Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: February 20, 2010
NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet Results:
Regional Bracket Results (pdf)
Concordia National Qualifiers:
141 - Ben Anderson - 4th Place - Wild Card Berth
149 - Justin Berns - 2nd Place
174 - Ross Dankers - 2nd Place
184 - Phil Moenkedick 4-0 - Champion
Meet Recap:
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (2/20/10)-- No.7-ranked Concordia once again took a step up at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet. The Cobbers had nine of their 10 wrestlers finish in the top five and for the second straight season finished in second place as a team. CC finished with 142.0 total team points which is their highest total at a region meet in program history.
Concordia also took a big stride in the number of individuals to qualify for the NCAA National Meet. For the first time in program history, the Cobbers will send four athletes to the national meet. Junior All-American Phil Moenkedick won his third straight regional championship and qualified for his third trip to nationals. He was joined by Ben Anderson, Justin Berns and Ross Dankers to punch their ticket towards potential All-American status.
Moenkedick was a perfect 4-0 at the regional meet and has not lost a match (12-0) in his three NCAA Great Lakes Regionals. Moenkedick, who entered the meet ranked second in the region, posted a pin in his first match then came up with a pair of pins to advance to the championship match. He then patiently waited out No.1-seeded Gabe Youel of North Central and claimed a 2-1 decision. The win avenges one of Moenkedick's two losses on the year as he lost to Youel, who is currently ranked third in the nation, 9-6 at the Las Vegas Duals.
The four wins pushes Moenkedick's career record to 97-9.
Anderson went 3-2 and finished fourth at 141 but was awarded one of the eight "at-large" bids to earn his second trip to the national meet. The 141-lb weight class was one of the toughest at the regional as the four seeds in the region were all ranked in the top 5 of the nation. Anderson won his first two matches but then lost to second seeded John Starzyk of North Central who is ranked third in the nation. Anderson then won his first match in the wrestlebacks before falling in the third-place match.
Berns was ranked second in the regional at 149 and cruised to a technical fall win in his first match of the day. He then posted an 11-9 two overtime decision in the semifinals before falling to No.1-seeded Tony Valek of Augsburg in the finals. Berns' win in the semifinals was the most dramatic of the day. He was down by two points in the final :30 seconds of the match but then scored a takedown to tie the match and force it to an overtime session. In overtime, Berns got down 9-6 but then roared back to tie the match at 9-9. He then won with a takedown in the second overtime torecord his 100th career victory as a Cobber. He becomes only the seventh wrestler in school history to reach the 100-win plateau.
Dankers was the biggest surprise of the day for the Cobbers. He entered the meet ranked fourth at 174. Dankers earned a 9-5 decision in his first match and then won 5-4 in the quarterfinals. He then pulled the biggest upset of the day by beating No.1-seeded Matthew Pfarr of St. John's 7-5 in double overtime. Pfarr was ranked fifth in the nation coming into the regional. Dankers then fell in the championship match but since he had already beaten third-place winner Cowan Brown of North Central he did not have to wrestle in a true-second place match. Dankers is now 23-19 on the year.
Other than Anderson, three different Cobber wrestlers finished fourth at the regional. Daron Hohbein went 4-2 at 125 and narrowly missed earning an at-large bid into nationals. He lost 3-2 in the third-place match to George Goganas of Augsburg who went on to claim the at-large bid for the weight class. Matt Jeska was 2-2 at 165 and lost 10-7 in the third-place bout. Freshman Nate Schmitz won his first two matches of the day but then dropped two of the next three including a 7-5 decision in the third-place match and also finished fourth. Schmitz finishes his first year with a team-high 31 wins.
Concordia will now have two weeks to get ready for the NCAA National Meet which will be held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Mar. 5-6.
Final Team Results
1. Augsburg College (224.0)
2. Concordia-Moorhead (142.0)
3. Elmhurst (133.5)
4. St. John's (Minn.) (126.0)
5. North Central (Ill.) (125.5)
6. Lakeland (87.0)
7. St. Olaf College (62.0)
8. Chicago (58.0)
9. Milwaukee School of Engineering (41.5)
10. Augustana (Ill.) (29.0)
11. Pacific (Ore.) (17.0)
11. Wheaton (Ill.) (17.0)
13. Knox (16.0)
14. Concordia (Wis.) (3.5)
15. Maranatha Baptist (0.0)
Cobber Results:
Cobber Results at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional
125- Daron Hohbein 4-2 (4th Place)
133- Joe Leacox 2-2
141- Ben Anderson 3-2 (4th Place)
149- Justin Berns 2-1 (2nd Place)
157- Kevin Fynboh 3-2 (5th Place)
165- Matt Jeska 2-2 (4th Place)
174- Ross Dankers 3-1 (2nd Place)
184- Phil Moenkedick 4-0 (Champion)
197- Nate Schmitz 3-2 (4th Place)
285 - Tom Bouressa 3-2 (5th Place)
