Bulldog Weekly Report (Dec. 13)

By Jacob Knabel on Dec. 13, 2016 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Male: Ken Burkhardt Jr., Wrestling

Burkhardt Jr., a native of Milford, Neb., made history last week, becoming the first Bulldog in wrestling program history to record 100 career wins. As part of his dominant week, Burkhardt Jr. went 5-0 with five pins and won the 197-pound title at the Doane University Open. Burkhardt Jr. is 16-5 on the year.

Female: Philomena Lammers, Basketball

Lammers, who hails from Omaha, Neb., is the national leader in field goal percentage (.660). Last week in only 42 minutes of action, she averaged 16.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals while going 12-for-18 (.667) from the floor and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. The freshman tops the now second-ranked Bulldogs in scoring (12.9) and rebounding (5.9).

Daberkow tabbed head football coach: The 10th head coach in Concordia football history is Patrick Daberkow. A 2007 Concordia graduate and defensive coordinator for the past seven seasons, Daberkow was named head football coach on Dec. 9. He replaces Vance Winter, who resigned after eight seasons leading the program. For more information on the announcement, click HERE.

Barnes again recognized among nation’s elite: For the second-straight season, defensive end Trey Barnes has been named an AFCA-NAIA All-American. A second team All-America choice as a junior in 2015, Barnes moved up to the first team this season. He is also a two-time first team All-GPAC choice. For more on the Seward High School product’s latest honor, click HERE.

2017 varsity football schedule announced: Daberkow will make his head coaching debut on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017, when the Bulldogs play Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kan., as part of the KCAC/GPAC Challenge. The complete 10-game 2017 varsity football schedule can be found HERE. Homecoming is set for Sept. 23 when Doane visits Bulldog Stadium.

Fall season wrap ups: We took detailed looks back at the 2016 seasons for Concordia football, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball. Season wrap ups are linked below.
-Football
-Men’s Soccer
-Women’s Soccer
-Volleyball

Birmingham, Deeter pick up additional postseason honors: Freshman Sami Birmingham and sophomore Maria Deeter, both first team All-GPAC performers in 2016, were named to All-Plains Region teams by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Deeter appeared on the first team while Birmingham landed on the region’s second team. For more details, click HERE.

How to purchase Cultivating Men of Faith and Character: The book, Cultivating Men of Faith and Character: The History of Concordia Nebraska Football, remains available for purchase online HERE. For more than 90 years, the Concordia football program has cultivated men of faith and character. This journey through the program’s entire history takes a narrative, coach-by-coach approach in bringing back to life the memorable plays, players and moments in Bulldog football history. Win or lose, Christian character has guided a storied football tradition in Seward, home to the “college in the cornfield.”

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 6 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is in its second year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the TuneIn Radio app and searching “Max Country.” Throughout the 2016-17 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country.

Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting http://www.cune.edu/csn at game time. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.

Wrestling

  • It was a hectic weekend for Concordia, which hosted its first home dual of the 2016-17 season on Dec. 9 and then quickly turned around the next day to wrestle at the Doane University Open. The 13th-ranked Bulldogs flattened visiting Northwest Kansas Technical College, 38-8, inside Walz Arena. Then on Dec. 10, 21 Bulldog wrestlers combined for eight place finishes and a total of 39 wins at the Doane Open. First-year head coach Andrew Nicola’s squad is 3-0 overall and 2-0 in GPAC duals. For more information on the Concordia wrestling program, click HERE.
  • The week’s biggest highlight was produced by senior 197-pounder Ken Burkhardt Jr., who made history at Doane when he became the program’s first-ever competitor to reach 100 career wins. A native of Milford, Neb., Burkhardt Jr. has posted records of 21-18 as a freshman, 33-18 as a sophomore, 32-12 as a junior and 16-5 so far as a senior. Those marks put him at 102-53 for his career. The two-time All-American has notched 39 pins in his career.
  • Burkhardt Jr. is on a dominant run. After pinning Northwest Tech’s Chance Shull on Friday, he then won by fall in each of his four bouts at the Doane Open while claiming his second tournament title of the season. Burkhardt Jr. has pinned his last six opponents, including 12th-ranked Chandler Knight of Doane. Burkhardt Jr. has dropped only three contested matches this season.
  • Concordia returned to its dominant ways in last week’s dual win, seven days after a close call in the 23-22 victory at Doane. In front of the home fans, the Bulldogs put on a show, winning eight of 10 bouts, including six with bonus points. In addition to Burkhardt Jr.’s pin, DJ McIntyre (285) and Walker Fisher (174) also won by fall. Victories by technical fall were delivered by Kirk Kaliszewski (165) and Dmitri Smith (125). In addition, Cooper Bailey (141) took a major decision from his opponent.
  • McIntyre enjoyed a fine weekend. He went 5-1 with four pins and wound up as the heavyweight runner up at the Doane Open. Two of his pins came against Odgerek Batkhishig, who is ranked third at the National Junior College Athletic Association level. The native of Marrero, La., went 27-15 and qualified for the national championships during the 2014-15 season. He redshirted last season.
  • If he able to recover from injury, 285-pound Ceron Francisco could be next in line to join Burkhardt Jr. in the 100-win club. Francisco won at least 30 matches each of the last two seasons and currently sits at 9-0 so far in his senior campaign. The native of Fayetteville, N.C., stands at 83-50 in his career as a Bulldog. Francisco has twice qualified for nationals and owns a 2015 All-America plaque.
  • Concordia’s overall dual win streak has hit 10 in a row. The Bulldogs won their final seven duals of the 2015-16 season. That stretch included two victories over nonconference opponents and five over GPAC foes. In addition, Concordia will carry its streak of 16-consecutive GPAC dual wins into the new year. The next conference dual will be on Jan. 28 at Northwestern. Three duals will be contested in Orange City, Iowa, on that date.
  • Four Bulldogs have piled up at least 10 wins this season (see list below). Concordia is topped by the 16 from Burkhardt Jr. Francisco (9-0) boasts the team’s top winning percentage and remains the lone undefeated Bulldog. Burkhardt Jr. has placed at all four tournaments that he has competed in. He took first at both the Doane and Grand View Opens, fourth at the Dakota Wesleyan Open and sixth at the UNK Open. Francisco (two), Burkhardt Jr. (two) and Nate Bennett (one) have each won at least one tournament title.
    • Ken Burkhardt Jr. (197): 16-5
    • Kolton Larsen (157): 11-7
    • Alexander Reimers (197): 10-6
    • Darrin Miller (174): 10-10
    • Ceron Francisco (285): 9-0
  • This week presents a break in the action for Nicola’s bunch. The Bulldogs are scheduled to return to action on Monday (Dec. 19) at the Oklahoma City Duals, hosted by Oklahoma City University. The National Duals are also coming up Jan. 5-6 in Nicola’s hometown of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Women’s Basketball

