Double Delight To Close Out 2018
Concordia used the strength of eight pin falls to cruise past Northland CC and Jamestown in the final dual meets of the 2018 calendar year.
The Cobbers put in a dominating performance against Northland Community & Technical College and the University of Jamestown as they swept the double dual meet.
Concordia won nine out of 10 matches against both their opponents and posted almost identical winning scores as they beat Northland 47-6 and cruised past Jamestown 43-6.
Both duals started in the 125-pound weight class, and the Cobber lightweights Michael Miller and Jake Nohre set the tone for their teammates. Against Northland, Miller earned the fall to stake the Cobbers to an early 6-0 lead. Nohre got the nod against Jamestown and matched Miller's result by pinning his opponent in the first period.
Not to be outdone, the Cobber 133-pounders mimicked Miller and Nohre as Benjamin Bogart earned a victory by fall against Northland and Jacob Prunty did the same against Jamestown.
Taking the mat with a 12-0 team lead in both his matches, freshman Bret Wilson worked hard for an 18-0 technical fall victory against Northland but didn't have to work at all to contribute against Jamestown as he earned a victory by forfeit because the Jimmies had no representative in Wilson's 141-pound weight class.
Senior Ty Johnson had a long delay before stepping on the mat for his first match at 149. He earned a forfeit win against Northland and showed no signs of sluggishness against Jamestown as he used an early takedown against the Jimmies to claim a hard-earned 4-2 decision.
The Cobbers would mix and match their lineup in the 157-lb and 165-lb weight classes and they would surrender their first losses of each dual in these middle weights. Northland broke the shutout at 165 while Jamestown got on the board at 157.
Adam Jaeger had a strong showing coming off an injury at 157 against Northland and earned a 6-2 decision. Later in the Jamestown dual, 165-pounder Travis Deegan continued his winning ways from the North Central Invite by riding a crucial four-point near fall to a 9-4 win.
Like Jaeger at 157, Kaden Spindler came off an injury-related hiatus at 174 to earn two wins by fall. Spindler's pin against Jamestown was particularly exciting as a wild flurry of action ended with Spindler in position to flatten his opponent's shoulders and end the match.
Senior Nick Gravdahl joined the Concordia pinning frenzy at 184 pounds with a fall against Northland. In the nightcap Gravdahl trailed early but made some key adjustments from the neutral position and earned a vital four-point near fall to win 11-6.
In a very similar story line that Gravdahl followed, freshman 197-pounder Jacob Arends pinned his Northland opponent, but trailed early against Jamestown before taking control with a few takedowns of his own and a late-match near fall on his way to a 13-3 major decision victory.
Noah Carter took the mat at heavyweight in both duals with the overall team win well in-hand. Carter had plenty to keep him motivated entering the match against Northland as he would look to avenge two earlier-season losses to his Pioneer counterpart. Carter stayed focused and executed a solid game plan all the way through regulation and a whopping six overtime periods until a technical violation by Northland and a clutch escape by Carter proved to be the deciding factors in a 4-2 victory for Carter that put the exclamation point on Concordia's first dual win of the night.
For Carter, that would be all the drama for the evening as he received a forfeit against Jamestown to end his and the team's night with two wins.
UP NEXT: The Cobbers will have an extended break to rest and recover from a tough first half of the schedule. Concordia will resume competition on Saturday, Jan. 5 when they travel to Dubuque, Iowa to participate in the Jim Fox Duals.