Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Male: Carter Kent, Basketball
Kent, a Crete, Neb., native, continued his tear last week by totaling 26 points, three assists, three rebounds and a steal in Concordia’s 82-79 win at No. 11 Jamestown. That performance moved Kent’s career point total to 1,479 and his season scoring average to 17.6.
Female: Rylee Haecker, Track & Field
Haecker, who hails from Davenport, Neb., starred on the track last week at the Graduate Classic, racing to a 1,000 meter time of 2:58.77 – an automatic national qualifying standard that ranks No. 1 in the NAIA. She also teamed up with a distance medley relay team that finished in 12:28.44 (‘B’ standard that leads the NAIA).
Previous BAAM Athletes of the Week
Jan. 11 – Carter Kent (basketball) / Mackenzie Toomey (basketball)
Dec. 14 – Carter Kent (basketball) / Sarah Lewis (track & field)
Dec. 7 – Carter Kent (basketball) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
Nov. 30 – Noah Schutte (basketball) / Taysha Rushton (basketball)
Nov. 16 – Korrell Koehlmoos (football) / Bree Burtwistle (volleyball)
Nov. 9 – Camden Sesna (cross country) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
Nov. 2 – Carter Kent (basketball) / Camryn Opfer (volleyball)
Oct. 26 – Peyton Mitchell (football) / Lexie Kreizel (volleyball)
Oct. 19 – Lane Napier (football) / Kalie Ward (soccer)
Oct. 12 – Caydren Cox (football) / Kalee Wiltfong (volleyball)
Oct. 5 – DJ McGarvie (football) / Sarah Schwacher (shooting sports)
Sept. 28 – Wyatt Hambly (shooting sports) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
Sept. 21 – Camden Sesna (cross country) / Lina Kirst (soccer) / Grace Reiman (cross country) / Carly Rodaway (volleyball)
Sept. 14 – Caydren Cox (football) / Mikeila Martinez (soccer)
Sept. 7 – Drew D’Ercole (golf) / Ivan Yabut (golf) / Erica Heinzerling (volleyball)
Aug. 31 – Martin Herrera (soccer) / Camryn Opfer (volleyball)
BAAM Athletes of the Month
December – Carter Kent (basketball) / Sarah Lewis (track & field)
November – Noah Schutte (basketball) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
October – Lane Napier (football) / Camryn Opfer (volleyball)
September – Caydren Cox (football) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
News and notes:
BAAM luncheons are held every Tuesday at 12 p.m. CT inside the Dog House Grill, located in the Janzow Campus Center. The luncheons feature reports from head coaches who are in season at the time.
Game/event days on campus: Concordia Athletics continues to welcome fans to its venues for sporting events. Currently, there are no attendance limits. Before visiting road venues involving Bulldog teams, fans should be sure to check the spectator policies on those particular campuses. Other locations may require the use of face coverings. Once again, fans attending varsity sporting events at Concordia are able to purchase advance tickets online via HomeTown Ticketing. Tickets will also be sold on site on the day of events. Should any policies or protocols for fans change, updated information will be available on the athletics fan information page HERE.
Concordia announces first head coach of Concordia Powerlifting: Concordia Athletics will soon expand its sport offerings. The Athletic Department announced the launch of men’s and women’s powerlifting on Nov. 9. The two programs will begin competition during the 2022-23 academic year. The program’s first head coach is Freddie Myles, who officially started on the job shortly after New Year’s Day. For more on Coach Myles, click HERE. Like all other intercollegiate sports at Concordia, the powerlifting programs will offer athletic scholarships to student-athletes. For more on this development, click HERE.
Cheer/Dance teams readying to open competition seasons on Wednesday: Head Coach Mandi Maser’s Concordia Cheer and Dance teams are just about ready to kick off their 2022 competition seasons. In conjunction with home basketball games on Wednesday, cheer and dance competitions will be held – dance inside Friedrich Arena at halftime of the women’s basketball game and then cheer inside the PE Center Gym in between basketball games. Both programs improved significantly in 2021 and are looking to build off that momentum this winter. For more on the 2022 cheer and dance squads, check out the season previews linked below.
-2022 Cheer Season Preview
-2022 Dance Season Preview
Puelz legacy of excellence: Roughly 30 years after John Puelz made his mark at Concordia, John's daughter Josie has brought the Puelz name back to the forefront in a big way. The family's legacy will always have a deep and special connection to Concordia. Said Josie when discussing the support of her family, “They know how much I enjoy being at Concordia and what this school has done for me.” Check out the feature on the Puelz family that originally appeared in the winter edition of the Broadcaster Magazine by clicking HERE.