  • This time last week, it appeared the seventh-ranked Bulldogs were looking at a challenging couple of games in front of them. Then all they did was defeat perennial GPAC powers Morningside and Northwestern by a combined margin of 75 points. In the Dec. 7 tussle in Sioux City, Iowa, Concordia ran away from No. 9 Morningside in the second half and won, 80-52. Three days later, the Bulldogs pounded Northwestern, 91-44, inside Walz Arena. Eleventh-year head coach Drew Olson’s squad is now 13-1 overall and sits atop the GPAC with an 8-0 league mark. For more information on Concordia women’s basketball, click HERE.
  • The GPAC is often regarded as the top conference in NAIA Division II women’s basketball, and the Bulldogs are running roughshod over their league rivals. Through eight GPAC games, Concordia has, on average, outscored opponents by a score of 85.0 to 60.8. When taking into account GPAC games only, Mary Janovich has been especially dominant, averaging 14.4 points, 4.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 steals. The junior from Gretna, Neb., recently earned the NAIA’s national player of the week award.
  • Over its last three games, Concordia has beaten teams ranked Nos. 1 and 9 and another that was receiving votes at the time of tipoff. Overall this season, the Bulldogs have defeated three top 25 opponents and have toppled five others that were listed as receiving votes. Haskell Indian Nations University (Kan.) owned a No. 25 ranking when it got handed a 99-44 loss by Concordia on Nov. 25. The Bulldogs also knocked off two “RV” squads at the Cattle Classic in early November.
  • Freshman Philly Lammers has been a pillar of efficiency. Her numbers are even more impressive when considering how often starters like Lammers have been rested during blowout wins. Last week the Omaha native went 12-for-18 (.667) from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line while averaging 16.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals. She did all of that despite playing a grand total of 42 minutes. She continues to lead the Bulldogs in scoring (12.9) and rebounding (5.9) just as Quinn Wragge did last season as a freshman.
  • Picked third in the GPAC in the preseason coaches’ poll, Concordia rose to the top spot in the official conference ratings released by the NAIA on Monday. The Bulldogs are aiming for their third GPAC regular-season title under Olson. Concordia won the conference outright in 2011-12 and shared the title with three other teams in 2013-14. Olson also guided the program to GPAC tournament championships in 2012 and 2015.
  • Janovich put up a team best 19 points at Morningside and then dished out a career high 11 assists versus Northwestern. Janovich and the other starters actually saw extended minutes at Morningside in a game Concordia led by only one point at halftime. Wragge and the Bulldogs made the Mustangs fold in the face of an intense pressure defense that forced 32 turnovers. Wragge was not far off a triple-double with her line of 13 points, eight rebounds and eight steals.
  • The 13-1 record and 13-game win streak are evidence enough of Concordia’s dominance, but there is more. Among all NAIA Division II teams, the Bulldogs rank second in steals per game (17.9), second in turnover margin (10.8), fourth in free throw percentage (.783), fifth in scoring offense (85.9), fifth in scoring margin (plus-27.6), eighth in 3-point field goals per game (9.5), ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-1.2), 12th in field goal percentage (.444) and 18th in scoring defense (58.4).
  • Morningside and Northwestern own a combined nine national championships. The Mustangs had entered this season having won or shared each of the last four GPAC regular-season titles. Since 2003, only four programs have won the GPAC regular-season title: Concordia, Hastings, Morningside and Northwestern. The 2001-02 Dakota Wesleyan team is the only other women’s basketball squad to claim a GPAC regular-season championship since the conference formed in 2000.
  • The schedule is light this week due to final exams at Concordia. The Bulldogs will be at Dordt (5-7, 0-6 GPAC) on Friday for a 5 p.m. CT tipoff in Sioux Center, Iowa. Concordia has won eight-straight meetings with the Defenders. Following Friday’s contest, Olson’s squad will head to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the Hoop N Surf Classic (Dec. 19-20), an event that pits the Bulldogs against No. 21 Indiana Tech and No. 6 College of the Ozarks (Mo.). Concordia will play at 4:30 p.m. CT both days.

