FREMONT, Neb. – In opening the 2024-25 GPAC dual season, the Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling team held Midland without an offensive point until the final two matches of the evening. As part of the dominant outing, the Bulldogs won seven of nine contested bouts and emerged from the Wikert Event Center in Fremont, Neb., with a 36-6 win on Wednesday (Nov. 6). Pins were delivered by Concordia’s Bryce Karlin, Barret Brandt and Hunter Weimer.
The result marked the first dual win in the Bulldog tenure of Head Coach Josh Watts. Officially, the dual marked the second event of the season for Concordia, which competed this past weekend at the Luther Hill Invite.
“Overall, we wrestled decently well,” Watts said. “I think we still have a lot of room to improve. We’ll get back to work tomorrow, but it was a good win. The team did a good job wrestling to score points. We just need to do a better job of applying pressure and keeping the pressure on.”
A native of Beatrice, Neb., Karlin has opened his junior season with a bang. In Wednesday’s action, Karlin recorded a takedown before wiping out Jackson Duncan in 1:34 at 141 pounds. The win pushed Karlin to 4-0 with four pins on the year. By the time the 174- and 184-pound clashes concluded, the Bulldogs had built an insurmountable 30-0 lead in the team score.
At 174, the sophomore Brandt scored a takedown and eight total near-fall points before nailing his counterpart to the mat in 2:18. The pin represented the 26th career fall for the Syracuse, Neb., native. Up next, Weimer (Porterville, Calif.) went on the attack and collected three takedowns and four near-fall points before ending the match at the 4:01 mark.
Additional wins were put on the board by Aidan Trowbridge (forfeit at 133), Steven Barnes (major decision at 149), Francisco Mendez (decision at 157) and Tommy Wentz (technical fall at 165). Both Barnes (8-0 major) and Mendez (10-3 decision) appeared in a dual for the first time as Bulldogs. Meanwhile, the returning national qualifier Wentz polished off his 165-pound opponent in 4:40 while collecting three takedowns and seven near-fall points.
Concordia has won seven-straight dual meetings with Midland. The Warriors cracked the scoreboard at 197 and 285 thanks to the respective efforts of Burton Brandt (brother of Barret) and Zeph Sivels. Bulldog heavyweight Mason Garcia, a returning national qualifier, made his first appearance of the season and was clipped, 4-1, by Sivels. Midland wound up with four total takedowns (compared to 13 by the Bulldogs) for the evening.
Karlin and Wentz carried over their strong performances from their championships at the Luther Hill Invite. Said Watts of Karlin, “Bryce is doing a really good job. We had to move him up a weight class today since Creighton (Baughman) is gone (but set to return soon). Bryce is being aggressive and wrestling very physical. He’s attacking to score points, which is what we preach. I think he can continue that and continue to get better.”
A group of Bulldogs will be headed to Mitchell, S.D., for this Saturday’s Dakota Wesleyan Open. The tournament is scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. CT. The next dual on the slate is set for Nov. 22 when Concordia will make a visit to Hastings.