SEWARD, Neb. – The wrestling national qualifying field was officially announced on Tuesday (Feb. 20) by the NAIA. The Concordia University Wrestling program will send three qualifiers to the NAIA Wrestling National Championships to be held in Park City, Kan., Feb. 29 – March 2. The following Bulldogs earned their way to nationals thanks to automatic bids: Creighton Baughman (141), Tommy Wentz (165) and Mason Garcia (197).
The program has now qualified a combined seven competitors for the national tournament over Head Coach Chase Clasen’s first two seasons at the helm. The Papillion, Neb., native Baughman will be headed to the NAIA national stage for the second year in a row. He was also a two-time JUCO All-American during his time at Iowa Western Community College. Baughman went 2-2 at the 2023 NAIA National Championships. Meanwhile, Garcia and Wentz will both make their debuts on the national stage.
Each conference tournament was awarded automatic bids per weight class based on the final regular-season poll, which can be seen HERE. Each conference was awarded automatic berths based on the amount of wrestlers ranked in each weight class. Each conference was awarded a minimum of one automatic bid per weight class, which went to the tournament individual champions, even if the conference did not have any wrestlers ranked in the final regular-season rating.
After the conference tournaments concluded, a 16-member committee consisting of conference raters and oversight members met to select the remaining national at-large qualifiers. In total, 36 student-athletes were selected by at-large classification. The seeding and preliminary brackets will be announced on NAIA.org by 5 p.m. (CST) on Friday, February 23.
For additional information on the 2023 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships, click HERE.
Concordia’s 2024 National Qualifiers
141 – Creighton Baughman, Senior
--Season record: 31-6 (12 pins)
--Two-time GPAC runner up
--Two-time NAIA national qualifier
--Two-time JUCO All-American
165 – Tommy Wentz, Junior
--Season record: 12-6 (3 pins)
--2024 GPAC runner up
--First-time NAIA national qualifier
197 – Mason, Garcia, Junior
--Season record: 15-9 (9 pins)
--2024 GPAC third-place finisher
--First-time NAIA national qualifier