Bulldog Weekly Report (Dec. 20)

By Jacob Knabel on Dec. 20, 2016 in Athletic Announcements

NOTE: Due to the semester break, the Bulldog Athletic Association did not meet this week. Athletes of the week will return on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Burkhardt Jr. thriving as a Bulldog: Ken Burkhardt Jr. became the first Bulldog wrestler ever to reach 100 career victories while dominating the 197-pound bracket at the Doane University Open on Dec. 10. The Milford native was originally recruited to Concordia to play linebacker for the football team. The two-time All-American is one of several recent Milford High School alums who have succeeded as Bulldogs. For more on Burkhardt Jr., click HERE.

Fall Scholar-Athlete total final at 27: Twenty-seven athletes from Concordia fall sports teams were named 2016 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes. That brings the university’s NAIA all-time leading scholar-athlete total to 1,233. In order to be nominated, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status.

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.

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.

Concordia football record book: Last week we introduced an updated Concordia football record book that includes lists of career leaders in several key statistical categories. With this record book, we can answer questions like, who is our all-time leading passer? Rusher? Receiver? Most interceptions? Check out the record book 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

  • After a layoff of eight days without a competition, the 13th-ranked Bulldogs returned to the mats on Monday (Dec. 19) for the Oklahoma City Duals hosted by Oklahoma City University. Up against four teams sporting top-15 national rankings, Concordia went 2-2 with victories over No. 8 Campbellsville University (Ky.), 26-10, and over No. 11 Wayland Baptist University (Texas), 24-15. The losses came at the hands of NCAA Division II No. 14 University of Central Oklahoma, 48-0, and No. 6 Oklahoma City University, 24-13. First-year head coach Andrew Nicola’s squad is now 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the GPAC. For more information on the Concordia wrestling program, click HERE.
  • With wins over Campbellsville and Wayland Baptist, the Bulldogs had extended their dual win streak against NAIA opponents to 11. Even with Monday’s losses to highly-rated foes, Concordia has won 12 of its last 14 duals overall. Additionally, the program’s run of consecutive GPAC dual wins remains intact at 16 in a row. The 2015-16 Bulldogs went 13-4 overall while breaking the school record for dual victories in a single season. The previous standard had been set by the 1970-71 Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame team that went 10-3.
  • Three Bulldogs went unbeaten at the Oklahoma City Duals: 197-pounder Ken Burkhardt Jr. (3-0), 125-pounder Giovanni Castillo (2-0) and 157-pounder Jon Lado (2-0). Burkhardt Jr., last week’s GPAC wrestler of the week, has been on a tear. The NAIA’s second-ranked 197-pounder has won nine-straight matches with all coming with bonus points. He triumphed by major decision in all three of his bouts on Monday against NAIA competitors. The program’s first-ever wrestler to reach 100 wins, Burkhardt Jr. is 19-5 this season and 105-53 for his career.
  • Heavyweight Ceron Francisco had not wrestled in over a month before returning to action on Monday. Ranked No. 4 in the NAIA at 285, the native of Fayetteville, N.C., majored Wayland Baptist’s Nik Gates, 10-2, as part of the dual win. He then faced a showdown with third-ranked Korey Walker of Oklahoma City. In what had been a competitive bout, Walker pinned Francisco in the final seconds of the third period. That loss was the first blemish of the season on Francisco’s record. He is 10-1 as a senior and 84-51 in his career.
  • Fourteen different Bulldogs wrestled in at least one match at the Oklahoma City Duals. Six competed in all four duals: 133-pounder Kodie Cole (3-1), 141-pounder Cooper Bailey (1-3), 149-pounder Foster Bunce (1-3), 165-pounder Kirk Kaliszewski (1-3), 174-pounder Walker Fisher (0-4) and 184-pounder Josh Nelsen (0-4). Collectively, Concordia individuals went 16-24 on Monday. Against NAIA opponents only, they were 16-14.
  • Six Bulldogs have piled up at least 10 wins this season (see list below). Concordia is topped by the 19 from Burkhardt Jr. Francisco (10-1) boasts the team’s top winning percentage. 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. This week Francisco and Cole added their names to the list of Bulldogs with 10-plus wins.
    • Ken Burkhardt Jr. (197): 19-5
    • Kodie Cole (133): 11-4
    • Kolton Larsen (157): 11-9
    • Alexander Reimers (197): 10-7
    • Ceron Francisco (285): 10-1
    • Darrin Miller (174): 10-10
  • Burkhardt Jr. also paces the team with eight pins. Four teammates have at least five pins: DJ McIntyre (7), Deandre Cherry (6), Reimers (6) and Cole (5). McIntyre turned in one of the team’s most impressive wins in Oklahoma City with a pin of Campbellsville’s 16th-ranked Terrell Moore at the heavyweight spot. McIntyre (9-6) is on the cusp of reaching double figures in wins.
  • Following a break for Christmas and New Year’s, Concordia will take its act to the National Duals, scheduled for Jan. 5-6 at the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., the hometown of Nicola. Last season the Bulldogs defeated Ottawa University (Kan.), No. 10 University of Great Falls (Mont.) and No. 14 Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) on their way to a seventh-place finish at the National Duals. For more information on the event, click HERE.

