Sports Summaries

Men’s Basketball 

There were many memorable moments as Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad earned a share of the GPAC regular season title, piled up 24 wins, advanced to the round of 32 at the national tournament, won the CIT championship in Mequon, Wis., and rose as high as No. 20 in the NAIA coaches’ poll. The final week of the regular season was a wild one as the Bulldogs defeated Hastings and Midland in overtime to secure a tie for first place in the league’s final standings. All-American Noah Schutte posted a season high of 34 points in two separate overtime wins and Tristan Smith took a large step forward as a First Team All-GPAC honoree. Smith ‘wowed’ the crowd at Doane with a particularly impressive right-hand throwdown and averaged 18.0 points and 9.3 rebounds. Throughout the winter, Limback affectively melded together veterans like Brad Bennett, Schutte and Smith and a host of youthful players. A deep and talented freshman class made an immediate impact while helping the program extend its streak of consecutive national tournaments to three. Early in the season, Limback notched the 300th win of his coaching career. The foundation is there for Concordia to enjoy another fine season in 2024-25. 

Women’s Basketball 

Head Coach Drew Olson’s veteran squad vaulted as high as No. 6 in the NAIA coaches’ poll while establishing itself as an elite squad once again. The achievements included 27 overall wins, GPAC runner-up claims in the regular season and postseason, a CIT championship and an advancement to the NAIA National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. For the first time in school history, Concordia hosted national tournament games and defeated Benedictine College (Kan.) and Wayland Baptist University (Texas). In game No. 2 of the season, the Bulldogs upset fifth-ranked Marian University (Ind.) and engaged in three down-to-the-wire battles with GPAC champion Dordt (including one in the GPAC tournament title game). All seven of Concordia’s losses came to teams that reached the NAIA final site. The Bulldogs also defeated four teams that made it to Sioux City while navigating one of the nation’s most challenging schedules. In addition to All-American Taysha Rushton, fellow seniors Kendal Brigham, Sadie Powell and Mackenzie Toomey also enjoyed all-conference seasons and junior Abby Krieser continued to evolve her game. The bar has been set high heading into 2024-25. 

Wrestling 

The program hosted the GPAC Championships for the first time since 2016 and put on a good show. Individually, four Bulldogs placed within the top four of their respective weight classes: Creighton Baughman (second at 141), Tommy Wentz (second at 165), Mason Garcia (third at 197) and Barret Brandt (fourth at 165). Baughman, Wentz and Garcia each earned automatic bids to the national tournament thanks to those efforts. Both Wentz and Garcia upset nationally ranked opponents as part of the conference tournament. Though he came up just shy of a national tournament bid, Brandt made major waves as a freshman and set a new program standard for pins in a season with 24. Head Coach Chase Clasen’s squad wound up with conference place finishes of sixth in the regular season and fifth in the postseason. Baughman’s two wins at the NAIA National Championships put the Bulldogs in a tie for 35th place. From a dual perspective, Concordia’s most significant win was the 28-23 triumph over then 18th-ranked Baker University (Kan.) at the Avila Duals. The program will need to replace Baughman and the senior class, but the Bulldogs will bring back a talented group including junior-to-be Grant Wells. 

Cheer / Dance 

It was another season of progress in the eyes of head coaches Mandi Maser (dance) and Emilie Ashenbach (cheer). In terms of sheer scoring average, Concordia finished with NAIA national rankings of 10th in dance (80.57) and 21st in cheer (80.72). At the GPAC Championships held at Doane, the Bulldogs placed fifth in the conference in both dance and cheer. The highest single scores produced during the 2024 competition season were 82.07 for dance and 84.13 for cheer (program record). At CIT held in Mequon, Wis., CUNE placed second in cheer and third in dance. Once again, the Bulldogs hosted their own largescale duals event and both teams earned victories. As a cap to the 2024 campaign, four Concordia athletes picked up All-GPAC accolades. Senior Shelby Timmerman was named an All-GPAC award winner for the third time in her career. Meanwhile, dance put three individuals on the All-America list: second teamers Hanna Bitner and Ryleigh Flesner and third teamer Taylor Larsen. 

