NCAA Great Lakes Regional Recap

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: February 21, 2009

Meet Rewind:

NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet Results:

Great Lakes Regional Website

Regional Bracket Results (pdf)

Concordia National Qualifiers:

184- Phil Moenkedick 4-0 - Champion

197- Tony Neumann - True Second Place Winner

Final Team Results:

1. Augsburg (Minn.) 159
2. Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) 117.5
3. North Central (Ill.) 105
4. St. John's (Minn.) 98.5
5. Elmhurst (Ill.) 95.5
6. Univ. of Chicago (Ill.) 74
7. Lakeland (Wis.) 69
8. Wheaton (Ill.) 32.5
9t. Concordia-Wisconsin 25
9t. Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) 25
11. Maranatha Baptist Bible (Wis.) 18.5
12. Augustana (Ill.) 18
13. St. Olaf (Minn.) 16.5
14. Knox (Ill.) 12
15. Pacific (Ore.) 7.

Meet Recap:

MEQUON, Wis. (2/21/09)-- It was a case of good news, bad news for Concordia at the Great Lakes Regional held at Concordia University in Mequon, Wis. on Saturday. The Cobbers once again improved on their team standing but unfortunately their goal of sending at least four wrestlers to the national meet fell short.

Last year the Cobbers finished third at the regional meet. On Saturday CC did that one better by finishing second with a school-record total of 117.5 points at the regional meet. However, unlike last year when Concordia qualified three wrestlers for nationals, only Phil Moenkedick and Tony Neumann will be moving on to compete at the NCAA Division III national Tournament.

For the second straight year Concordia had seven different wrestlers place in the top five in the region. Besides Moenkedick and Neumann, CC had one third-place finisher, a trio of fourth-place finishes and one fifth-place finish.

Moenkedick continued his perfect sophomore season by going 4-0 in the 184-lb weight class and claiming his second straight region title. Last year he won the title at 174. Moenkedick is now 32-0 on the season. He started the meet by pinning Garrett Washington of Elmhurst at the 2:07 mark of the first period. He then scored a 15-0 technical fall over Martin Dertz of Knox in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Moenkedick squared off with familiar foe Dustin Baxter of St. John's. Moenkedick continued his dominance over Baxter on the year as he posted an 8-5 decision. In the championship match he faced the No.1 seed in the weight class, Gabe Youel of North Central who was the defending region champ at 184. In one of the closest and toughest matches of the entire regional, Moenkedick was able to come away with a one-point decision at 10-9.

Neumann earned his second straight trip to the national tournament by once again winning the true second place match in the 197-lb weight class. Neumann started the meet by earning a 16-0 technical decision in the quarterfinals. He then beat Tony Willaert of St. John's in the semifinals 9-2. In the championship match he lost to No.1-ranked Jared Massey of Augsburg 6-2. Neumann then turned around and recorded a decision over Vincent Sapienza of North Central in the true second place match. It is the second straight year that Neumann has beaten Sapienza in the true second place match.

Justin Berns was denied a chance to gain a spot in the national tournament. Berns lost in the championship match at 149 and then had to default because of injury n the true second place match. Berns cruised through his first three matches of the regional with a technical fall, a major decision and a 9-7 decision over No.2-seeded Jason Fitzenreider of North Central in the semifinals. He then lost to top seeded Willy Holst of Augsburg in the title match. Berns finishes the season with a 38-13 record. His 38 wins ties the school record for most wins in a single season.

Daron Hohbein, Ben Anderson and Lane Lunde all finished in fourth place. Hohbein lost in the quarterfinals but then rattled off three straight wins before losing in the third-place match. Anderson entered the meet ranked No.1 at 141. He won his quarterfinal match but was then upset by the fourth seeded wrestler in the semifinals. Anderson then needed to go to overtime to win his first wrestleback match. He then advanced to the third-place match where he lost a tough 2-1 decision to Tony Valek of Augsburg. Lunde won his quarterfinal match but then fell in the semifinals 7-2 to No.1 seeded, and eventual region champ, Jason Adams of Augsburg. Like Anderson, Lunde won his first wrestleback match but then lost by one point in the third-place bout. Lunde fell 4-3 to No.2 seeded Matt Baarson of St. John's. Both Valek and Baarson went on to earn wild card berths into the national tournament.

Mike Holman earned fifth-place honors at 133. He was the biggest surprise of any CC wrestler at the meet. Holman entered the regional unseeded but then pulled off a pair of pin falls over the fourth and fifth-ranked wrestlers in his first two matches. Holma lost in the semifinals to No.1 seed Travis Lang of Augsburg and then went on to win the fifth-place match over Edel Vaca of Know who he pinned in his quarterfinal match.

Moenkedick and Nuemann will now have two weeks to train in order to get ready for the NCAA Division III National Meet which will be held on Mar. 6-7 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Cobber Results:

Cobber Results at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional

125- Daron Hohbein 4-2 (4th Place)

133- Mike Holman 3-2 (5th Place)

141- Ben Anderson 2-2 (4th Place)

149- Justin Berns 3-2 (3rd Place)

157- Lane Lunde 2-2 (4th Place)

165- Luke Vetsch 1-2

174- Ross Dankers 3-3

184- Phil Moenkedick 4-0 (Champion)

197- Tony Neumann 3-1 (2nd Place)

HWT- Nick Nadeau 2-2