Concordia defeats Hastings College in GPAC wrestling dual

Concordia University stunned the #19 ranked team in the nation, Hastings College, with a 30-12 dual meet victory on Thursday evening in Seward.  Results of the meet are listed below.  

 125 – Gordie Fowlkes (CU) won by decision 7-3 vs. Jarrod Weins (HC)

133 – Travis Patrick (CU) won by decision 5-3 vs. Cameron Mettenbrink (HC)

141 – Alex Rostvet (CU) won by decision 5-3 vs. Garth Ginder (HC)

149 – Justin Ferguson (HC) won by decision 10-7 vs. Brandon Starkey (CU)

157 – Taylor Boyce (HC) won by decision 5-2 vs. Zach Schnell (CU)

165 – Blake Augustyn (CU) won by sudden victory 8-6 vs. Brad Cusatis (HC)

174 – Jameon Rush (HC) won by fall 6:20 vs. Ryan Perez (CU)

184 – Andrew Lords (CU) won by fall 4:52 vs. Jairin Potter (HC)

197 – Julian Silva (CU) won by fall 5:53 vs. Nick Simms (HC)

285 – Frank Ayala (CU) won by injury default vs. Mitch Hervet (HC)

 “You wrestle like you train,” noted head wrestling coach Doug Reese.  “Our practices are physical, intense, and demanding.  Our ‘in your face’ and intense style of wrestling breaks down our opponents mentally and physically.  That style and type of training works – everyone witnessed that tonight.  Solomon said, “All hard work reaps a profit,” and we saw that in action in this dual this evening.  I am proud of our guys.  They did what they are capable of doing.  The real challenge is to keep elevating our performance.”

Sophomore Gordie Fowlkes (Newman Grove, Neb.) started the evening with a 7-3 decision over the #6 ranked wrestler in the NAIA north region, Jarrod Weins.  Fowlkes’ win came off of two takedowns, two escapes and 1:02 of riding time.  The win took Fowlkes record to 15-9 on the season, which includes a trip to the NAIA national championships on March 3-5.

At 133 pounds, freshman Travis Patrick (Castle Rock, Wash.) wrestled Cameron Mettenbrink.  Patrick won a tight 5-3 decision off a late third period takedown.  The win boosted Patrick’s season mark to 16-11.  Last weekend, Patrick won the 133 pound championship title at the York College Open, earning himself a trip to nationals.  Patrick has won his last five matches in row.

Alex Rostvet (Hastings, Neb.) was next up at 141 pounds.  The sophomore co-captain won a tight, hard fought match (5-3) versus Garth Ginder.  After a scoreless first period, Ginder built a 2-1 lead in the second period off a takedown.  In the third period, Rostvet scored on a takedown before Ginder escaped to tie the match 3-3.  In the waning moments of the match, Rostvet scored on a takedown to claim the victory.  The win gave the Bulldogs a 9-0 advantage.  Rostvet, a NAIA national qualifier, upped his season record to 13-9.

Sophomore Brandon Starkey (St. Paul, Neb.) faced Justin Ferguson at 149 pounds.  Starkey held a 5-4 lead after two periods, but Ferguson’s mat skills were too much to overcome.  Ferguson scored six points from the mat and handed Starkey a 10-7 loss.  Starkey has put together back-to-back 20-win seasons and will be making his second trip to nationals.  His season record now stands at 22-14.

Zach Schell (Lincoln, Neb.) wrestled Taylor Boyce at 157 pounds.  The bout was a hard fought battle.  At the end of two periods, the score was tied 2-2.  In the third period, Boyce escaped to take a 3-2 lead.  Down by one point, Schnell made a takedown attempt that was countered by Boyce and resulted in a Hastings takedown and a 5-2 win for the Broncos.  The team score was now 9-6 in favor of the Bulldogs.

At 165 pounds, freshman Blake Augustyn (Ord, Neb.) faced senior Brad Cusatis.  Cusatis is currently the #2 ranked wrestler in the North Region of the NAIA and the #9 ranked wrestler in the nation, but that did not intimate the freshman in any way.  Cusatis came out quick and physical building a 4-2 first period lead.  Augustyn tied the match in the second period with a reversal.  With the match tied 4-4 in the third period, Augustyn scored a takedown with 20 seconds left in the match to take a 6-4 lead.  Cusatis gained a reversal with just seven seconds to go in regulation to tie the score at 6-6.

In sudden death overtime, Augustyn scored a takedown and upset the nationally ranked Cusatis by the final of 8-6.  The win gave the Bulldogs a 12-6 lead.  Augustyn, who will also be making a trip to Cedar Falls for nationals, raised his season record to 17-11.

Ryan Perez (Lake Charles, La.) represented the Bulldogs at 174 pounds.  Perez wrestled Hastings’ Jameon Rush.  After a scoreless first period, Rush took control of the match, building a 9-1 lead.  In the third period, Rush took Perez to his back for a fall in 6:20.  The pin tied up the score of the dual, 12-12.

Freshman Andrew Lords (Rigby, Idaho) wrestled at 184 pounds against Jairin Potter.  Perez came out on fire, scoring seven first period points off a takedown, reversal and a three-point near fall.  Lords added four more points in the second period off a reversal and near fall, then pinned Potter at 4:52.  The pin by Lords essentially locked up the dual meet with two of the most dominating wrestlers in the Bulldog lineup yet to wrestle.  The win gave the Bulldogs an 18-12 lead.

Julian Silva (Covina, Calif.) wrestled at 197 pounds for the Bulldogs.  He faced Hastings’ Nick Simms.  Silva dominated the match, scoring 10 points off of three takedowns and a near fall before pinning Simms at 5:53.

The win upped Silva’s record to 23-7 on the season.  The two-time junior college All-American will be making his third trip to the national champions in March.

Heavyweight Frank Ayala (West Covina, Calif.) wrestled Mitch Hervet in the last bout of the evening.  Ayala scored early with a takedown before Hervet injured his knee.  Hervet tried to resume wrestling, but decided to injury default out of the match.  The win gave Concordia the 30-12 dual victory over the #19 ranked Broncos of Hastings College.  Ayala won tournament honors last weekend at York College and has a five match win streak to bring his season record to 8-2.  The two-time junior college All-American will be making another trip to nationals, this time to the NAIA national championships.

The win was big for the second-year Concordia wrestling program.  The victory was the first against a GPAC opponent and its first against a nationally ranked opponent.