Men’s Track & Field 

The program enjoyed a solid run on the men’s side in 2024 as the Bulldogs placed third in the GPAC for both indoor and outdoor. Additionally, Concordia placed top 10 in the NAIA for indoor (eighth) and outdoor (seventh) while led by senior Zach Zohner, who swept NAIA indoor and outdoor pole vault national championships. Additionally, Chris Wren ended his collegiate career by seizing the hammer throw national title (also the 2024 weight throw national runner up). On the track, Calvin Rohde starred and was an indoor mile All-American. Rohde broke the school record in the 5,000 meters (14:39.56). Another program standard was reset by Matthew Boyer in the javelin (219’ 1”). Between indoor and outdoor, the program qualified 23 individuals for the national championships. 

Women’s Track & Field 

The streak continued in 2024 as the Concordia women’s program celebrated GPAC indoor and outdoor championships. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s Bulldogs have won 11-straight GPAC titles dating back to 2019 indoor. At the 2024 NAIA indoor national meet, the Concordia women placed in a tie for third behind its national championship 4x800-meter relay of Jenna Esch, Rylee Haecker, Julie McIntyre and Kylahn Freiberg. That group set a new school record time of 9:06.48. In addition, Freiberg placed as the mile national runner up, Haecker finished third in the 1,000 meters and Esch placed fourth in the 800 meters. Five-time pole vault national champion Josie Puelz closed out her career with one more All-America award. Esch’s remarkable year included GPAC indoor titles in the 600 and 800 meters and as part of the 4x4. In a major outdoor highlight, Esch and her 4x4 teammates placed fourth at the national meet. Other new school records came from the 4x200-meter relay (1:40.76), Freiberg in the 1,500 meters (4:31.08) and 3,000 meters (9:54.40), Haecker in the indoor 1,000 meters (2:52.88), Adrianna Rodencal in the 100-meter hurdles (13.65) and Zoey Walker in the high jump (5’ 6”). As a result of the success, Beisel was recognized with GPAC Coach of the Year and NAIA Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors for both indoor and outdoor. The women’s program led all track teams nationally for number of NAIA Scholar-Athletes. 

Baseball 

A GPAC championship dogpile took place on May 7 as the Bulldogs defeated Doane, 5-1, in the conference tournament title game held at Plum Creek Park. The conference postseason run followed an 8-0 finish to the regular season that pulled Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad into a tie for first place with Doane atop the standings. Concordia went on to qualify for the national tournament for the fifth-straight year and ended its season in Louisiana, where season win No. 42 occurred (tying a school record). Sluggers Joey Grabanski and Jaidan Quinn shared the GPAC Player of the Year award while trading home runs near the top of the lineup. In game one at Morningside on April 13, Grabanski became the NAIA’s all-time home run leader (88 by season’s end). He later broke the NAIA career RBIs record (300) as part of another First Team All-GPAC campaign. Other first team all-conference honorees were Jay Adams, Alec Blakestad and Matt Rhoades (GPAC Freshman of the Year). Adams departs as the program’s all-time hits leader with 352. Meanwhile, Dupic was tabbed the GPAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career. 

Softball 

It was a season of marked improvement as Head Coach Brock Culler’s program moved from 10th place in 2023 into a tie for third place in the final 2024 GPAC standings. The switch flipped in early April when Concordia stood at 2-6 in the GPAC (12-20 overall). Behind ace pitcher Megan Eurich, the Bulldogs proceeded to win 10 of their next 11 games in a defining stretch. The key was the offensive surge led by the likes of Aubriana Krieser and Kylie Shottenkirk. The latter was named the NAIA National Player of the Week in April. During the hot streak, Concordia swept doubleheaders from Jamestown, Dakota Wesleyan, Biar Cliff and Mount Marty. Eurich broke the program’s single season record for strikeouts (194) and was named a First Team All-GPAC selection. Second team accolades went to Aubrey Bruning, Taylor Glause, Krieser and Shottenkirk. Three different players reached 100 career hits in 2024: Bruning, Shottenkirk and Julia Van Wey. Concordia said goodbye to only three seniors and will have a strong nucleus (including shortstop Laycee Josoff) returning for 2025. 

