This past weekend, the young wrestling team took their road show to Milwaukee, where they competed in the Concordia Open.

“We have lost so many good wrestlers not only to graduating but also to other schools,” said Assistant Coach Jordan Loy. “This is not all bad, though, because it gives an opportunity for the younger wrestlers to step up.”

And step up they did this past Tuesday, when several wrestlers placed in the tournament. One of the wrestlers who did well was sophomore Pat Pfantz, who placed second.

“Pfantz had a real tough kid in the first round who was seeded No. 2 in the tournament. He did very well and beat the kid,” junior Trent Hardin said.

Junior Jeremy Klein lost his first match but fought back to win sixth place. Along with these two, Loy praised both sophomores Mitch and Chris Gansen and first-year Josh Kirkland.

“We have a young team, and if we can get the younger wrestlers to start buying into Loras’ style of wrestling and if they listen to their coaches, they will continue to improve,” Loy said.

That appears to be happening. Almost all of the wrestlers won at least one match. “We had four or five kids who would have placed, but they lost in the quarter final wrestle-backs,” Loy said.

Making it that far in the wrestle- backs is harder than it seems. For one, a wrestler has more matches than if he would have won and continued on in the tournament. Additionally, there is much more pressure because now it is either win or go home.

The wrestlers went up against Wartburg and St. John’s University on Wednesday and will go up to La Crosse, WI, for a 2×4 dual on Dec. 5 .

Coming up for home events for the wrestlers is the dual meet against cross- town rival University of Dubuque Wednesday, Dec. 9.

“We need to find a way to pack the house against UD. If we can get some fans in the stands to support our guys, it will be real confidence booster,” junior Jeremy Boffeli said.