Photos (Dawid Chabowski)

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 17 Saint John's University dropped its second consecutive dual in the final match with an 18-15 loss to No. 8 Concordia-Moorhead Friday, Jan. 30 in Collegeville.

SJU (10-5 dual record) opened the dual with a 9-0 lead thanks to win from sophomore Matt Baarson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park), senior Matt Schrupp (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) and senior Grant Eustice (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View). Baarson, ranked No. 8 nationally, defeated the Cobbers' Lane Lunde, ranked No. 6, 6-0 at 157 pounds to start the dual. Schrupp then followed with a 3-2 win over Luke Vetsch and Eustice topped Ross Dankers, 5-3.

The Cobbers (9-1 dual record), however, tied the match at 9-9 thanks to a pin from Phil Moenkedick, ranked No. 8, at 184 and a decision from Tony Neumann at 197. SJU sophomore Dustin Baxter (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) posted a near-fall of Moenkedick just seconds into the match to take a 5-1 lead before suffering a fall near the edge of the ring 1:24 into the match. Neumann then followed with a 5-3 win over sophomore Tony Willaert (North Mankato, Minn./Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial).

The Johnnies regained the lead (12-9) with a 7-5 overtime win from freshman Cody Socher (Delano, Minn.) over Nick Nadeau at heavyweight. Socher scored a takedown with 13 seconds left in the first overtime to earn the victory.

Concordia's Daron Hohbein tied the dual at 12-12 with a 6-4 win over freshman Chad Henle (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) at 125, before junior Mogi Baatar (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict's Prep, N.J.) gave SJU a 15-12 lead with a 14-7 win over Mike Holman.

The Cobbers then tallied two wins from Ben Anderson and Justin Berns at 141 and 149 pounds, respectively, to end the match. Anderson, ranked No. 3, defeated sophomore Minga Batsukh (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict's Prep, N.J.) 5-1 to tie the dual at 15-15. The match was Batsukh's first since Dec. 6 due to a knee injury.

Justin Berns then posted a 10-6 win over SJU sophomore Drew Larson (Willmar, Minn.) in the dual's final match.

SJU hosts the annual North Country Tournament at 9 a.m. next Saturday, Feb. 7 at Sexton Arena in Collegeville.

No. 8 Concordia College-Moorhead (CC) 18, No. 17 Saint John's University (SJU) 15
125 - Freshman Daron Hohbein (CON) dec. freshman Chad Henle (SJU), 6-4
133 - Junior Mogi Baatar (No. 8, SJU) dec. freshman Mike Holman (CON), 14-7
141 - Sophomore Ben Anderson (No. 3, CON) dec. sophomore Minga Batsukh (SJU), 5-1
149 - Sophomore Justin Berns (CON) dec. sophomore Drew Larson (SJU), 10-6
157 - Sophomore Matt Baarson (No. 8, SJU) dec. junior Lane Lunde (No. 6, CON), 6-0
165 - Senior Matt Schrupp (SJU) dec. senior Luke Vetsch (CON), 3-2
174 - Senior Grant Eustice (SJU) dec. sophomore Ross Dankers (CON), 5-3
184 - Sophomore Phil Moenkedick (No. 8, CON) pinned sophomore Dustin Baxter (No. 7, SJU), 1:24
197 - Senior Tony Neumann (No. 9, CON) dec. sophomore Tony Willaert (SJU), 5-3
Hwt - Freshman Cody Socher (SJU) dec. sophomore Nick Nadeau (CON), 7-5 (OT)

*the dual started at 157 pounds