MARSHALL, Mo. – On the second day of the Missouri Valley Invite, two Bulldog wrestlers placed helping eighth-ranked Concordia to finish 14th out of 27 teams. Jr Lule finished third in the 157 bracket, losing just one match in the tournament. Dmitri Smith finished fifth.
Head coach Dana Vote said, “I thought overall we wrestled pretty well. There was some great competition and we had a chance for some of our young guys to get some good experience.”
Lule posted a 6-1 record during the two day tournament. His only loss was in the semifinals to the eventual champion in the 157 bracket. The senior won his way through the rest of the consolation bracket by defeating Tanner Ogden (Baker University) by a 4-2 decision. In the third place match, Lule won over Andy Dobben (St. Catherine College) by a 6-5 decision.
Smith was also defeated by the eventual champion in the semifinal match. The junior then was defeated in the consolation semifinal by Hugo Perez (Midland) by a pin. Smith then defeated Austin Boles of Northwestern by a 6-3 decision for fifth place and ended the tournament 5-2.
Vote said, “Jr had a real solid day and was consistent like he has been all year. Dmitri seems to be starting to put things together and I am excited to see what he can do at the end of the year.”
All 10 of Concordia’s wrestlers competed in the second day of the tournament. Four Bulldogs came up just short of place, losing in the heartbreak round.
Vote’s squad will be back in action this upcoming Thursday and it takes on GPAC foe, 13th-ranked Doane College. The dual will take place in Walz Arena and is slated to begin at 7 p.m. A live webcast will be available on the Concordia Sports Network HERE.