Concordia Invitational Tournament canceled: In conjunction with the participating Concordias, Concordia University, Nebraska announced the cancellation of the 2022 Concordia Invitational Tournament on Jan. 7. CUNE was set to host the event in both 2021 and 2022, however, the tournament was canceled both years due to concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19 in the region and nationally. The CIT announcement does not impact any other previously scheduled events. The Bulldog Basketball teams continued action this past week within league play. For more on the cancellation of CIT, click HERE.
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its seventh year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 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 Max Country app. Throughout the 2021-22 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Parker Cyza serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene is in his seventh season calling Concordia volleyball.
Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning in 2019-20, Concordia Athletics partnered with PrestoSports for live video and statistical streaming. For more details on this change, click HERE. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.
Men’s Basketball
· The Bulldogs enjoyed a breather in the middle of last week while focusing on a key road trip to Jamestown this past weekend. After Concordia let a 17-point first-half lead slip away, it showed the toughness to make winning plays down the stretch and pull it out, 82-79, in North Dakota on Jan. 15. The 11th-ranked Jimmies have been rated as the GPAC’s top team for much of the 2021-22 season following last season’s run to the national quarterfinals. The regular season sweep of Jamestown is one signal of the special season that is unfolding. Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad stands at 16-4 overall (9-3 GPAC) and is just a half-game behind Briar Cliff at the top of the league standings. For more information on Concordia Men’s Basketball, click HERE.
· After going more than a decade without a top 25 poll appearance, the Bulldogs have been ranked in back-to-back national polls. Concordia landed at No. 25 in last week’s edition. It was a two-spot slip, likely due to the upset loss the Bulldogs suffered at Mount Marty on Jan. 5. If Concordia can put together a solid runt his week, it could move back up in the poll scheduled for release on Jan. 26. Considering Jamestown’s two losses last week and the consistency of Briar Cliff, the GPAC rankings could be due for a shakeup. The Chargers did not receive a single point in last week’s poll while Northwestern was listed as receiving votes.
· Although the size of Jamestown and star player Mason Walters always present problems, the Bulldogs have faired well against the Jimmies over the past couple seasons. Concordia has now won each of the past three meetings and came within a hair of also triumphing at Jamestown last season (89-87 overtime loss). The latest matchup was a nail-biter with neither team leading by more than six points during the second half. The Bulldogs wound up shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and shook off a deficit of five points. Carter Kent went wild with 18 of his team high 26 points coming in the second half. AJ Watson also added 16 points and Tristan Smith posted 10 points off the bench.
· It’s fair to say that Kent has been one of the elite players in the GPAC this season – and likely deserves more attention nationally. The Crete High School product has reached the 20-point mark in seven games this season. He’s averaging 17.6 points while shooting 46.5 percent from the floor, 38.5 percent from 3-point range and 88.2 percent from the foul line. Among GPAC players, Kent ranks first in free throw percentage, sixth in scoring average, seventh in assists per game (3.5), eighth in steals per game (1.3), eighth in 3-point field goals made (45) and 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3). The two-time Second Team All-GPAC honoree should rise to the first team this season. Kent needs three more points for 1,500 in his career.
· At 16-4 overall, the 2021-22 team has produced the program’s second best 20-game record during the GPAC era. Only the 17-3 start by the 2004-05 squad has been better. Four Concordia GPAC-era squads have been exactly 14-6 after 20 games: 2008-09, 2009-10, 2017-18 and 2019-20. Of those editions, the 2019-20 team enjoyed the best results in the process of winning the GPAC tournament title and appearing at the national tournament. It just so happens that the current team’s win over Jamestown represented the program’s first road victory over a ranked foe since the 2020 GPAC tournament championship game at the Corn Palace.
· The program has enjoyed stability under Limback, who is in his ninth season as head coach. He recently surpassed 150 career wins (152-110) at his alma mater. The only other coach in program history to achieve that mark was 23-year Head Coach Grant Schmidt, who had an overall record of 445-276. Limback played for Schmidt and was part of three-straight national tournament teams from 1996 through 1998. Schmidt and Limback are also the only coaches to lead the program to the national tournament.
· While Kent has pushed his career scoring total to 1,497, Justin Wiersema has moved his career point total to 1,140. That figure ranks him 26th on the program’s all-time list. A four-year contributor just like Kent, Wiersema contributes in all areas. He came up with the game clinching steal in last week’s win at Jamestown. On the season, Wiersema is averaging 12.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 52.0 percent from the floor.
