BISMARCK, N.D. - Playing host in the first triangular of the season, the University of Mary Wrestling team took on Concordia College and the University of Jamestown this evening for a highly-contested matchup.
 
The Marauders (2-2) sat and watched as Concordia (3-0) took on Jamestown (3-7) for the opening dual that saw the Cobbers pitching a 52-0 shutout of the Jimmies; the second dual featured the host Marauders dropping a tough 29-10 loss to the Cobbers; but U-Mary rebounded with a 47-0 shutout over the Jimmies, the first for head coach Adam Aho, to put U-Mary's record at 2-2 on the year.
 
Concordia came into the match as the No. 24 team in Division 3 and it showed early as Jakob Stageberg made short work of Josh Jensen with an 11-1 major decision at 125 pounds. Tate Barnhardt put up a tough showing at 133 pounds against Gabe Foltz, but the Cobber proved the victor with a 6-2 decision that started with an early takedown in the first period.
 
Reed Cronin got the start at 141 pounds for U-Mary and had a 4-3 lead going into the third period, but Adam Presler ended up with the final say as he scored a late takedown to steal the decision away from Cronin and kept U-Mary blank on the team score. Jakob Weisbrod was up next at 149 pounds and had an even match going against Ty Johnson midway into the second period, but the Cobber scored a quick takedown and transitioned into a nearfall that ended up pinning Weisbrod at the 4:37 mark.
 
Dane Fischer was the first to get U-Mary on the board in an incredibly close match at 157 pounds against Ben Cousins with both grapplers scoring their lone point on an escape after choosing bottom in the second and third periods, but Fischer had the last laugh as he escaped in the first tiebreaker period without letting his opponent escape and scored the sudden victory, putting the team score at 16-3 with Concordia on top.
 
Paul Michaelson also had his match at 165 pounds head into the first overtime period, but couldn't find the same luck as Joseph Heinz scored the takedown and sudden victory over the Marauder. Riley Nagel had his hands full against Dan Ringquist at 174 pounds as the Cobber notched a takedown midway through the first period and scored the fall at 2:18, bringing the bout to an immediate halt, while Jonathan Pelach couldn't find an answer for Ricky Briggs at 184 pounds as Briggs put together a 9-1 major decision, putting the team score at 29-3 in favor of the Cobbers.
 
U-Mary ended the match on a high note as Jacob Green took on Hunter Santamour at 197 pounds and put on a takedown clinic en route to a convincing 11-2 major decision, and Travis Smith pitched a perfect bout as he held Tyler Hoffman scoreless at 285 pounds for the eventual 4-0 decision, making the team score 29-10 final.
 
The Marauders' dual against Jamestown sung a different tune as U-Mary took two matches by forfeit at 125 and 141 pounds, and Barnhardt made short work of Phillip Johnson at 133 pounds with an early takedown and three consecutive nearfall-fours before finally pinning the Jimmie at 2:51 into the match, putting the team score at 18-0 through the first three bouts.
 
Weisbrod had a convincing show against Brandon Aragon at the 149-pound matchup as the Marauder scored the takedown early in the first period, coupled with a four-point nearfall, to take the decision at 7-1.
 
Fischer's bout with Zachary Pickering at 157 pounds proved to be the most exciting of the night as Pickering held the advantage after the first period with a takedown and escape, compared to the lone takedown from Fischer, to put the score at 3-2. Pickering extended his lead in the second period after choosing bottom and escaping with relative ease, only to take Fischer down followed by Dane pulling off the escape to put the score at 6-3.
 
Dane got to work, though, in the final period after choosing to go neutral and pulled off the stunning comeback after four consecutive takedowns to put the score at 11-9 with only seconds remaining, but Pickering notched the reversal in the closing moments to even the score at 11-11 that forced an extra frame as riding time was no longer a factor.
 
Fischer ensured the overtime would not last long as he went for the immediate takedown and, after a brief scramble, finished the maneuver to cap the sudden victory, keeping U-Mary flawless on the match.
 
The marathon match at 157 pounds was followed by a quick bout at 165 pounds between Michaelson and Jacob Paul as the Marauder scored the early takedown in the first frame and succeeded with the pin at 1:03, putting the score at 30-0 in favor of U-Mary. Nagel followed that up with a nearfall clinic against Christopher Love as Riley scored a takedown and four-point nearfall in the first period, an put a stop to the match in the second after choosing bottom, notched the escape and quick takedown, and finished off with a two-point and four-point nearfall in quick succession to earn the technical fall at 5:00.
 
Pelach had another exiciting match at 184 pounds for U-Mary, albeit in different fashion, as Matthew Hernandez scored a takedown in the first period followed by Pelach notching the escape. Pelach proved difficult to escape from as Hernandez chose bottom in the second frame and Pelach successfully denied the escape as both grapplers were flagged with a stall warning. Yet Pelach couldn't clinch the win in regulation as he failed to escape from Hernandez before he no longer had the riding time advantage, putting the score at 2-2 through three periods.
 
Pelach made up for it in the first overtime period as he shot for a takedown and took the decision by sudden victory after completing the scramble, making the team score 38-0 in favor of the Marauders.
 
Green seemingly had the easy decision against Daniel Tomaszewski at 197 pounds with the Marauder owning a 7-2 lead heading into the third period, but the Jimmie scored a takedown and a four-point nearfall late in the match only to have Green pull off the dramatic reversal followed by a four-point nearfall en route to a 15-9 decision.
 
Smith provided the cherry on top of the perfect ice cream sundae as he scored a fast takedown of Zach Wardle early in the 285-pound matchup and clinched the pin at 1:09 to make the score 47-0 final for the Marauders.
 
The dual against Jamestown marks the first shutout for Aho in his third year at the helm of U-Mary's wrestling program.
 
The Marauders still have a busy week ahead as they take on Long Island University Post on Friday, December 4, in Moorhead, Minn., starting at 6:00 PM CDT.
 
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