Wrestling | 11/19/2018 3:26:00 PM
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MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead wrestling team will open its dual schedule on Tuesday night when they travel to crosstown rival Concordia to face the Cobbers. The dual will start at 7 p.m. at Memorial Auditorium.
MSUM has not beaten the Cobbers in a dual since Feb. 3, 2010 when they won a 22-18 dual at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.
About the Dragons
The Dragons are coming off a good showing at the UNK Holiday Inn Open, where redshirt freshman
Evan Foster won the championship in the 184-pound amateur division. Sophomore
Cole Jones and redshirt freshman
Mason Schulz also placed on the day. Sophomore
Sam Erckenbrack finished 3-2 and took fourth at 285 in the elite division.
Foster leads MSUM with a 9-2 record at 184. Jones is 7-2 while Schulz is 8-5. Erckenbrack is 6-4.
Scouting the Cobbers
Concordia enters the season 0-1 after a 23-14 loss to Northern State on Nov. 8. They most recently competed at the Finn Grinaker Cobber Open, where Kaden Spindler won the championship in the 165-pound maroon division. Head coach Phil Moenkedick is in his third season as Concordia's head coach.
Familiar faces in the lineup
The Dragons are returning eight starters from last season, including
Joe Schumacher and Jones, both of whom missed being national qualifiers by just one match last season. Senior
Adam Blees will be the only senior on the roster. Other returners include junior
Logan Rhode and sophomore
Mitch Kotschevar.
Ranked Dragons
The Dragons have two athletes ranked in the first NCAA Division II rankings put out by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association. Jones is ranked 11th at 125 pounds while Schumacher picked up a ninth-place ranking in the nation at 149 pounds. As a team, the Dragons are receiving votes in the preseason poll.
Dragons picked to finish sixth in NSIC
In the preseason coaches' poll, the Dragons were picked to finish sixth in the NSIC with Blees named MSUM's wrestler to watch. Defending national champions St. Cloud State was chosen to finish first in the conference.
Meet the coaches
Head coach
Kris Nelson is returning for his 10th season as MSUM head coach. He is assisted by former MSUM wrestler
Blake Bosch (second season),
Justin Solberg (fourth season) and
Tyler Lehmann (second season).
Looking Ahead
The Dragons will open their NSIC schedule on Nov. 30 when they host Northern State at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse before hosting the annual Dragon Open on Dec. 1. They will host Division 3 power Augsburg on Dec. 7 in their final nonconference dual of the season.