Men’s and Women’s Golf 

The 2024 GPAC Golf Championships occurred in the spring and saw Head Coach Brett Muller’s Bulldogs place ninth on the women’s side (352-350-349–1,051) and 10th on the men’s side (303-314-314–931). The men’s squad was paced throughout the 2023-24 season by fifth-year Bulldog Drew D’Ercole, who placed in a tie for fourth in the GPAC (marking the highest GPAC finish for a Concordia men’s player in program history). The 2023-24 season featured a total of 11 varsity tournaments. The Bulldogs shot a season low of 291 in round three of the Blue River Classic (where they placed third out of 16 teams) back in the fall. One of the season’s thrills came in the form of a 12-9 win over Doane at the annual Bulldog-Tiger Cup. Concordia finished the campaign with a season average score of 306.9. On the women’s side, Emery Custer led the way while earning Second Team All-GPAC accolades. Highlights from the spring season included team third-place finishes at both the College of Saint Mary Invite and the Kaitlyn Erickson Invite. At the CSM Invite, both Custer and Logan Eschliman earned medals for placing in the top 10. The lowest team score for a single round in 2023-24 was the 341 turned in at the Lila Frommelt Classic back in the fall. Custer and Maddie Lewis shared the honor of carding the lowest individual score (81), also during fall action. 

Powerlifting 

The 2023-24 campaign marked the second in the Powerlifting program’s history. Progress was evident in the fact that Head Coach Freddie Myles’ program increased its national qualifier total from four in 2023 to 17 in 2024. At the 2024 USA Powerlifting Collegiate National Championships in College Park, Ga., sophomore Rylee Ladd broke the women’s American record for bench press (92.5 kg) for her weight class of 52 kg. Ladd placed as the national runner up. Meanwhile, Will Peterson placed fifth at 140 kg. From a team perspective, Concordia turned in national place finishes of ninth (out of 109) on the women’s side and 19th (out of 110) on the men’s side. The season also included the UNL Husker Strong Meet and the Central Collegiate Regional Championships. History was made in April when the Bulldogs hosted a home powerlifting meet for the first time ever. The season laid a foundation for future success. 

Weightlifting 

Concordia Weightlifting made significant gains in year two as six Bulldogs represented the program at the 2024 National University Championships in Columbus, Ohio, late in the winter. Sacramento, Calif., native Evan Fukuhara rose to the top of the podium at 67 kg and became the first national champion in the history of a budding program guided by Head Coach Freddie Myles. Other 2024 national qualifiers were Michael Davidge, Nolan Graupmann, Adrian Hernandez, Gracy Johnson and Cody Monsevais. The season also included the UNL Husker Strong Meet and the Iowa Championships. Fukuhara earned prestigious recognition beyond his national title when he took home a championship at the North American Open Finals in Wilmington, N.C. 

Shooting Sports 

A group of 15 Bulldogs qualified for the 2024 ACUI National Championships (March 19-23) in San Antonio, Texas, and helped Concordia Shooting Sports place seventh out of 15 teams in the Division 2 breakdown of the event. Individual honors were captured by senior Jessie Ciezki, the women’s open skeet national champion, and senior Claire Kee, the women’s open super sporting national titlist. From a high overall perspective, the Bulldogs’ top competitor was senior Breyer Meeks, who cracked 551 of 600 targets. By discipline, Concordia posted team national placements of fifth in super sporting, sixth in doubles skeet, sixth in doubles trap, eighth in skeet, 10th in trap and 14th in sporting clays. The majority of the 2023-24 season for Head Coach Dylan Owens’ squad took place during the fall. At the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships, the Bulldogs placed third as Kee won a sporting clays title and Kaylee Hinton won a championship in trap. In another highlight, Jack Nelson won the overall individual title at the Waco Invitational. This marked the second season for Owens leading a program that first began competing in 2014-15. 

Men’s & Women’s Tennis 

An experienced head coach at the NCAA Division I level, Lisa Hart took the reins of the Concordia Tennis programs in August of 2023. In her first season with the Bulldogs, Hart helped the women’s squad to a third-place GPAC finish and 11-8 overall record (5-2 GPAC). Concordia put together a three-match conference win streak in April and defeated Northwestern in the GPAC quarterfinals before the campaign concluded in the semifinals. Five Bulldog earned All-GPAC awards, led by top-of-the-lineup stalwarts in Chakira Derman and Mariana Molano. In addition, Tessa Blough was recognized with the 2024 ITA National Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award at the NAIA level. With no seniors on the 2023-24 roster, Concordia projects to continue to rank among the GPAC’s best next year. 

The men concluded the season with a loss to Doane in the GPAC quarterfinals and finished the season at 8-13 overall (2-4 GPAC). The Bulldogs claimed their conference wins over Northwestern and Hastings during the regular season. They put together a stretch of four wins in five outings versus nonconference foes early in the spring. Both Santiago Abadia and Hugo Fuentes earned GPAC All-Conference Honorable Mention accolades in doubles. Freshman Michael Bedrosian led the team with nine singles wins. The lone senior on the roster was four-year contributor Luke Johnson.