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2003-04 News and Match Details:

1/24 Cobbers Finish Third at MIAC Duals.
         | Complete Meet Results | 

THE WRESTLER

THE STAT

David Ahmed led Concordia with a 2-1 record at the MIAC Dual Meet.

THE SCOOP

Ahmed has now won five of his last seven matches. The Cobbers are 5-5 in dual meets this season.

(Northfield, Minn.)-- Concordia improved on last year's fourth place finish by going 2-1 at this year's MIAC Dual Meet, and finishing in third place . The Cobbers dropped matches to defending national champion Augsburg and St. John's before beating host St. Olaf. 

David Ahmed (Fr., Conrad, Mont./Conrad HS) had two victories at 165 pounds to lead Concordia, while Dain Kalkbrenner (Fr., Atwater, Minn./A-C-G HS) went 2-1 with a major decision in the heavyweight category. Ahmed has won five of his last seven matches, while Kalkbrenner has now posted victories in three of his last four matches.

Concordia opened the meet by losing 55-0 to wrestling juggernaut Augsburg. The only Cobber to lose in a decision was Ed Oehlers (Jr., North Branch, Minn/North Branch HS) at 197 pounds. In Concordia's second match, St. John's won eight of the ten weight classes and posted a 34-9 victory. Ahmed and Kalkbrenner were the lone winners for the Cobbers. Ahmed won a 7-2 decision over Jeff Snegosky, and Kalkbrenner won his match by forfeit.

In the final match of the meet, Concordia won nine of the ten individual matches to come away with the 46-6 win. The victory avenges a 28-22 loss to the Ole's at last year's MIAC Dual Meet. 
Mitch Gabrielson (Fr., Fergus Falls, Minn./Fergus Falls HS), Lucas Reuss (Fr., Benson, Minn./Benson HS), Kevin McBride (Fr., Eagan, Minn./Eastview HS) and Wes Graff (Fr., Mankato, Minn.) all won their matches on a pin fall. Kalkbrenner finished the day with a 13-1 major decision, and Ahmed picked up his second win with a 7-1 decision. 

The Cobbers are now 5-5 in dual meets this season. They will have one more dual meet when they host Jamestown on February 4 at 7:00pm. Concordia will compete in the Elmhurst College (IL) Tournament on Saturday, January 31 beginning at 9:00am. 

1/21 Cobbers Upset NCAA Division II Northern State 27-18.
          | Concordia 27, Northern State 18 | Action Picture Page |

(Moorhead, Minn.)-- Concordia won the first two matches of their dual meet against NCAA Division II opponent Northern State and never looked back, winning 27-18. The Cobbers earned victories in five of the nine weight classes that were contested. Concordia also came away with two forfeit victories. 

Lee Rahrlien (So., Graceville, Minn./C-G-B HS), slowly emerging as Concordia's  top wrestler, opened the meet by beating Spencer Dockery 6-1 in the 157-pound weight class. Rahrlien is now 11-4 on the season, and is a perfect 5-0 since returning from the Christmas break. David Ahmed (Fr., Conrad, Mont./Conrad HS) gave the Cobbers a second straight three-point win to start the match when he scratched out a 4-3 decision over Lance Stuwe. The two wins staked Concordia to a 6-0 lead to start the meet. It also helped get the boisterous crowd into the meet and allowed Cobbers to seize the early momentum.

Concordia's lead was shortlived as the Wolves' Andy Sinclair pinned Mitch Gabrielson (Fr., Fergus Falls, Minn./Fergus Falls HS) in the 174-pound match. The Cobbers reclaimed the six-point margin when Lucas Reuss (Fr., Benson, Minn./Benson HS) was awarded the win by forfeit at 184. Northern State countered by winning the next match. Ed Oehlers (Jr., North Branch, Minn/North Branch HS), one of Concordia's most consistent wrestlers since December, lost a hard-fought 9-5 decision to Cory Wellnitz. 

