SEWARD, Neb. – With the Doane dual postponed due to snowy weather, the Bulldogs have yet to wrestle in a dual since the new year. GPAC Day of Duals, on Saturday, will change the lack of team competition, with three consecutive duals in the span of around four and a half hours. Concordia is scheduled to compete at Long Lines Family Recreation Center, which also hosted the first day of duals. The Dawgs will unleash their hunger for a victory in Sioux City and look to redeem themselves from the previous 0-2 trip. CUNE has an overall dual record of 6-4 (2-2 GPAC).
GPAC Duals Day – Saturday, Jan. 27
--Location: Long Lines Family Recreation Center (Sioux City, Iowa)
--Live Webcast ($) | Live Results
11 a.m. – Concordia (2-2 GPAC) vs. Northwestern (0-3 GPAC)
12:30 p.m. – Concordia (2-2 GPAC) vs. Briar Cliff (2-1 GPAC)
2 p.m. – Concordia (2-2 GPAC) vs. Jamestown (2-3 GPAC)
Head Coach Chase Clasen’s squad continues to improve after a strong showing at the Hastings Open. Four Bulldogs placed in the event, starting with a coming out party for a then-unranked unranked Mason Garcia. The Arroyo Grande, Calif., native finished second after three straight pins in the first round, including a fall over 2nd-ranked Kaleb Lind of Northwestern. In the finals, Garcia battled Missouri Valley College’s No. 8 Elijah Hynes, which finished in a 1-0 tightly contested defeat. Grant Wells was able to go 2-2 at the Bronco event, with his highlight coming from a decision win over D-2 Augustana University (S.D.)’s Braiden Kort. Baughman fell to No. 25 Edrich Nortje of Dickinson State in his opening match of the day. The Papillion, Neb., product answered with six straight wins, rematching with Nortje for third place in his pinfall (4:24) victory. Other Concordia grapplers with multiple wins at the open were Hunter Weimer (3-2 at 184), Sean Duffy (2-2 at 197), Torrance Keehn (2-2 at 174) and Francisco Mendez (2-2 at 157).
Baughman was Named GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday (Dec. 19) for his five win day at the Avila Eagle Duals. He is ranked No.1 in the conference at 141 and ranked eighth nationally, with an unbeaten 10-0 dual record. Barret Brandt continues to take pins and has totaled 19, two shy of the school single season record (21).
Concordia is ranked No. 6 in the conference, as of Tuesday (Jan. 23). They will take on tough competition with a big chance to prove themselves over conference ranked No. 5 Northwestern, No. 3 Briar Cliff, and No. 7 Jamestown.
Concordia ranked wrestlers
141 – Creighton Baughman: GPAC – 1st | NAIA – 8th
149 – Tracey Allen: GPAC – 6th
165 – Tommy Wentz: GPAC – 3rd
165 – Barret Brandt: GPAC – 4th
174 – Stephen Duffy: GPAC – 6th
197 – Mason Garcia: GPAC – 4th
Northwestern ranked wrestlers
125 – Sean Heeney: GPAC – 5th
133 – Johnny Burnette: GPAC – 5th
141 – Trey Schuck: GPAC – 4th
141 – Noah Parmelee: GPAC – 5th
184 – Luke Jenness: GPAC – 3rd | NAIA – 12th
184 – Jakob Francksen‐Small: GPAC – 4th
197 – Kaleb Lind: GPAC – 5th
197 – Jose Sanchez: GPAC – 6th
The Red Raiders have faced tough competition in the last month, totaling their overall dual record to 3-10 and are winless (0-4) in the GPAC. Don’t let the record fool you, NWC has faced the top four teams in the conference, almost taking Dakota Wesleyan in a 21-26 loss. National Championship qualifying returners during last year’s tournament are 12th-ranked Luke Jenness (three time qualifier) and Kaleb Lind. The Red Raiders also have collected eight in-conference rankings for individual wrestlers.
Briar Cliff ranked wrestlers
125 – Seth I`nama: GPAC – 2nd | NAIA – 14th
125 – Dante Rigal: GPAC – 3rd
133 – CaRon Watson: GPAC – 1st | NAIA – 20th
133 – Jarrod Gilliam: GPAC – 3rd
149 – Ethan Krey: GPAC – 3rd
157 – Ben Peters: GPAC – 3rd | NAIA – 22nd
165 – Brandon Harris: GPAC – 5th
165 – Christian Balmer: GPAC – 6th
285 – Alton Allen: GPAC – 3rd | NAIA – 9th
The Chargers are 2-1 in the conference, with wins over Jamestown (33-12) and Northwestern (33-12). Briar Cliff will face Dakota Wesleyan on Tuesday (Jan. 23) night, before going to the GPAC Day of Duals. The Chargers are just outside the top-20 wrestling teams in the country and Thursday’s NAIA coaches’ poll could see them slip in, totaling three in the conference. BCU boasts four nationally ranked wrestlers listed above; I`nama (125), Watson (133), Peters (157) and Allen (285). Returning National Championship qualifiers are I’nama, Watson and Allen. Briar Cliff has nine wrestlers ranked in the conference with only 10 divisions.
Jamestown ranked wrestlers
133 – Isaiah Miller: GPAC – 4th | NAIA – 24th
149 – Tommy Beringer: GPAC – 4th
197 – Jake Rau: GPAC – 3rd | NAIA – 24th
285 – Chance Robinson: GPAC – 6th
The Jimmies' overall dual record of 3-6 and 2-3 in the conference. Their conference wins came back to back, defeating Hastings (42-12) and Midland (39-6). Isaiah Miller is Jamestown’s single nationally ranked (24th) wrestler at 133. They have four conference ranked wrestlers listed above.
Concordia will have two more duals following Saturday (Jan. 27), before the GPAC Championships in Seward. The Bulldogs will host Colby Community College on Friday (Feb. 2) in Friedrich Arena at 6 p.m.