PARK CITY, Kan. – Isaiah Crosby made his head coaching debut on Saturday (Oct. 31) while leading a crew of 12 Bulldogs into action at the Falcon Open hosted by Friends University. A lengthy day of wrestling unfolded inside Park City Arena in Park City, Kan., which has become the home of the NAIA Wrestling National Championships. In his first collegiate tournament Kaleb Williams placed third at 125 pounds while leading a group of five Bulldog place finishers.
The outing gave the Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling team a starting point from which to build upon. Crosby took on the head coaching role after spending the previous two seasons as the program’s top assistant.
Said Crosby, “My overall takeaway is that the guys did exactly what I wanted them to do in terms of giving effort and giving themselves a chance to win their next match. I would say it was an improvement from last year simply by showing effort, pushing through seven-minute matches and not resting for five or six minutes. They wrestled complete seven-minute matches.”
Concordia place finishers at the Falcon Open included:
· 125 Kaleb Williams – third
· 157 Aaron Wilson – fourth
· 149 Jaxsen Salinas – sixth
· 285 Aidan Summa – sixth
· 133 Frost Wallace – eighth
--NOTE: For this tournament, juniors and seniors were placed in the “elite” brackets and freshmen and sophomores were placed in the “amateur” brackets.
Crosby has high hopes for Williams, who hails from Winter Springs, Fla. On his way to a third-place claim, went 5-1 at the Falcon Open. Williams advanced to the 125-pound semifinal match, where he was clipped by a 7-4 decision by Caden Gallet of the University of Saint Mary. Williams responded by a pair of victories by major decision to lock up third place. Three of his five wins came with bonus points.
Meanwhile, Wilson, a sophomore from Cozad, Neb., also made a run to the semifinals. Wilson collected four wins in the 157-pound bracket, eventually falling in the third-place bout. Wilson opened his day with a pin before then posting a major decision.
The team’s additional place finishers also are freshmen. A heavyweight from Seward, Aidan Summa produced three falls and went 4-2 at the Falcon Open. It was a fine day for Jaxsen Salinas (149), who rattled off five wins and wrestled the maximum number of matches allowed in one day. Additionally, Frost Wallace (133) put together a dominant run as he won fourth matches in a row, including three by pin and one via technical fall.
Other Bulldogs to record at least one win on the day were Ramon Arredondo (1-2 at 184), Simon Arredondo (165) and Daniel Steffensen (1-2 at 157). As upperclassmen, they each competed in the elite brackets. More than 40 institutions were represented at the Falcon Open, which featured both men’s and women’s tournaments.
Added Crosby, “For the most part, these guys just gave it everything they possibly could. I am very happy, pleased and excited to see where this is going to go.”
The Bulldogs will have this coming off from competition while preparing for the season’s first dual. Concordia is slated to go head-to-head with Hastings at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, Nov. 12. The Broncos will host the dual.