· As Concordia looks to keep pace near the top of the league standings, it will have a normal two-game week. The Bulldogs will host Morningside (10-6, 7-4 GPAC) at 7:45 p.m. CT on Wednesday and then travel to play at Northwestern (16-5, 8-3 GPAC) at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday. Concordia will try to shake a 12-game series losing streak against the Mustangs and extend a six-game win streak over the Red Raiders.
Track & Field
· After more than a month between meets due to the Christmas break, the Bulldogs returned to action this past weekend while competing at the Graduate Classic (Jan. 14-15) hosted by the University of Nebraska and the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic (Jan. 15) hosted by Doane. When the dust settled, Concordia athletes had combined for nine event championships, six performances that met the automatic national qualifying standard and another seven marks that were recognized as ‘B’ standards. Fresh automatic national qualifying marks were turned in by Rylee Haecker and Sarah Ragland. For more information on Concordia Track & Field, click HERE.
· Below is a list of the Bulldogs who achieved marks at the first two weekends of meets that were reported to the national leaderboard. It should be noted that several times were converted for the national performance list. The overall program tally on the season includes 10 automatic national qualifying standards, nine ‘B’ standards and a pentathlon point total that ranks top five in the NAIA.
o Women’s 4x400m relay – A (3:53.73)
o Women’s distance medley relay – B (12:28.44)
o Andy Amos – A, weight throw (57’ 10 ¼”)
o Jordyn Anderson – B, shot put (43’ 7 ¾”)
o Olivia Buschow – B, weight throw (52’ 10 ¾”)
o Amira Cummings – A, pole vault (11’ 6 ½”)
o Morgan De Jong – A, weight throw (55’ 10 ½”)
o Rylee Haecker – A, 1,000 meters (2:58.77)
o Brady Klute – B, weight throw (54’ 7 ½”)
o Sarah Lewis – A, 400 meters (57.34); A, 60 hurdles (8.87)
o Wyatt Loga – B, high jump (6’ 7”)
o Hannah Newton – B, high jump (5’ 5”)
o Josie Puelz – A, pole vault (13’ 2 ¼”)
o Sarah Ragland – A, weight throw (55’ 5”)
o Amy Richert – No. 4 in NAIA in pentathlon (3,407); B, high jump (5’ 5”)
o Calvin Rohde – B, 1,000 meters (2:30.21); B, 3,000 meters (8:38.77)
o Chris Wren – A, weight throw (64’ 1 ¾”)
· Among the most notable performances, Rylee Haecker enjoyed a thrilling weekend that saw her clock an automatic national qualifying standard of 2:58.77 in the 1,000 meters, placing her second out of 22 runners at the Graduate Classic. The Davenport, Neb., native also ran a leg for the women’s distance medley relay that turned in a ‘B’ standard of 12:28.44 and placed the Bulldogs above relays from NCAA Division I Nebraska-Omaha and Saint Louis. Haecker was joined on the DMR by Grace Reiman, Keri Bauer and Kylahn Heritage. A day earlier, Reiman ran the one mile at the Devaney Center and posted a PR of 5:22.09.
· In the weight throw, Chris Wren popped off a massive toss of 64’ 1 ¾,” placing him second in the competition at the Nisely Classic. That mark pushed Wren to No. 4 on the program’s all-time weight throw list, behind only a trio of past national champions in Cody Boellstorff, Jacob Cornelio and Zach Lurz. The weight throw was a fruitful event overall last weekend as Morgan De Jong notched a season best, Sarah Ragland qualified for nationals and Andy Amos again hit the ‘A’ standard. Between men and women, throws coach Ed McLaughlin’s crew has combined for four auto marks and two ‘B’ standards in the weight throw so far this season.
· Some of the events had small fields at the Nisely Classic, but Concordia left with a haul of nine event titles. They were claimed by Elena Batenhorst (400 meters), De Jong (weight throw), Jack Ellis (3,000 meters), Wyatt Loga (high jump), Hannah Newton (high jump), Cora Olson (200 meters), Sam Plante (200 meters), Calvin Rohde (mile) and Lainey Werts (600 meters). A Crete native, Newton eclipsed the ‘B’ standard in the high jump along with teammate Amy Richert. A returning indoor All-American, Loga also hit the ‘B’ mark.
· So far this indoor season, Rohde has been the top distance runner on the men’s side. He’s already clocked ‘B’ standards in both the 1,000 (2:30.21) and 3,000 (8:38.77) meter races. As it stands right now, Rohde ranks No. 4 in the NAIA in the 1,000 meters with the personal best he ran at the Graduate Classic. Rohde (Reed City, Mich.) is coming off a cross country season that saw him earn all-conference accolades and a trip to the NAIA national meet. Rohde was joined at cross country nationals by Haecker and Camden Sesna.