Dain Kalkbrenner (Fr., Atwater, Minn./A-C-G HS) turned in a pivotal performance when he was able to pin Northern State heavyweight John Whalen at the 2:22 mark. Kalkbrenner's pin gave the Cobbers an 18-9 lead with only three contested weight classes left in the meet.

In the 125-pound weight class Northern State's Chas Welch pinned  Kevin McBride (Fr., Eagan, Minn./Eastview HS) at the 7:00 mark to cut the Cobber lead to 18-15. Concordia's Wes Graff (Fr., Mankato, Minn.) then outlasted Charles Schimmel 11-4 at 133 to push the lead back to six at 21-15. In the final match of the night, Brian Englund narrowly beat the Cobbers' Cameron Avelsgard (Fr., Madison, Minn./Lac qui Parle Valley HS) 5-3. Concordia's Eric Splichal (Fr., Garrison, N.Dak./Garrison HS) was awarded a forfeit victory at 149 to give Concordia the nine-point victory.

The Cobbers are now 2-1 in dual meets, while the Wolves fall to 3-2 on the season. Concordia will compete in the MIAC Dual Tournament on Saturday, January 24 at 10:00am at St. Olaf. Concordia's final dual meet of the season will be at home on February 4 at 7:00pm when they host Jamestown College. 

1/17 Cobbers Finish 5th at Terry Haws Dual Tournament at St. John's.
           | Complete Results |

Lee Rahrlien So. Graceville, Minn. Was undefeated (3-0) at the Terry Haws Dual Tournament at St. John's.

(Collegeville, Minn.)-- Concordia won two dual matches and finished fifth at the Terry Haws Dual Tournament at St. John's University. The Cobbers, who finished the day 2-2, beat the Alternate Team 25-24 in the fifth place match.

Concordia lost to Southwest State 35-9 in their opening match, and then dropped a 33-12 decision to St. John's before winning their final two matches of the tournament. The Cobbers beat Rochester Community College 33-23 which set up their one-point win over the Alternate Team. The Alternate Team was a team  composed of wrestlers from other schools that participated at the tournament.

Lee Rahrlien (So., Graceville, Minn./C-G-B HS) finished the day with a 3-0 record to lead the Cobbers, while William Duppler (Jr., Valley City, N.Dak./Valley City HS) and Ed Oehlers (Jr., North Branch, Minn/North Branch HS) went 3-1 over their four matches. Rahrlien, wrestling at 157 pounds, beat Shawn Plumley of Southwest State 4-2 in the first match and then followed that victory with a pin of Dustin Koskela from Rochester Community College in the third match. He completed the day by winning a 5-2 decision over Skip Toops of MSU-Moorhead. 

Duppler, returning to action for the first time since competing in the Cobber Open at the end of November, went 3-1 in the heavyweight division. He started the day by beating Chris Abbott of Southwest State 8-4. He then pinned Ryan Weinandt of St. John's before losing to Kent Tengblad from Rochester Community College. Duppler finished off the tournament by beating Mitch Greenwood of MSU-Moorhead 4-0. 

Oehlers, the biggest surprise of 2004 for Doug Perry's team, went 3-1 in his natural, 197-pound weight class. He beat Joel Wipperfurth of Southwest State 4-2 in the opening match, and then lost his only match of the day to Dan Fiecke of St. John's. He then beat Mike Lakour of Rochester Community College before finishing the day by winning a major decision over Ryan Eckdahl of UW-Eau Claire. 

Concordia will host Northern State in a dual meet on Wednesday, January 21 at 7:00pm. The Cobbers will compete in the MIAC Duals at St. Olaf on Saturday, January 24 beginning at 10:00am. 

1/14 Cobbers Grind Out 27-17 Win Over UM-Morris.
           | Concordia 27, UM-Morris 17 |
(Morris, Minn.)-- Wrestling for the first time in over a month, Concordia ground out a 27-17 win over host UM-Morris. 

