HASTINGS, Neb. – Hastings made the Bulldogs sweat in a Friday (Nov. 22) dual while jumping out to leads of 12-0 and 18-6. However, the Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling team responded with a flurry of bonus-point victories and emerged from Kiewit Gym with a 33-22 team triumph. Pins were delivered by Bulldogs Creighton Baughman (141), Barret Brandt (174), Hunter Weimer (184) and Teegan Tschampel (197). Only two matches went the full seven minutes in a dual that concluded in less than an hour.
Head Coach Josh Watts’ squad moved to 2-0 in the GPAC with a win also coming over Midland, 36-6. Watts saw plenty of room for improvement after breaking down the dual at Hastings.
“I think we need to tighten things up,” Watts said. “We wrestled too sloppy. It goes back to all the little things – how we practice and how we drill. I felt like we did a good job of chasing bonus points in the matches. We had a couple weight classes where we had stalling calls. That just can’t be a thing.”
A two-time NAIA national qualifier, Baughman (ranked 10th in the NAIA at 141) made his first appearance of the 2024-25 season and promptly rounded into form. The Papillion, Neb., native wiped out Hastings’ Dalton Michael in 2:12 for the 59th win of his Concordia career. After the Broncos got a pin from Jordan Tobias at 149, the Bulldogs went on the offensive with a dominant string of bouts from 157 through 197.
In the 157-pound tussle, Concordia’s Francisco Mendez nearly recorded the pin before taking a major decision from Israel Manriquez. The dominoes continued as Cole Price earned a 19-4 technical fall of Nicholas Freeland, Brandt pinned Esteban Sedano in 1:51, Weimer nailed down Trevor Leon in 1:55 and Tschampel polished off Matheson Rodriguez in just 37 seconds. All four of the Bulldog pins on the night occurred in the first period. Brandt collected his third pin of this season after breaking the school record with 24 pins as a freshman in 2023-24.
From a team perspective, Concordia posted 14 takedowns to Hastings’ three and the Bulldogs were awarded near-fall points in five separate instances. Said Watts, “65 through 97 really came through for us tonight. They went out there aggressively and chased bonus points. They won the dual for us. They did a fantastic job. It was also good having Creighton in the lineup for the first time this year. He will definitely be a big asset to us.”
Each of the four Hastings wins came with bonus points. The Broncos got six points for a forfeit at 125 prior to pins from Justin Rodriguez (133) and Tobias. To close out the evening, Koen Mattern won an 11-0 major decision at heavyweight. Hastings slipped to 3-2 overall in duals in what was its first clash with a GPAC opponent this season.
The Bulldogs will be right back to action on Saturday morning for the Younes Hospitality Open hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Wrestling is slated to get underway at 9 a.m. CT from Buffalo County Fairgrounds in Kearney, Neb. Watts plans to have 18 competitors take to the mats in Kearney.