SEWARD, Neb. – A return to the mats is just what the Concordia University Wrestling team needs. The Bulldogs will be one of 44 squads present at the prestigious Missouri Valley College Invitational this Friday and Saturday. The event will take place inside the Burns Athletic Center in Marshall, Mo. The event serves as somewhat of a preview of the national tournament. Head Coach Chase Clasen’s bunch has been idle since its home dual loss to No. 4 Doane on Jan. 13. Links for live coverage of the Missouri Valley Invite are included below.
Missouri Valley College Invitational
--Jan. 20-21 | D1 – 12 p.m.; D2 – 9 a.m. | Burns Athletic Center (Marshal, Mo.)
--Webcast: FloWrestling ($) | Live Results: TrackWrestling
The season to date has included 10 duals and five tournaments. At 8-2 in duals, the Bulldogs have already surpassed their win total from 2021-22 when they went 6-6 (3-5 GPAC). The two losses this season have come at the hands of the two highest rated teams in the GPAC. To this point, 24 Bulldogs have wrestled in at least one match. The following Concordia competitors own at least five wins on the season: Creighton Baughman (13-5), Tommy Wentz (12-7), Grant Wells (10-9), Bryce Karlin (8-5), Stephen Duffy (8-6), Jeaven Scdoris (8-8), Garret Moser (8-9), Issiah Burks (7-9), Thomas Ivey (7-9), Jose Sanchez (7-11), Kobe Lyons (6-2), Torrance Keehn (6-8) and Cy Renney (6-11). The team pins leaders are Karlin, Renney and Wentz with four apiece.
A new set of conference ratings were unveiled on Tuesday via NAIA.org. In the GPAC ratings, seven Bulldogs made appearances within the top six of their respective weight classes (see below). Leading the way, both Creighton Baughman (141) and Logan Davidson (197) landed at No. 2 among their conference counterparts. Concordia will take its top 12 wrestlers to this weekend’s high level NAIA tournament.
GPAC ratings (released on Jan. 17)
Concordia (8-2, 3-2 GPAC)
125 – Bryce Karlin: GPAC – 5th
141 – Creighton Baughman: GPAC – 2nd
157 – Tommy Wentz: GPAC – 4th
165 – Issiah Burks: GPAC – 5th
174 – Jose Sanchez: GPAC – 6th
184 – Stephen Duffy: GPAC – 5th
197 – Logan Davidson: GPAC – 2nd
Following the Missouri Valley Invite, Concordia will turn its focus towards its final three GPAC duals of the 2022-23 season. The Bulldogs will take on Northwestern, Briar Cliff and Jamestown (in that order) on Jan. 28. Those three duals will be held at Long Lines Family Rec Center in Sioux City, Iowa.