Women’s Basketball

  • A stretch of eight-straight days without a game came to a conclusion on Monday (Dec. 19), the opening day of the Hoop N Surf Classic held at St. Francis High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Due to travel complications, the Bulldogs had little to prepare before their 68-57 win over No. 17 Indiana Tech on Monday. Concordia led almost the entire way despite a rare negative turnover differential (minus-three). Eleventh-year head coach Drew Olson’s squad has now won 14-straight games and stands at 14-1 overall. For more information on Bulldog women’s basketball, click HERE.
  • Victories by double-digit margins have become the norm for Concordia. Only two of its 14 wins have been by fewer than 10 points. In those instances, the Bulldogs won at Northwestern, 88-81, on Nov. 9 and over then No. 1 Dakota Wesleyan, 85-82, on Dec. 3. Not surprisingly, Concordia ranks third nationally in scoring margin (plus-26.5). That figure is even better than the mark (plus-21.4) produced by the 2014-15 national runner-up team.
  • Though it was a cold shooting afternoon on Monday, the work inside from freshman Philly Lammers and sophomore Quinn Wragge came to the rescue. Not known as one of the nation’s top rebounding teams, the Bulldogs hammered the Warriors on the boards, 51-30. Both Lammers (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Wragge (12 points, 10 rebounds) recorded double-doubles. It marked the first career double-double for Lammers and the fourth in Wragge’s two seasons as a Bulldog.
  • In last week’s national coaches’ poll, Concordia checked in at No. 2, behind only St. Francis (Ill.). This is the program’s highest ranking since rising to second in the postseason rating following the 2014-15 campaign. That season, the Bulldogs spent 11-straight polls at the No. 3 spot. During Olson’s tenure, Concordia has been ranked in the top 10 a total of 85 times. The Bulldogs have appeared in every single poll since the start of the 2011-12 season (70-straight national rankings). Concordia owned the No. 1 ranking for the first four polls of the 2012-13 season.
  • Despite missing 14 games due to injury last season, junior guard Mary Janovich has climbed into the top 20 on the program’s all-time list for career steals. Now with 155 career thefts, Janovich passed TaLisa Krejci (153), who had previously sat at No. 20. An all-around performer, Janovich posted a line of 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in Monday’s victory. The Gretna native is also on track to eventually add her name to the program’s list of 1,000-point scorers, which currently shows 24 names.
  • Inexperience hasn’t shown for Lammers, who continues to top the nation’s second-ranked team in scoring (12.9). The rookie from Omaha is also the NAIA Division II national leader in field goal percentage (.650). She went 6-for-11 from the floor on Monday and actually saw her shooting percentage go down slightly. Lammers also top’s the team leaderboard in rebounding (6.3) and blocked shots (1.2). Among GPAC freshmen, only Briar Cliff’s Kailey Burke (14.0) is scoring at a higher clip than Lammers.
  • Name a statistical category and it’s likely Concordia either leads it or is among the top three in terms of the conference leaderboard. Among GPAC teams, the Bulldogs rank first in the following categories: scoring offense (84.7), scoring margin (26.5), offensive rebounds (14.3), blocks (53), assists per game (19.9), steals per game (17.3) and turnover margin (9.87). They rank second in these categories: scoring defense (58.3), free throw percentage (.784), field goal percentage offense (.442), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.272), 3-point field goals made/game (9.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.15).
  • An extended break in the schedule will occur following Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) contest with No. 8 College of the Ozarks (Mo.) (11-3), which will be the final one for the Bulldogs at the Hoop N Surf Classic in Honolulu. Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m. HST / 4:30 p.m. CST. The two NAIA powers have not met since their 2012 national semifinal battle won by the Bobcats, 74-70. After Tuesday, Concordia will not play again until hosting Briar Cliff on Jan. 4.

Men’s Basketball

  • Due to the postponement of the scheduled Dec. 16 contest at Dordt, the Bulldogs did not play a single game during finals week. The last time Concordia took the court, it fell in a 93-89 overtime decision versus then sixth-ranked Northwestern. Fourth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad stands at 7-6 overall and at 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 during the team’s most recent week of action. Offense wasn’t a problem for a Bulldog team that netted 14 treys in each of its last two games. Concordia has shot better than 47 percent from the floor in 12-straight outings. 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 of late from an offensive perspective. He totaled 50 points while going 12-for-23 from beyond the arc over the most recent 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 sits at 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). Recently, 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 the most recent week of activity. 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 seventh 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.
  • Concordia will have to wait until its trip south for a return to the court. The postponement of last week’s scheduled game at Dordt means the Bulldogs are in the midst of an 18-day stretch without a game. That streak will end in Miami, Fla., Dec. 29-30 when Concordia competes at the St. Thomas University Classic. The Bulldogs will play No. 22 Florida Memorial University at 7 p.m. CT / 8 p.m. ET on the opening day of the event. On day two, Concordia draws No. 21 St. Thomas University (Fla.) for an 8 p.m. CT / 9 p.m. ET tipoff.