Wrestling Sends Three to Saturday at the NCAA Upper Midwest Regional
MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin wrestling team hosted Friday's first day of the NCAA Division III Upper Midwest Regionals. The Falcons are in ninth place after the first day with 38.5 points. Augsburg leads with 100 points. The Blue and White sent three wrestlers to Saturday.
Senior Jack O'Donnell (Huntington Beach, Calif.) advanced to the semifinals with a 7-4 decision over Zack Schneider of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Senior Val Kochiu (Oak Creek, Wis.) started the day with a 14-1 major decision over Max Sanderfoot of MSOE. He then lost to Tyler Goebel of Wisconsin- La Crosse by a 15-10 decision. He bounced back with a fall at 1:38 against Jason Eismueller at 149 pounds.
At 197 pounds, junior Peyton Smith (Milwaukee, Wis.) posted a fall at 0:52 over Pacific's Michael Madden. Beau Yineman then notched a fall in the quarterfinals at 3:19. Smith survived Friday with a fall at 2:50 against Darrius Walker of Linfield.
Sophomore Devin Gore (Plymouth, Wis.) fell in a close 3-1 decision to Luc Valdez of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Gore then lost by a 13-6 decision to Jalen Dunson of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
At 133 pounds, junior Emilio Acosta (El Paso, Texas) lost a pair of decisions to Griffin Seyfried of Chicago (8-2) and Justin Hames of Elmhurst (15-8.).
Senior Gabe Rodriguez (Las Vegas, Nev.) rebounded back after opening the day with a loss at 10-5 with a technical fall at 4:24 at 19-1 over Shoichi Hashimoto of Lakeland. Cooper Peterson of Wisconsin-Stevens Point ended the day for Rodriguez with a 15-2 major decision.
Senior Carson Cook (Las Vegas, Nev.) lost an 8-0 major decision to Ryan Vedner of Wisconsin-Whitewater at 165 pounds. He then closed the day with a sudden victory loss to Nate Stokhaug of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 4-2.
Junior Jonathan Pullen (Joliet, Ill.) picked up two victories at 174 pounds on Friday. He opened the day with a fall at 6:36 over Jacob Kraker of Wheaton and then at 5:49 in the consolation bracket against Joseph Estrada of MSOE.
At 184 pounds, freshman Ruben Vasquez (Westminster, Calif.) started with a fall at 3:43 against Tyler Lovejoy of Lakeland. After a loss in the next round, he bounced back with a 9-1 major decision over Lucien Lefebvre of Linfield before losing by fall in the next round.
Senior Dalton Sell (Muscatine, Iowa) posted a fall in the consolation round over Guyon Cyprain of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 2:06.
The trio of Falcons closes the tournament on Saturday. The top-three wrestlers in each weight class advance to the NCAA Championships.
