MITCHELL, S.D. – The No. 8 Concordia wrestling team competed at the Dakota Wesleyan Open on Saturday, Nov. 14. Jr. Lule finished first for the Bulldogs in the 157-pound bracket while four other grapplers placed for the team.
Said head coach Dana Vote, “Jr. Lule had an outstanding day. He wrestled solid in every position and really showed his leadership. As a team, we wrestled better than last weekend, but we still need to be more consistent. Matt Atwood also had a great day and I really like the offense I saw from him.”
Taking first place in the 157-pound class was Concordia’s Lule. In the first round, Lule won by a tech fall over Jake Slocum from Southwest Minnesota State, 19-0. After two more victories by decision, the junior faced Blake Perryman in the title match and won by a major decision of 14-6.
Andrew Schulte competed in the 149 weight class and took fourth place. Schulte lost by a 7-9 decision in the quarterfinal bout to Bailey Neises from Augustana. The sophomore battled back through the consolation bracket and took third place with an 8-6 decision over Colin Ayers also from Augustana.
Senior Matt Atwood finished in third place at 184. Atwood pinned his first opponent in 3:39 before dropping his quarterfinal match by a 2-10 decision. In the consolation bracket, the senior won by a disqualification, a 5-4 decision and a 10-2 major decision to advance to the third place match. Atwood won by injury default over Nicholas Mech and took third place.
Seward native, Alexander Reimers took fourth place in the 197 bracket. Reimers made it to the semifinal match by a 4-0 and 5-4 decision and a 17-1 tech fall. In the semifinal bout, Reimers fell to Grant Harrill of Grand View, 9-2. After winning his semifinal consolation round, the freshman defeated his opponent in a major 8-0 decision.
Ceron Francisco took second place in the 285 weight class after winning two decisions, 8-1 and 3-1. In the semifinal match, the junior won by a fall over Troy Beaman of St. Olaf in 1:01. Then in the final match, Francisco could not finish due to injury, forcing him to take second place.
The No. 8 Concordia Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The team will travel to Fremont, Neb. to face No. 12 Midland University and (RV) Dakota Wesleyan University in two duals.