Ed Oehlers (Jr., North Branch, Minn/North Branch HS) and Lee Rahrlien (So., Graceville, Minn./C-G-B HS) led the Cobber attack by posting pivotal victories. Oehlers, wrestling at 197, scored an 8-2 decision over Jacob Scott. Rahrlien, won the dual match at 157 by forfeit, but wrestled an exhibition match against Jeremy Benson. Rahrlien scored a 11-2, major decision over Benson bringing his season record to 8-4 on the year.

In other matches, Concordia claimed victories in three different weight classes by forfeit. Kevin McBride (Fr., Eagan, Minn./Eastview HS), Mitch Gabrielson (Fr., Fergus Falls, Minn./Fergus Falls HS) and Lucas Reuss (Fr., Benson, Minn./Benson HS) all scored six-point wins for the Cobbers. 

The closest two matches of the dual meet occurred at the 133 and heavyweight classifications. Wes Graff (Fr., Mankato, Minn.) lost a tough 7-5 battle with the Cougars' Jaime Compean at 133, and Bryan Kvitek (Sr., Starbuck, Minn./Minnewaska HS) dropped a one-point (4-3) decision at heavyweight to Matt Hoerr. Both Compean and Hoerr are coming off impressive finishes at the start of 2004. Compean finished second at an international competition in Ontario at the beginning of January, and Hoerr won the heavyweight division in the same meet.

Concordia will start to get into the meat of their season as they wrestle at the Terry Haws Duals at St. John's University on Saturday, January 17 starting at 9:00am. The Cobbers return home to host Northern State in a dual meet on Wednesday, January 21 at 7:00pm. 

12/13 Cobbers Compete at St. Cloud State Invitational.
           | Meet Results |

12/10 Young Cobbers Get Pinned by MSU-Moorhead 40-0. 
           | MSU-Moorhead 40, Concordia 0 |

(Moorhead, Minn.)-- Despite a final score that had the Cobbers being shut out, the Concordia wrestling team battled NCAA Division II MSU-Moorhead through all 10 matches in their annual cross-town dual rivalry. The Dragons won six of the ten matches by decision and earned another victory through a forfeit. Seven of the nine wrestlers that competed for Concordia were first-year wrestlers seeing action in their very first collegiate dual meet. 

The closest match of the night was in the 165-pound weight class where the Cobbers' David Ahmed (Fr., Conrad, Mont./Conrad HS) narrowly lost to the Dragons' Allen Huigens by a score of 4-3. At 141 pounds, Davis Alvesgard (Fr., Madison, Minn./Lac qui Parle Valley HS) lost a tough 7-5 decision to Shane Eskelson of MSU-M. 

Other Cobber wrestlers that fell in matches that were decided by a decision were Eric Splichal (Garrison, N.Dak./Garrison HS) who lost 5-0 at 149 pounds, Lee Rahrlien (So., Graceville, Minn./C-G-B HS) who lost 10-1 to Josh Jansen, Ed Oehlers (Jr., North Branch, Minn/North Branch HS) who lost 5-1 at 197 and heavyweight Dain Kalkbrenner (Fr., Atwater, Minn./A-C-G HS) who also dropped a 5-1 decision. 

The Cobbers will compete at the St. Cloud State Invitational on Saturday, December 13 starting at 9:00am. They will then have an extended break for the Christmas holiday and return to action on Saturday, January 10 at the Dickinson State Open. 

11/22 Results of the 5th Annual Cobber Open Are Now Online!!
           | Official Cobber Open Home Page | 

11/17 Cobbers  Start Season On a Positive Note at St. Olaf Open.
           | Complete Listing of Cobber Results at St. Olaf | 

11/5 Cobber Wrestling Roster for 2004 Now Online.
      | Preliminary 2003-04 Cobber Wrestling Roster | 

9/12 Insurance, Returning Athlete, & 1st Year Participation Forms are Now Online.

4/09 Cobbers Wrestling Schedule for 2004 Now Online.
      | Tentative 2004 Cobber Wrestling Schedule |