Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Marcus Cobbs calls himself a glass-half-full guy.
So, except for the extra paperwork, the graduate assistant was undaunted when he was asked to take over the 10th-ranked Concordia wrestling team in late January. The 27-year-old said he thrives on challenges.
"I like taking charge," the interim coach said. "Wrestling is my love. Becoming a head coach is my dream anyway."
Former coach Doug Reese resigned after the Bulldogs self-reported that unattached wrestlers had received accommodation benefits from the university, a violation of NAIA rules. The program has been put on probation through next year.
Cobbs is working toward a masters degree in business. He was a junior college All-American at Harper Community College in Illinois, then finished his undergraduate career at William Penn University in Iowa.
He was determined, he said, to keep the team's spirit up, moving toward its goal of finishing the season with national champions or All-Americans. The Bulldogs are sending eight wrestlers to the national tournament in Des Moines starting March 1.
"We won't let anything back us up from that goal," he said.
Although it was a touchy situation, Cobbs said the wrestlers have accepted him.
"We had to figure things out and keep going our way," he said. "I appreciate how hard they do work for me."
Coaching changes abundant for Bulldogs
Reese is one of several coaches and staff members to leave Concordia in recent weeks, but Scott Seevers, vice president for athletics, said it isn't because of financial problems or housecleaning by Athletic Director Devin Smith, who joined the staff last year.
"This is somewhat unusual," Seevers said. "It's very independent situations where we had folks, for a variety of different reasons and largely unrelated reasons, moving on."
Among those leaving were volleyball coach Rachel Miller, who Seevers said left after having her fourth child; football offensive coordinator Ted Hall, who is joining a family business; and football assistants Teddy Hall Jr. and Steve Sirek.
Sievers said he couldn't comment on the departure of basketball assistant Anthony Elias or sports information director Scott Retzlaff.
Searches are under way to fill the positions, Seevers said.
Chadron State finally finds late success
Two years ago, the Chadron State men's basketball had to win its final three games to make the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.
The Eagles won two and lost the third.
Last season, Chadron started strong only to have its hopes derailed by injuries and an ineligible player. Coach Brent Bargen had to recruit two football players so the Eagles had enough people to practice.
"It was a real downer," Bargen said.
This year, the Eagles can celebrate. They survived a 2-11 start to claim their first postseason spot since 2001-02. They've won seven in a row, their longest winning streak since 1999-2000.
Chadron (12-13, 12-9) is in sixth place in the 14-team league. The Eagles finish the regular season at home Saturday against the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
"The kids are really excited to be playing well at the end of the year and being on a win streak," Bargen said. "Our program hasn't had that kind of success, especially late in the year, for a very long time."
Four seniors get the lion's share of the credit. Moala Tautuaa, Kevin McClelland and Christian McGhee are captains. Chris Curtis transferred in this season from Chaminade University. Three of the four start, with McGhee coming off the bench.
Bargen praised the veterans' leadership. The tough times have left them better able to handle adversity.
"Every year we've been gaining some momentum," he said.
Updates
• The Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team (20-4, 14-4) will try to clinch at least a share of the MIAA regular-season title Tuesday when the Bearcats travel to Southwest Baptist for a 7:30 p.m. game. Northwest Missouri is chasing its first championship since the 2006-07 season.
Jake Reinders, a senior from Omaha Skutt, will be appearing in his 100th game. He led the Bearcats in a double-overtime win at Truman last week with 22 points and a career-high 21 rebounds.
• The Wayne State women's basketball team's 59-56 win over No. 23 Augustana on Saturday clinched a share of the Northern Sun regular-season title. Ashley Arlen scored all 19 of her points in the second half to fuel No. 3 Wayne's comeback victory. The Wildcats (24-2, 18-2) have won 42 straight games at home.
• Sophomore Shelby Zimmerman has continued her last-second magic for the UNK women.
The forward from Beatrice made two free throws with seven-tenths of a second left to force overtime, and UNK went on to beat Colorado State-Pueblo 99-89 in two extra periods Friday. Two weeks ago, Zimmerman hit a last second 3-pointer to force overtime in a win over Colorado Mesa.
• UNK's Tyler Shields, thrust into a starting role because of injuries, averaged 14.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in three wins last week. He was named the Nebraska Division II player of the week. Chadron's Kailtin Petri earned the women's award after averaging 14.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
Shields and freshman Ethan Brozek combined for 36 points and 26 rebounds to help UNK storm back from a 21-point deficit and beat Colorado State-Pueblo 67-65 on Friday.
• Sophomore Cassie Bonds broke a 20-year-old record in the 100 butterfly as the Lopers' swimming team finished ninth at the RMAC championships. She swam 59.84 in the preliminaries to break the record of 1:00.68. She finished sixth in the finals in 1:00.27. Freshman Shelby Laramore broke a 12-year-old school mark in the 1,000 free (10:53.95).
• Game film showed the Hastings College women had 10 blocks in their 69-42 upset of No. 5 Morningside (23-7) on Saturday. Alicia Statler had four, Laurel Zwiener had five and Sierra Williamson had one for the No. 17 Broncos (20-9), who outscored the Mustangs 40-16 in the first half.
"We were fortunate their shots weren't falling," coach Jeff Dittman said. "Morningside is one of the top 3-point shooting and offensive scoring teams in the country, and we caught them having an off-shooting day."
• Courtney Ward joined the 1,000-point club at Peru State. She had 25 points and 19 rebounds Saturday against Avila University.
• Morningside's Garth Hamilton, a 6-7 senior center from Lincoln East, also crossed the 1,000-point mark.
• The Briar Cliff men's basketball team surprised ball boy Trevor Welp recently by attending his game for Clark Elementary in the North Middle School League.
"The look on Trevor's face when the Briar Cliff Chargers came into the gym was priceless," Trevor's mom, Cindy Welp, told the Sioux City Journal. "There wasn't enough room for all of them. Some of them stood, some sat on the bench with Trevor's team."
Briar Cliff coach Nic Nelson got Trevor involved with the Chargers after the death of the 10-year-old's dad, Steven, in June.
• Dordt is the top seed for the Great Plains Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament that starts Wednesday.
The Defenders (26-3, 17-3) will host Concordia at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Other games that night are Morningside at Midland, Nebraska Wesleyan at Briar Cliff and Mount Marty at Northwestern.
• Second-ranked Concordia (28-2, 18-2) is the No. 1 seed in the GPAC women's tournament.
The Bulldogs will host Dakota Wesleyan on Wednesday night at 7. In the other games Wednesday, Hastings is at Briar Cliff, Doane is at Northwestern and Mount Marty is at Morningside.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1034, marjie.ducey@owh.com
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