Viva Las Vegas: Bulldog wrestling set for flight to Desert Duals

SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia wrestling program is making final preparations for Thursday’s flight to Las Vegas, Nev., site of the 2013 Desert Duals. Second-year head coach Dana Vote’s 25th-ranked Bulldogs will dual four opponents on Saturday as part of a unique event held in the ballroom of the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino located along the Vegas strip.

“This is a great event for some of our guys to go out and make a mark for themselves,” Vote said. “We are starting to get recognized a little bit on the regional level and now this gives us an opportunity for people to know who we are on a national level.  This is a great relaxed event that has great wrestling.  It’s not that often you get to wrestle in a ballroom.”

Concordia’s first match will begin at 8 a.m. PST on Saturday from the Flamingo ballroom. The Bulldogs will be tested significantly as three of their four matches are against teams rated inside the NAIA’s top 25 according to Intermat. That slate includes fifth-ranked University of Great Falls (Mont.). The three ranked opponents combine for 16 nationally-ranked individual grapplers.

Vote will take a group of 15 wrestlers to Vegas. The team will depart from Seward at 9:30 a.m. CST on Thursday and fly out of the Grand Island airport at 12 p.m. CST. The Bulldogs are scheduled to arrive in Vegas on Thursday at 12:45 p.m. PST (2:45 CST). The team will work out in the ballroom on both Thursday and Friday leading up to Saturday. As Vote states, the trip is “strictly business.”

Live results for the Desert Duals will be available via TrackWrestling.com. (Make sure to search “Desert Duals” under browse).

For season match-by-match results for Concordia wrestlers, click HERE.

Desert Duals schedule (all times Pacific)

• 8 a.m. – Concordia vs. No. 23 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.)
• 10 a.m. – Concordia vs. No. 14 Menlo College (Calif.)
• 2 p.m. – Concordia vs. Pacific University (Ore.)
• 4 p.m. – Concordia vs. No. 5 University of Great Falls (Mont.)

(NOTE: The Duals will operate on a rolling schedule, thus, times after 8 a.m. are approximate.)

Desert Duals opponents in the national rankings

No. 23 Embry-Riddle (NAIA)

• 125 – No. 4 Sean Silva
• 149 – No. 14 Colin Merkley
• 165 – No. 16 Luke Riley

No. 5 Great Falls (NAIA)

• 125 – No. 12 Luke Schlosser
• 133 – No. 4 Michael Ruiz
• 149 – No. 5 Ryan Martin
• 157 – No. 7 Chad Cebulski; No. 10 Nicholas Schmidt
• 165 – No. 7 Shawn Lau (165)
• 184 – No. 3 Kamron Jackson
• 197 – No. 16 Dylan Lemery
• 285 – No. 4 David Lopez

No. 14 Menlo (NAIA)

• 141 – No. 13 Steele Escobedo
• 165 – No. 1 Eric Lopez
• 197 – No. 14 Ian Mac Ineirghe
• 285 – No. 7 Scott Brasil

Pacific (NCAA Division III)
--No ranked individuals

Bulldogs in the rankings

NORTH GROUP

• 125 – No. 3 Austin Mogg
• 133 – No. 2 Emilio Rivera; No. 3 Kodie Cole
• 141 – No. 5 Foster Bunce
• 149 – No. 2 Enrique Barajas
• 174 – No. 5 Austin Fehlhafer
• 184 – No. 6 Noel Richardson
• 285 – No. 6 Ceron Francisco

NATIONAL RANKINGS

• 125 – No. 13 Austin Mogg
• 133 – No. 9 Emilio Rivera; No. 13 Kodie Cole
• 149 – No. 9 Enrique Barajas