· The Bulldogs will be in action each weekend now through the conference championship meet. Coming up on Saturday, the program will host the annual Concordia Polar Dog Invite, which is slated to get started with multi events at 10 a.m. CT. This will be one of four home indoor meets this season. The tentative meet schedule for the Polar Dog can be viewed HERE.
Wrestling
· It was a relatively light week of action as the Bulldogs competed in a singular conference dual. Concordia hopes to use the 39-3 defeat endured at the hands of No. 4 Doane on Jan. 14 as a learning experience. Head Coach Myron Bradbury came away from the loss encouraged by the progress he saw from many individuals within the lineup. The Bulldogs are now 4-4 overall (2-3 GPAC) in duals and have competed in six tournaments this season. For more information on Concordia Wrestling, click HERE.
· In the highlight of the night for the Bulldogs at Doane, TJ Huber shut out Lahina Kane, 4-0, in the 174-pound battle as the Gretna, Neb., native picked up his 10th victory of the season. Meanwhile, in close defeats, Isaac Agabin (125), Jeaven Scdordis (149), Issiah Burks (165) and Hunter Weimer (184) were clipped by decision. Unfortunately, Concordia had to scratch All-American Mario Ybarra from the lineup, wiping out a potential matchup between ranked combatants at 133.
· Doane (11-3, 5-0 GPAC) flexed its muscles with pins at 133, 141 and 285 and by taking a technical fall at 197. Dominance has been the norm for two-time national champion Baterdene Boldmaa. He took out Conner Burrus in 2:29 in the 141-pound match. At heavyweight, the Bulldogs’ Jacob Telles (2021 GPAC champion) was finished off in 4:16 by NAIA third-ranked Odgerel Batkhishig.
· The results so far in conference duals have included wins over Dakota Wesleyan, 32-13, and Midland, 32-18, and losses to Hastings, 29-17, Morningside, 26-8, and Doane, 39-3. At 2-3 in GPAC duals, Concordia resides in seventh place in the current standings. The Tigers are in the driver’s seat at 5-0 and are followed by Hastings (4-1), Morningside (3-1) and Briar Cliff (4-2) at the top of the heap. Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Bulldog program has claimed a total of nine conference regular season and GPAC/regional postseason championships.
· In the most recent tournament (the Hastings Open on Jan. 8), Concordia wrestlers combined for 13 wins, including three via fall. Most notably, Scdoris placed fourth at 149 pounds and Burks reached the semifinals at 165. Scdoris (4-2), Huber (3-2 at 174) and Burks (2-2) led the way for the Bulldogs in terms of matches won in Hastings. In the 165-pound bracket, Burks won by major decision, 10-1, over Avila University (Mo.)’s Blake Becker and by decision over Pratt Community College’s Scott Radke, 8-2. With a chance at advancing to the final, Burks was pinned by Northwestern’s Blake Pomajzl, the GPAC’s fourth-ranked 165-pounder.
· As part of his run at the Hastings Open, Scdoris earned a pin of NCAA Division II Augustana University (S.D.)’s Kenneth Lenger. The Milford High School product picked up two contested wins, including one over Trey Fischbach of Dickinson State University (N.D.). Meanwhile, Huber collected a pin of Dickinson State’s Lance Kettering. One win apiece was credited to Tracy Allen (149), Tavoris Smith (157), Jovon Howe (184) and Jack Hedke (285). Hedke’s victory came via fall over Avila’s Andrew Burnett. In sum, seven Bulldogs generated at least one win at the Hastings Open.
· On the season, the following Concordia wrestlers have claimed at least 10 wins: Thomas Ivey (14-4), Jacob Telles (14-5), Mason Garcia (13-5), Tavoris Smith (13-13) and TJ Huber (10-8). The Bulldogs have been careful in terms of the load they have put on Ybarra, who carries a record of 8-2. The 2021 All-American has wrestled in just one tournament this season. He placed second in the 133-pound bracket at the open hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney. At some point, Ybarra will have a chance to avenge the 3-1 loss he suffered against Morningside’s Taylor Vasquez in a dual. From a pins standpoint, Telles and Garcia lead the way with eight and seven pins, respectively.
