National Duals Day 2 Recap

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: January 11, 2009

Meet Recap
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (1/11/09)-- On Saturday the Concordia wrestling team opened the eyes of the national wrestling scene. On Sunday the Cobbers served notice that the CC wrestling program is like an object in their rear view mirror - closer than they think.

Concordia used the strength of seven individual match wins to beat No.11 ranked Cornell 24-15 on Sunday in the fifth-place match at the NWCA/Cliff Kreen National Duals Meet hosted by the University of Northern Iowa. The Cobbers finish fifth in a tournament that featured six of the top ten teams in the country. The fifth-place finish is the highest finish ever for a Cobber wrestling team at a national caliber meet. The win on Sunday helped CC finish the tournament with a 4-1 record.

The usual suspects held serve for the Cobbers. Daron Hohbein, Ben Anderson, Justin Berns, Phil Moenkedick and Tony Neumann all posted wins against Cornell. Hohbein won his match at 125 with a major decision and finished the meet with a 4-1 record and posted three pin falls and one major decision. Anderson also went 4-1 at the tournament and is now 23-7 on the year. Berns did not lose a match at the tournament, finished with a 4-0 record and upped his team-leading win total to 25. Moenkedick remained perfect on the season. He was 5-0 at the National Duals and is now 16-0 on the season. Neumann, who earned All-American honors last season, came up with the match-winning decision when he scored a 6-3 win at 197.

Perhaps the biggest win of the day came from Lane Lunde who earned a hard-fought 7-4 win over Dave Paramski. Paramski was ranked as high as ninth in the nation in December and the win for Lunde could vault him into the top 10 of the nation. Lunde finished the tournament 3-2.

Concordia will continue their month-long road trip when they travel to Elmhurst, Ill. to compete in the Elmhurst Invite. The meet will feature several of the top teams and individuals in the region that the Cobbers will need to beat in order to get into the NCAA National Tournament.

Cobber Results
5th Place Match
#11 Cornell (COR) 15 vs. Concordia (CON) 24
125 - Daron Hohbein (CON) WBD T.Hood (COR) M 11-2
133 - Nick Northern (COR) WBF FORFEIT F FOR
141 - Ben Anderson (CON) WBD K.Donahue (COR) D 9-5
149 - Justin Berns (CON) WBD R.Mulnix (COR) M 13-1
157 - Lane Lunde (CON) WBD D.Paramski (COR) D 7-4
165 - Luke Vetsch (CON) WBD J.Hambleton (COR) D 7-5
174 - Kyle Kehrli (COR) WBF Ross Dankers (CON) F 2:40
184 - Phil Moenkedick (CON) WBD Roberts (COR) M 14-5
197 - Tony Neumann (CON) WBD C.Sacco (COR) D 6-3
285 - B.Widmer (COR) WBD Tanner Jorud (CON) D 7-4

Notes
– Concordia finished the meet with a 4-1 record.
– Concordia beat three teams ranked in the top 15 of the nation (#9 St. John’s, #14 Olivet and #11 Cornell) during the meet.
- Cobber sophomore Phil Moenkedick went 5-0 at the meet and is now 16-0 on the season.
- Justin Berns went 4-0 and upped his team-leading win total to 25 on the year.
- Daron Hohbein was 4-1 and had three falls and one major decision.