KENOSHA, Wis. – The Concordia University Wisconsin wrestling team sent three student-athletes to compete in Friday's CCIW Futures Tournament, hosted by Carthage College. The event kicked off the conference weekend, with the CCIW Championships scheduled for Saturday.
Despite entering just three competitors, the Falcons placed eighth overall with 32.5 team points.
Senior
Frank Budederi (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), along with freshmen
Noah Henderson (Hartland, Wis.) and
Tylan Watts (New Orleans, La.), represented CUW. Henderson and Watts each earned third-place finishes in their respective brackets, while Budederi placed fourth.
Watts competed at 174 pounds. After dropping his opening match by technical fall to Fabian Ramirez of Elmhurst, he received a bye in the consolation bracket and responded with two straight victories to secure third place. Watts pinned Asad Khaja of Elmhurst at the 4:37 mark in the consolation semifinals for his first pin of the season. He then earned a 7-4 decision over Tucker Kemnitz of Carthage in the third-place match, scoring six of his seven points in the final 1:12 to seal the win.
At 149 pounds, Budederi opened with a dominant 17-0 technical fall over Toby Laird of Wheaton, finishing the bout in just 3:31. He then fell to Alex Gochis of Aurora by major decision, 21-7. Battling back through the consolation bracket, Budederi earned a 17-1 technical fall over Jeremiah Austin of Illinois Wesleyan at the 5:26 mark. He followed with back-to-back pins, defeating Zach Miller of Carthage in 2:24 and Daniel Muth of Illinois Wesleyan in just 38 seconds. In the third-place bout, Budederi dropped a 21-9 major decision to Elijah Zepeda of Carthage to finish fourth overall.
Henderson competed in the 141-pound division. He opened with a pin of Jackson Rudd of Aurora at the 2:37 mark, marking the first fall of his collegiate career. Henderson later fell to Rai Fitzgerald of Elmhurst by pin and Colin Claffey of Millikin by technical fall but secured a third-place finish in the bracket.
The CCIW Championships are set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at Tarble Arena and Recreation Center in Kenosha.
