SEWARD, Neb. – The win last week at Northwestern clinched at least a share of the GPAC dual championship. Now the Concordia University wrestling team aspires to lock up the outright title, an achievement that will be on the line on Thursday when Morningside visits Walz Arena for a 7 p.m. CST start. It will be the home finale and senior night for the Bulldogs.
The dual will be streamed live via the Concordia Sports Network with Aaron Sweazy calling the play-by-play. Live results can be viewed via TrackWrestling.com.
At 7-0 in conference duals, first-year head coach Levi Calhoun’s squad is a victory away from running the table in the GPAC just as the program did each season from 2014-15 through 2016-17. Since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, Concordia is a combined 33-3 in GPAC duals. After falling back to fifth place in the conference last season, the Bulldogs have returned to their formerly dominant ways. In its seven GPAC duals, Concordia has won 55 of 70 matches and has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 258-56.
The Bulldogs are also ranked No. 1 in the official GPAC ratings that were last released by the NAIA on Jan. 21. Eleven Concordia wrestlers are ranked within the top six of the conference in their respective weight classes. The headliners all season have been junior Deandre Chery (31-8; 15 pins) at 174 and redshirt freshman Michael Stann (34-11; 16 pins) at 285. Both Chery (6-0) and Stann (7-0) are undefeated in conference duals and are ranked No. 1 in the GPAC. Others rated in the top three on the conference level include Mario Ybarra (125), Alberto Garcia (133) and Walker Fisher (174).
Fisher is one of six seniors who will be recognized prior to the dual on Thursday. The other seniors are Kyle Carey, Chucky Hedrick, Chris James, Josh Nelsen and Keanu Tom. The fourth-year seniors were part of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 GPAC championship teams.
Morningside will present a significant challenge. Not only are the Mustangs 6-1 in conference duals, they are also ranked second in the official GPAC ratings, only three points behind the Bulldogs. Morningside put together an impressive run of conference championships of its own having won dual titles in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. Head coach Jake Stevenson’s staff includes former Concordia graduate assistant Tyler Kacmarynski. The Mustangs boast five wrestlers who rank in the top two of the GPAC within their weight classes. Five Morningside grapplers are ranked nationally: No. 6 Keegan Hessler (125), No. 20 Dakota Drenth (149), No. 17 Kyle Fowler (157), No. 19 Jacob Wiley (184) and No. 18 Phil Rasmussen (285).
In last season’s meeting in Sioux City, Iowa, Morningside defeated Concordia, 22-11. In that dual, Jerry Stepps III completed an 8-0 GPAC dual mark with a win by decision at 125 pounds. Other Bulldog victories were delivered by Cam Devers (141) and Darrin Miller (184). Prior to last season’s loss, Concordia had defeated the Mustangs three seasons in a row: 29-12 in 2014-15, 32-7 in 2015-16 and 30-9 in 2016-17.
Once Thursday’s action has wrapped up, only the GPAC Championships (Feb. 16) and the NAIA National Championships (March 1-2) will remain on the 2018-19 schedule. Each team is allowed to enter 12 competitors into the conference championships, which serve as a national qualifier.