SEWARD, Neb. – Freshman Jacob Telles and junior Mario Ybarra represented the Concordia University Wrestling team on the all-conference team released on Wednesday (Feb. 24) by the GPAC. Telles landed on the first team while Ybarra garnered honorable mention recognition. The all-conference list is made of 12 honorees on both the first and second teams and six within the group of honorable mentions.
A native of Albuquerque, N.M., Telles made a splash at the conference championships by winning the heavyweight GPAC title. He upset Doane’s Brandon Antesberger in the conference final while locking up an automatic bid to nationals. Telles leads the Bulldogs in both wins (33) and pins (13) heading into the national tournament. This season he has been ranked as high as 15th nationally at 285. During the regular season, Telles turned in four tournament place finishes: second at the Dakota Wesleyan Open, third at the York Open, fourth at the Sioux City Open and fifth at the Doane Open.
Ybarra, who hails from Scottsbluff, Neb., has had his season impacted by injury, but carries an impressive 12-1 overall record into the national tournament. He has been rated as the GPAC’s top 133-pounder for the entire 2020-21 season after winning the 125-pound conference title in 2020. Ybarra was ranked fourth nationally at 133 in the most recent NAIA rankings. Ybarra has earned all-conference recognition for the third-straight year (first team in 2020). Ybarra is now a two-time national qualifier with a career record of 59-23 at the collegiate level.
Head Coach Levi Calhoun will take three competitors to next week’s NAIA Wrestling National Championships (March 5-6) held at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kan. Telles and Ybarra will be joined at nationals by two-time qualifier Gabe Crawford.