MOORHEAD, Minn. – A pin-fall in the final match of the night gives the Minnesota State University Moorhead wrestling team their first loss of the season at home, Tuesday night. 
 
The crowd in Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse got a show that a rivalry match-up, like MSUM and Concordia, expects to bring.  The two teams exchanged wins through the first five matches, as a late comeback by the Cobbers gave the Dragons their first loss, 20-18. 
 
The Dragons began the night with the 125 match-up between the number three wrestler in the nation, All-American Corey Ulmer, and Concordia's Ben Presler.  Ulmer began the match by earning the first points by putting Presler on his back with a takedown.  The 2-0 lead would last throughout the first period as Ulmer controlled the match so far.  Presler spent the second period attempting to put Ulmer on the mat with no success.  Quick back and forth action from the two paced the third period as Presler nearly earned points, but couldn't as Ulmer took the match, 2-0.  The opening win gave the Dragons a 3-0 lead.
 
Starting in the 133 match for the Dragons was Matt Wuorinen and his opponent Daron Hohbein.  The Cobber took the first points with a reversal, 20 seconds into the match and took a comfortable lead of 5-0 as time expired in the first period.  Hohbein earned two takedowns throughout the next two periods as Wuorinen took the first loss for the Dragons in a major decision, 9-0. The loss gave Concordia a 4-3 lead.
 
Dragon senior Tyler Steinwand and Tim Rueter took the mat for the 141 class.  Steinwand opened the match by using his speed to attempt takedowns.  45 seconds in Steinwand almost converted on a takedown and succeeded on another at the 1:35 mark.  The takedown would be the only points of the first period as Steinwand held a 2-0 advantage through one.  Steinwand began the next period on the mat but earned one point on an escape.  Moving quickly he earned another takedown, keeping Rueter on the mat until 45 seconds remaining when the Cobber earned a point for an escape.  Trying to gain the lead, Rueter failed on a takedown but with time running down in the period the Cobber finally brought Steinwand down to earn two points.  The score at the end of two was 5-3 in favor of Steinwand.   Both wrestlers would stand to start the last period.  Steinwand took advantage of this and took Rueter down with 1 minute and 16 seconds remaining to extend his lead.  It wouldn't be until 26 seconds left in the match that Rueter could escape to earn a point.  At the end whistle, Steinwand came out on top with a decision of 8-4 that gave MSUM a 6-4 lead over Concordia.
 
The first pin of the night came in the 149-pound match between the Dragons' Connor MacGregor and Kyle LeDuc.  LeDuc jumped ahead in the first period by earning six points compared to MacGregor's one.  The second period would be the end for MacGregor as LeDuc pinned him in 4 minutes and 40 seconds.  The pin gave the Cobbers six points to steal the lead away, 10-6.
 
Extra time would be needed in the 157-pound class as Kerron Williams faced off against Kevin Fynboh.  The fast paced match was started in scoring by Williams as he took Fynboh down 50 seconds in.  A clasp and an escape after a reset tied the match up for Fynboh.  The second period began at 2-2 as Williams started on top of Fynboh.  The Dragon couldn't keep the Cobber on the ground as Fynboh earned an escape.  Williams tied up the match with an escape right away in the third period as he started on the mat. Neither would be able to grab a point as the match went into overtime.  In the overtime neither could take advantage of takedowns until the final seconds.  Williams took Fynboh's leg over his head and took him down to the mat to give the Dragon a 5-3 decision in overtime.  The last second win brought the Dragons to within one point of the Cobbers at 10-9.
 
Jacob Bennett put the Dragons on top with the team's second consecutive victory.  Bennett nearly gave a takedown to Josten Coleman with 1:43 left in the first but avoided it with a nice somersault-type move.  10 seconds later though provided the first points of the match as Bennett could not avoid another takedown from Coleman.  Following an escape from Bennett with 30 seconds left, the end of the first period would give Coleman a 2-1 edge.  From this point Bennett would not give up another point to Coleman.  The Dragon spent the first 40 seconds of the period on the mat until he tied the match at 2 with an escape.  Following a takedown from Bennett, the Apache Junction, Ariz. native earned five more points while Coleman was on the mat.  A stall from Coleman in the last period would make the score concrete at 10-2 in favor of Bennett.  MSUM took the lead back from Concordia following the win, 12-10.
 
Extending the lead for the Dragons was Tyler Kivel as he gave the team a third victory in a row.  To highlight the first period, Kivel earned a takedown late which was escaped by Chris Harrison, 27 seconds later.  Kivel began the next period on top but gave up an escape to Harrison.  A score of 2-2 led the two into the final period.  Kivel grabbed a two-point lead following a reversal. Harrison cut the lead 4-3 with a quick escape.  No points could be gained throughout the rest of the match as Kivel gave the Dragons a 15-10 lead on the Cobbers with three matches remaining.
 
A bizarre ending came in the 184 match-up between MSUM's Trent Sovde and Zach Deffinbaugh.  Sovde began the match with aggression as he pushed Deffinbaugh out of the circle, 30 seconds in.  No advantage would be taken by either side through the first.  Sovde began the next period on top of Deffinbaugh and allowed the Cobber to escape, giving the visitor a 1-0 lead to end the second.  The third period would begin for Sovde as it did for Deffinbaugh.  The Dragon earned one point for an escape and the two went back-and-forth until five seconds left in the match.  At that point Deffinbaugh delivered a hard slap to the head of Sovde, giving the Dragon a point and the match.  The error of the Cobber gave the Dragons an 18-10 lead on the night.
 
Freshman Eric Lehmann matched up against the junior Nate Schmitz for the 197 match.  Schmitz controlled the match by earning nine points in the first period, two in the second and five in the final period.  Lehmann only gained two points from escapes.  The Dragon would eventually fall to the Cobber with a major decision of 16-2.  The loss tightened up the lead to 18-14 for the Dragons, with the ultimate winner decided in the heavyweight match.
 
The Dragons' Gerad Fugleberg walked on the mat to face Cody Kasprick.  Fugleberg took an early lead by taking down Kasprick.  The two would reset with the Dragon beginning on top of the Cobber.  Kasprick produced a reverse to tie the match but the night would be decided when Kasprick took down Fugleberg for the count.  A pin to win it, 20-18, for the Cobbers came 2 minutes and 12 seconds into the match.
 
The Dragons will take the experiences from this heated rivalry into the Husky Open on Saturday.  The open will be the last of the season for the Dragons as they will get into full dual season against Dickinson State on Jan. 11.

Husky Open Results