Men’s Basketball

  • The Bulldogs had their chances during a grueling run that saw them play ranked opponents for the second and third times in a row. In last week’s action, Concordia fell at No. 23 Morningside, 92-88, on Dec. 7 and then slipped in another heart stopper, 93-89 in overtime, to sixth-ranked Northwestern on Dec. 10. Close defeats have been a theme so far for fourth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad, which now sports records of 7-6 overall and 2-5 in conference play. For more information on Bulldog men’s basketball, click HERE.
  • Five of Concordia’s six losses have come by margins of four points or less. The Bulldogs have dropped contests by one, by two, by three and by four (twice). Only No. 21 Midland managed to separate itself by double-digits from Concordia. The Warriors topped the Bulldogs, 87-77, in Fremont on Nov. 16. Conversely, five of Concordia’s seven victories have featured double-digit spreads.
  • The hot shooting continued last week. Offense wasn’t a problem for a Bulldog team that netted 14 treys in both of last week’s outings. Concordia has shot better than 47 percent from the floor in each of its last 12 games. The Bulldogs shot 52.5 percent (31-for-59) at Morningside and 48.5 percent (33-for-68) versus Northwestern. On the national leaderboard, Concordia ranks second in 3-point field goal percentage (.435), fourth in field goal percentage (.523), 13th in 3-point field goals per game (10.5) and 14th in free throw percentage (.760).
  • Senior Eli Ziegler would have been hard pressed to perform much better last week from an offensive perspective. He totaled 50 points while going 12-for-23 from beyond the arc over the two losses. Ziegler’s 28 points versus Northwestern marked a career high. Averaging a personal best 17.7 points this season, Ziegler is now on a fast track to eclipse 1,000 career points. He enters the week with 911 points over 101 games as a Bulldog.
  • A native of Littleton, Colo., Ziegler’s 3-point shooting has been a constant all four years at Concordia. He’s never shot lower than 39.8 percent from long range in any one season. He’s now up to 47.4 percent from 3-point range this season (43.4 percent for his career). Last week Ziegler moved past 200 career made 3-point field goals. Ziegler’s other shooting percentages – 52.6 from the field and 77.8 from the free throw line – are also impressive.
  • Star post Chandler Folkerts moved up one rung on the program’s all-time lists in both points and rebounds during last week’s action. On the scoring chart, Folkerts (1,642) leapfrogged Rick Dietze (1,625) for fifth place. He’s also nearing No. 4 on the list – Devin Smith (1,659). With 715 career rebounds, Folkerts moved in front of Porter Birtell (712) for sixth. Folkerts is coming up on Smith (fifth with 729) on the rebound list as well. Folkerts’ 121 career blocks are fourth most in school history.
  • Freshman Tanner Shuck has actually shot at even higher rate than Ziegler from the outside. Shuck went off for a career high 24 points versus Northwestern. His performance in that game included a 5-for-9 effort from 3-point range. Shuck forced the overtime with a game-tying trey at to beat the buzzer at the end of regulation. Shuck, who has moved into the starting lineup, is shooting 52.6 percent (30-for-57) from beyond the arc. That clip ranks him eighth in the nation.
  • Concordia played against Northwestern without starting guard Chris Johnstone, who injured his ankle at Morningside. In his place, freshman Jake Hornick made his first career start. The Bulldogs are going with a smaller, guard-oriented lineup that includes the 6-foot-1 Hornick in addition to 6-foot Seth Curran, 6-foot Ziegler, 6-foot-4 Shuck and 6-foot-8 Folkerts. The first four in that group are all shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range.
  • With final exams underway, this week’s slate includes a lone contest at Dordt (6-9, 0-6 GPAC) at 7 p.m. CT on Friday. Though the Defenders are winless in conference play, they have also suffered several close defeats. Concordia last won at Dordt on Jan. 9, 2010.