SEWARD, Neb. – On a night that included a celebration of eight seniors, Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling treated Bulldog fans and the Seward Wrestling Club to two decisive victories. As part of a Thursday (Jan. 8) triangular inside Friedrich Arena, Concordia flexed its muscles with wins by scores of 37-13 over 17th-ranked Friends University (Kan.) and 46-3 over GPAC rival Midland. The Bulldogs triumphed in 16 of 20 individual matches with 12 wins coming via bonus points.
Head Coach Josh Watts’ squad impressively knocked off the rust after having had more than a month since its most recent outing. Concordia stands at 5-1 overall (4-1 GPAC) in 2025-26 dual matches.
“It’s been a month since we’ve competed, so there’s always a bit of a mystery on how that’s going to look,” Watts said. “The guys did well. We really worked on wrestling through transitions from positions, and we saw significant improvement in that. We just need to identify what we need to work on and keep improving.”
Halfway through his junior season, Syracuse, Neb., native Barret Brandt has already established himself as one of the most prolific pinners in school history. Among individuals, Brandt made the biggest statement on Thursday as he pinned 22nd-ranked Jason Bowers of Friends and won in sudden victory, 4-1, over 16th-ranked Nate McDonald of Midland.
Now the owner of 38 career pins (12 away from the program all-time record), Brandt did his damage at 184 pounds after wrestling at 197 for the first semester. His latest pin occurred in the first period. Brandt capped the evening by showing he could persevere in a tight match.
Said Brandt, “I didn’t know they were ranked until Coach told me after. It felt good coming from 97 to 84 and seeing some improvement in my wrestling. I don’t know if it was just weight management, but I felt a lot better. It was good to knock off a couple ranked guys.”
In its fifth year of existence, Friends has cracked the top 20 of the NAIA team ratings. The Falcons rolled out three nationally ranked individuals versus Concordia on Thursday. Two of them emerged with losses. In addition to Brandt’s pin of Bowers, the Bulldogs’ 19th-ranked Torrance Keehn toppled 18th-ranked Logan Davidson (former Concordia national qualifier) by decision, 11-7. Keehn came up with a third-period takedown that sewed up the victory. Other contested winners for the Bulldogs versus Friends were Steven Barnes (pin at 141), Hagen Heistand (major decision at 149) and Cole Price (pin at 165).
The NAIA national runner up at 149 last season, Heistand made his season debut in the triangular. The Dow City, Iowa, native scored five takedowns in his lone contested bout. He also earned a win by forfeit in the blowout of Midland. In other noteworthy efforts versus the Warriors, Bryce Karlin needed only 25 seconds to notch a pin at 141, Francisco Mendez earned a win by decision at 157, Keehn pinned his opponent at 197 (1:50) and heavyweight Jeremiah Vasquez produced a major decision, 12-1. Keehn sports a perfect 5-0 dual record this season.
Watts expects his team to make gains in the second semester. Not only did Heistand return to the mat, NCAA Division II transfer Paul Ruff made his first Concordia appearance. He won via forfeit at 133 versus Midland. The lineup is beginning to take shape with added reinforcements and the settling of key wrestlers at their most advantageous weight classes. Watts made sure Heistand paced himself in his first time out.
Said Watts, “Barret wrestled first semester at 197. We knew 184 was probably the better weight class for him. We got him down and he wrestled really well. He looked good and his positioning was good, so I’m really proud of what he put on the mat today. Hagen made his season debut. It was his first time down to 149 since nationals (last March). He did what we told him to do – kind of ease into it and control the pace of the match. He looked pretty good.”
Watts went on to commend the senior class. Six of the eight seniors competed in at least one of Thursday’s duals. The senior group includes Bryce Karlin, Torrance Keehn, Francisco Mendez, Cole Price, Cy Renney, Jeremiah Vasquez, Brent Ward and Hunter Weimer. Keehn, Price and Weimer are returning national qualifiers. Said Watts, “It’s been great working with those guys.”
Concordia’s first tournament of 2026 will take place this Saturday when it will be in Hastings for the Hastings Open. The action is slated to begin at 9 a.m. CT from Hastings Senior High Gymnasium. The event will mark the fifth tournament of the season for the Bulldogs.