Bulldogs 13th in latest NAIA wrestling poll

The Concordia University wrestling team finds itself in the NAIA Coaches Poll for the 13th straight week.  The Bulldogs are 13th in the national poll.
 
Adam Joseph (Hastings, Neb.) continues to be one of the top-ranked wrestlers in the nation.  Joseph is the top-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds.  Joseph has posted a 31-5 record and has placed in six tournaments this season.  He is 6-0 in dual competition.  Quickly climbing in the polls is redshirt freshman Jake Williams (Rio Rancho, N.M.).  Williams is 20-6 this season, splitting time wrestling both at 133 and 141 pounds.  Williams is ranked eighth at 133 pounds and should move up in the rankings with a solid third place performance at last weekend’s Matman Invitational.
 
Brandon Starkey (St. Paul, Neb.) is ranked #12 at 149 pounds.  Starkey has produced a 14-9 record and a pair of tournament place finishes.  Starkey has been out of the lineup since the first weekend of December with a knee injury.  Hopefully he will be back to full speed by the York Open on January 21.
 
Ranked #9 at 174 pounds is Alfredo "Boxer" Torres (La Puenta, Calif.).  Torres struggled with and injury at the end of December but bounced back to place third at the Warrior Open in Willmar, Minn.  Torres is 9-8 and can be a contender at the NAIA national championships for All-American honors.
 
Julian Silva (Covina, Calif.) is ranked 10th at 197 pounds.  Silva is 17-5 and has placed third in three tournaments this season.
 
Missing from the rankings is Dillon Heesch (Dayton, Iowa).  Heesch missed the ranking due to not competing in the last cycle period of the ranking.  Since that time, he has posted an 8-2 record with five falls, and he placed third in both the Warrior Open and the Matman Invitational.  In his first GPAC dual, Heesch pinned his opponent from Northwestern College in 56 seconds.
 
"We are working on the final push now," noted head coach Doug Reese.  "Our regional tournament is four weeks away.  Everything we do from this point on is to hone our technique and strengthen our lesser skills.  We have to be physical, tough and intense, with an 'in your face' style to capture the prize.  Everything we do is to that end, including stepping up our conditioning level another notch."