Mequon, Wis. -- After nearly a month away from the mats, the Wheaton wrestling team returned to competition on Thursday night with a trip north to take on the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons in a conference dual match. Wheaton jumped out to a fast start against their hosts, but Concordia Wisconsin won five of the final six matches this evening to claim a hard-fought 25-21 victory.
Brendan Johnston needed the maximum amount of time to seal his tenth-consecutive win at 125 pounds, but the senior eventually saw off his Falcons rival with a sudden victory to put the Thunder on the board first.
Cooper Chapman followed this up by securing a victory by fall in his 133-pound matchup to cement the visitors' early lead. Fellow sophomore
Cale Coppess then scored the most lopsided win of the dual match for Wheaton at 141 pounds by forcing a fall less than two minutes into the face-off.
The rookie
Aidan Laird punctuated Wheaton's dominance of the lighter weight classes when he earned a 9-4 decision over his Concordia Wisconsin opponent in their battle at 149. But after falling behind by 18 points, the Falcons finally earned their first match win at 157 pounds and used this as a springboard to claim victory in the next three matchups, as well. Senior
Jackson Punzel ended the hosts' run with a 9-4 decision of his own in the penultimate scored match to complete Wheaton's points total on Thursday. But a victory by fall in the heavyweight showdown was enough for CUW to secure the team win by a slim four-point margin.
The Thunder squad is back in action again on Saturday morning when Wheaton heads to Elmhurst to take part in the annual Al Hanke Invitational.
CONCORDIA (WIS.) 25, WHEATON 21
125 -- Brendan Johnston (Wheaton (IL)) over Devin Gore (Concordia (WI)) (SV-1 4-1) 0-3
133 -- Cooper Chapman (Wheaton (IL)) over Christopher Khaosanga (Concordia (WI)) (Fall 6:32) 0-6
141 -- Cale Coppess (Wheaton (IL)) over Rusimbana (Frank) Budederi (Concordia (WI)) (Fall 1:48) 0-6
149 -- Aidan Laird (Wheaton (IL)) over Ethan Onan (Concordia (WI)) (Dec 9-4) 0-3
157 -- Cole Ramos (Concordia (WI)) over Daniel Thaler (Wheaton (IL)) (Fall 0:25) 6-0
165 -- Carson Cook (Concordia (WI)) over Garrett Boyd (Wheaton (IL)) (TF 16-1 5:51) 5-0
174 -- Jeremy Pullen (Concordia (WI)) over Jacob Kraker (Wheaton (IL)) (Dec 8-4) 3-0
184 -- Jonathan Pullen (Concordia (WI)) over Sean King (Wheaton (IL)) (TF 15-0 3:00) 5-0
197 -- Jackson Punzel (Wheaton (IL)) over Peyton Smith (Concordia (WI)) (Dec 9-4) 0-3
285 -- Cameron Mercer (Concordia (WI)) over Colin Jackson (Wheaton (IL)) (Fall 1:30) 6-0
Extra: Mason Markham (Concordia (WI)) over Franco Gattuso (Wheaton (IL)) (Dec 11-5) 0-0
Extra: Nathan Krause (Concordia (WI)) over Hunter Kazmierczak (Wheaton (IL)) (Fall 0:37) 0-0
