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Concordia College Update
December 1, 2004
The Cobbers from Concordia will be heading across town this weekend to wrestle in the first ever Dragon Open, which will be held at the Alex Nemzek field house. The Cobbers have fared well in their early tournaments so far this season and look to have another strong showing at the Dragon Open.
Leading the way: Leading the Concordia Wrestlers this season are Captains Dennis Kline and Lee Rahrlein. Dennis dominated the competition at the Cobber Open en route to his first place finish. Dennis pinned his quarterfinal opponent, majored his semi-final opponent and won again by fall in the finals. This outstanding performance proved to be enough to earn the Outstanding wrestler award, which was voted on by the coaches. Lee Rahrlein finished third at the Cobber Open. Lee ended up 4-1 on the day while also wrestling in dominating fashion picking up two pins and a major decision on the day. Lee also placed 5th at the Division I dominated Bison Open on November 13. Lee was 6-2 at the Bison losing in the quarterfinals to eventual Champion Collin Kelly from NDSU. Lee's only other loss came at the hands of Josh Jansen the MSUM standout who is currently ranked in the top 5 of NCAA division II.
Cobber Place winners: Inspired by the great leadership of their captains other Cobber wresters have been faring well at the early season competitions as well. Senior Justin Lessard turned in a gritty performance at the Cobber open and finished in 6th place. Freshman Zach Schumack from Rosemount, MN went 3-2 on the day losing to former Mn Golden Gopher and JUCO National Champion Keri Stanley. The tournament proved to be a great learning experience for many of the underclassmen on the team. All of the Cobber wrestlers earned at least one victory on the day while facing some top-level competition.
Loaded Weight Class: 165 pounds continues to be a deep weight for the Cobbers this year. While wrestling at the Bison Open both of Concordia's 165 pounders made their way through a loaded bracket to reach the 5th place match. Mitch Gabrielson defeated the 2nd seeded Uof M red shirt freshman Phil Meinert in the consolation round to advance to the 5th place match against teammate David Ahmed who also wrestled a great tournament facing off against some seasoned Division I and II foes.
Coming Up: The Cobbers have postponed their dual with cross-town rival Minnesota State Moorhead until after Christmas. The Cobbers will finish up their pre-holiday schedule at the St. Cloud invite on December 11. After Christmas the Cobbers will regain the services of some of their multi-sport athletes. Ed Oehlers who was a standout running back on the Concordia football team who finished the year at 11-1 will rejoin the team as well as heavyweight Dain Kalkbrenner and freshman Matt Gastecki from Wadena-Deer Creek.