SEWARD, Neb. – The program’s largest field of qualifiers since 2020 is making final preparations to compete at the 2025 NAIA Men’s Wrestling National Championship. Eight Bulldogs will represent Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling at Park City Arena in Park City, Kan., March 6-8. Beginning in 2024, the NAIA revised the format of the tournament and implemented a three-day championship featuring six separate sessions.
2024 NAIA Wrestling National Championships
Thursday-Saturday, March 6-8 | Park City Arena (Park City, Kan.)
--Live Webcast: FloWrestling (first five sessions) | Championship matches broadcast on NAIA Network
--Live Results: TrackWrestling
--Final Brackets
Head Coach Josh Watts and his staff will take the following qualifiers to Park City: Creighton Baughman (141), Steven Barnes (149), Hagen Heistand (149), Cole Price (157), Barret Brandt (184), Hunter Weimer (184), Torrance Keehn (197) and Mason Garcia (285). Baughman will appear on the national stage for the third-straight year while Garcia returns after also qualifying in 2024. A two-time JUCO All-American, Baughman has captured four career national tournament wins and is fresh off winning the 141-pound GPAC title. The other six Bulldog qualifiers will make their first appearances at the NAIA National Championships. Like Baughman, Price earned two All-America awards during his time at Iowa Western Community College.
The eight qualifiers are representative of a program on the rise. During the second semester, Concordia placed sixth (out of 53 NAIA squads) at the Missouri Valley Invite, tied for second in the GPAC regular season (6-2 dual record) and finished third at the GPAC Championships. The Bulldogs also cracked the NAIA top 25 rankings (currently No. 18) for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Six Concordia wrestlers placed within the top three of the conference within their respective weight classes with four reaching GPAC championship matches.
The NAIA attaches seed rankings to the top 16 qualifiers in each weight class. Three Bulldogs were rewarded with seed rankings: No. 6 Baughman at 141, No. 11 Heistand at 149 and No. 13 Keehn at 197. Five Concordia wrestlers are slated to go up against seeded opponents in the first round of their respective brackets.
Concordia’s school record for national qualifiers in a season is 10, achieved by the 2014-15 and 2015-16 squads. From 2014 through 2018, the Bulldogs placed in the top 25 at the NAIA National Championships each year: 22nd in 2014, 12th in 2015, eighth in 2016, 15th in 2017 and 22nd in 2018. After finishing 26th in 2019, Concordia jumped back up to 15th in 2020. The eighth-place claim in 2016 remains the program’s highest ever finish at nationals. That particular team put three individuals on the podium.
This will be Watts’ first experience at the NAIA national tournament, but not his first time leading a team to national prominence. Watts was named the 2020 NJCAA National Coach of the Year and led Iowa Western’s men’s program to top 10 national placements 10-straight years from 2015 through 2024. Both his 2020 and 2023 squads placed third in the NJCAA.
Brackets were verified and approved by the NAIA-Wrestling Coaches Association Bracketing Committee. Previously, a 16-member committee consisting of conference raters and oversight members met to select the remaining at-large qualifiers. Next, the 16-member committee, along with three new oversight members, determined the ranking order of each weight class. This was used as the basis for the Bracketing Committee and later verified.
2025 Concordia National Qualifiers
Steven Barnes, Jr. | 149 | Pacific Junction, Iowa
*First NAIA nationals appearance
2024-25 Record: 16-8
NAIA National Seed: unseeded
First match: vs. 5 Victor Guzman, Cumberland
Creighton Baughman, Grad | 141 | Papillion, Neb.
*Third NAIA nationals appearance (two-time JUCO All-American)
2024-25 Record: 22-2
Past record at NAIA nationals: 4-4
NAIA National Seed: 6
First match: vs. Nick Moore, Campbellsville
Barret Brandt, So. | 184 | Syracuse, Neb.
*First NAIA nationals appearance
2024-25 Record: 21-7
NAIA National Seed: unseeded
First match: vs. 12 Brice Parks, Campbellsville
Mason Garcia, Sr. | 285 | Arroyo Grande, Calif.
*Second NAIA nationals appearance
2024-25 Record: 14-13
Past record at NAIA nationals: 0-2
NAIA National Seed: unseeded
First match: vs. 12 Ethan DeRoche, Providence
Hagen Heistand, Jr. | 149 | Dow City, Iowa
*First NAIA nationals appearance
2024-25 Record: 16-3
NAIA National Seed: 11
First match: vs. Kyler Adams, Midway
Torrance Keehn, Jr. | 197 | Beatrice, Neb.
*First NAIA nationals appearance
2024-25 Record: 15-6
NAIA National Seed: 13
First match: vs. 4 Ryker Blackburn, Saint Mary / Hunter James, Corban
Cole Price, Sr. | 157 | La Vista, Neb.
*First NAIA nationals appearance (two-time JUCO All-American)
2024-25 Record: 16-3
NAIA National Seed: unseeded
First match: vs. 3 David Rubio, Corban
Hunter Weimer, Sr. | 184 | Porterville, Calif.
*First NAIA nationals appearance
2024-25 Record: 21-5
NAIA National Seed: unseeded
First match: vs. 2 William Speight, Lourdes
Concordia All-Time All-Americans
Ken Burkhardt Jr. (2015, 2016, 2017)
Giovanni Castillo (2018)
Kodie Cole (2015, 2016)
Tanner Farmer (2020)
Ceron Francisco (2015, 2017)
Alberto Garcia (2019, 2020)
Adam Joseph (2012)
Austin Mogg (2014)
Andrew Schulte (2015, *2016)
Julian Silva (2012)
Jacob Williams (2012)
Mario Ybarra (2021)
*NAIA National Champion