· Up next will be the Missouri Valley College Invite this Friday and Saturday in Marshall, Mo. The event is known as the premier regular season tournament in the NAIA. The Missouri Valley Invite was canceled in 2021 due to concerns regarding COVID-19. It last took place in January 2020 when the Bulldogs placed 16th out of a field of 48 teams.
Women’s Basketball
· Last week was a mixed bag that featured one strong performance at home and one rough outing on the road. The 19th-ranked Bulldogs blew out College of Saint Mary, 87-58, at home on Jan. 12 and then struggled in a 65-51 loss at Jamestown on Jan. 15. That defeat snapped what had been a seven-game GPAC win streak. Concordia had also won 13-straight meetings with the Jimmies. Despite that loss, Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad remains in the thick of things near the top of the league standings. The Bulldogs (12-7, 9-4 GPAC) trail Morningside (11-1) and Northwestern (9-3) in the GPAC and have Briar Cliff (8-4) and Dakota Wesleyan (7-4) right on their heels. For more information on Concordia Women’s Basketball, click HERE.
· There was roughly a month between releases of the NAIA national poll. A nice recent run through conference play was enough to move the Bulldogs up three spots to No. 19 in the poll unveiled on Jan. 12. Concordia has appeared in the top 25 of each of the first four polls of the season, going from ninth in the preseason to 21st, to 22nd and to 19th. There have been ups and downs, but the Bulldogs have shown an ability to compete with the best teams in the NAIA. Olson’s bunch owns wins over three teams in the current top 25: No. 9 Wayland Baptist University (Texas), No. 14 Northwestern and No. 21 Dakota State University (S.D.). Concordia’s challenging schedule has featured five games against the current NAIA top 10.
· The GPAC win streak grew to seven with a stellar all-around performance in the victory over College of Saint Mary. A beastly advantage of 53-31 on the boards played a big role in the lopsided margin. Three Bulldogs reached double figures in scoring: Sadie Powell (19), Taysha Rushton (18) and Mackenzie Toomey (13). The Lincoln Southeast product Toomey also added 12 rebounds, five steals and three assists while recording her first career double-double. The Midland, Texas, native Rushton wasn’t far off a triple-double as she collected nine assists and seven rebounds. Six Concordia players totaled at least five rebounds.
· Things got ugly in Jamestown after the Bulldogs had gotten out to a 16-8 lead in the second quarter. The Jimmies responded with a 26-6 run heading into halftime and led by as many as 18 points in the second half. With Bailey Conrad out of the lineup for the second game in a row, the Concordia offense sputtered. The Bulldogs shot only 30.5 percent (18-for-59) from the floor and committed 17 turnovers. They were led in scoring by Rushton (16) and Powell (11) and in rebounding by Rylee Pauli with 10 boards. On the other end, Hannah DeMars paced Jamestown with 21 points. Concordia’s 51 points were a season low.
· A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native, Powell has come on in a big way and has started three games in a row. She’s now the second leading scorer on the team with a season scoring average of 8.5 points per game. Powell totaled 30 points and 11 rebounds last week. A few weeks back, Powell enjoyed the biggest game of her career when she registered 21 points and 10 rebounds in the overtime win over Doane. Her role has increased significantly after she averaged 3.2 points in 25 games in 2020-21.
· With the win over College of Saint Mary, the Bulldogs improved to 9-1 at home this season (the lone defeat came against Sterling College on Nov. 5). That home success is a continuation of what has occurred throughout Olson’s tenure. Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Concordia owns a home mark of 153-14 (.916). During that stretch, the Bulldogs have gone whole seasons without falling at home, like they did in 2016-17 (17-0), 2017-18 (15-0) and 2019-20 (16-0). The class of players that played from 2016 through 2020 went 63-1 at home over their careers.
· Rushton currently ranks fourth among GPAC players in scoring with an average of 16.5 points per game. Another nine Bulldogs are averaging more than 5.0 points per game: Powell (8.5), Kayla Luebbe (7.3), Pauli (7.3), Toomey (6.6), Taylor Farrell (6.5), Abby Heemstra (6.4), Lauren Baker (6.2), Kendal Brigham (6.0) and Conrad (5.4). Concordia ranks second in the conference in team scoring at 77.9 (behind Morningside, 82.1).
The Bulldogs will go up against the top two rated teams in the league this week as they host No. 8 Morningside (15-3, 11-1 GPAC) at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday before heading to No. 14 Northwestern (17-3, 9-3 GPAC) for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Saturday. Concordia will attempt to avenge its 89-83 loss at Morningside on Dec. 1 while aiming for a season sweep of Northwestern. The Bulldogs edged the Red Raiders, 84-82, in overtime on Dec. 4.