 141. Presler earned both his points in the second period and then held on in the final minute to record his sixth win of the year.

MSU Moorhead would take the first of their two overtime victories at 149 to retake the lead at 9-6 which set the stage for Heinz.

The match at 157 was tied at 2-2 headed into the third period but Heinz' opponent had over two minutes of riding time built up. In order to not give up the bonus point for the allotted 1-minute of riding time, Heinz would need to stay on top for over half the third period.

Heinz was able to keep his opponent down on the mat for the first part of period. The two then got to their feet and before the Dragon wrestler could get an escape, the wrestlers fell to the mat. Heinz was able to turn his opponent as they were falling and get him on his back as they finally touched the mat. Heinz then held his shoulders to the mat with 6:10 expired in the bout.

The victory is the fifth for Heinz in his last seven bouts and he is now 8-4 on the year.

Jacob Johnson put up a late takedown and earned riding time to snare a 4-1 win at 165 which gave Concordia a 15-9 lead with four matches to go. Johnson has now won six of his last eight matches and is 9-3 for the season.

MSU Moorhead would then tie the match with a pair of decisions and that set up the match-clinching victories at 197 and 285.

Sophomore Jacob Briggs breezed to a 9-5 win at 197. He had three takedowns in the first period as he won his first match of the season.

Senior Justice Davis put the finishing touches on the Cobber win by securing a 5-3 victory at 285. Davis, who was an NCAA Meet participant in 2015, had a key takedown in the second period to jump to a 3-0 lead. He then put the match out of reach with a takedown midway through the third period with the score at 3-2.  Davis is now 4-1 in his first five matches of the year.

DRIVER 8: Concordia junior Jakob Stageberg has now won eight straight matches in dual meets for the Cobbers. His last loss in a dual meet came at the NWCA National Duals last year against No.3-ranked Wis.-La Crosse. Stageberg went 17-3 in dual meets last season.
 
QUOTABLE: "The way all of our 10 wrestlers competed shows a lot about this team. Even the guys who didn't come away with a win didn't give up bonus points and that helps a ton in dual meets. And to get the win against the Dragons in my first dual as assistant coach makes it even more special." – Concordia assistant coach Quincy Osborn on his very first dual meet as part of the Cobber staff.

QUOTABLE 2: "I always want to go for the pin when I am on top" – Cobber junior Joe Heinz on his strategy heading into the third period.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will host the annual Finn Grinaker Cobber Open on Saturday, Nov. 19 starting at 9 a.m. The Cobbers will then have a break for Thanksgiving before returning to dual-meet action when they host the University of Mary at West Fargo HS on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.

JOE HEINZ PIN FALL AT 157:

JOE HEINZ POSTMATCH INTERVIEW:

Final Score:
Concordia-Moorhead 21, #25 Minnesota State Moorhead 15
Date: November 16, 2016
Location: Moorhead, Minn.
Arena: Memorial Auditorium (Concordia College)
Start Time: 7 p.m.
End Time: 8:20 p.m.
Total Time: 1:20
Attendance: 395

Individual Match Results:
125 - Jakob Stageberg (CC) dec. Jared Goldsmith (MSUM); 6-4 (Concordia leads 3-0)
133 - Blake Bosch (MSUM) pin fall Aaron Dick (CC); 2:56 (MSU Moorhead leads 6-3)
141 - Adam Presler (CC) dec. Kristian Vazquez (MSUM); 2-1 (Score tied 6-6)
149 - Dylan Connell (MSUM) dec. Ty Johnson (CC); SV-2 4-2 (MSU Moorhead leads 9-6)
157 - Joseph Heinz (CC) pin fall Isaac Novacek (MSUM); 6:10 (Concordia leads 12-9)
165 - Jake Johnson (CC) dec . Jonathan Hoffner (MSUM); 4-1 (Concordia leads 15-9)
174 - Adam Blees (MSUM) dec. Parker Jackson (CC); 2-0 (Concordia leads 15-12)
184 - Austin May (MSUM) dec. over Ricky Briggs (CC); SV-1 6-4 (Score tied 15-15)
197 - Jacob Briggs (CC) dec. Cody Anderson (MSUM); 9-5 (Concordia leads 18-15)
285 - Justice Davis (CC) dec. Nader Abdullatif (MSUM); 5-3 (Concordia leads 21-15)