Bulldog Weekly Report (Jan. 29)

By Jacob Knabel on Jan. 29, 2019 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Female: Taylor Grove, Track & Field

Grove, a native of Billings, Mont., continued her winning ways last week at the Concordia Classic by taking first place in the one mile (5:29.13) and 3,000 meter (10:52.74) runs. Among GPAC performers, Grove currently sits No. 1 in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters and third in the one mile.

Male: Mario Ybarra, Wrestling

Ybarra, who hails from Scottsbluff, Neb., went 4-0 at the GPAC Duals on Jan. 26 while also helping the team to a 4-0 mark on the day. Ybarra collected a pin and another victory via major decision while improving his season record to 23-9. Ybarra is ranked third in the GPAC at 125 pounds.

Previous Athletes of the Week
Jan. 22 – Michael Stann (wrestling) / Addie Shaw (track & field)
Jan. 15 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Leah Larson (track & field)
Jan. 8 – Zack Moistner (wrestling) / Mackenzie Koepke (basketball)
DECEMBER Athletes of the Month: Tanner Shuck (basketball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Dec. 31 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Dec. 18 – Taylor Cockerill (basketball) / Michael Stann (wrestling)
Dec. 11 – Deandre Chery (wrestling) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Dec. 4 – Tanner Shuck (basketball) / Taylor Grove (track & field)
NOVEMBER Athletes of the Month: Alberto Garcia (wrestling) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 27 – Alberto Garcia (wrestling) / Taylor Grove (cross country) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 13 – Zac Walter (football) / Grace Barry (basketball)
Nov. 6 – Jack Bennett (soccer) / Tori Cera (soccer)
OCTOBER Athletes of the Month: Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
Oct. 30 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Taylor Cockerill (basketball)
Oct. 23 – Josiah McAllister (cross country) / Jenna Habegger (volleyball)
Oct. 16 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
Oct. 9 – Kordell Glause (football) / Brynn Suddeth (soccer)
Oct. 2 – Zac Walter (football) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
SEPTEMBER Athletes of the Month: Ryan Durdon (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Sept. 25 – Roger de la Villa (soccer) / Erin Lokke (shooting sports)
Sept. 18 – Lane Napier (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Sept. 11 – Ryan Durdon (football) / Marissa Hoerman (volleyball)
Sept. 4 – JP Verissimo (soccer) / Lauren Martin (soccer)
Aug. 28 – Garrett Perry (soccer) / Jenna Habegger (volleyball)

News and notes:

Cheer and dance teams continue competition season: Head coach Mandi Maser’s cheer and dance squads have both competed three times now since the competition season began with the Doane Invite on Jan. 19. In last week’s action, both Bulldog teams came up short in duals versus Doane. Then at the Concordia Invitational Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., CUNE placed third in cheer and fourth in dance. Maser’s program now gets set to host the Concordia Invite inside Walz Arena on Saturday. It is slated to get started at 1 p.m. CST. The Bulldogs are captained by junior Annie Pico (Mesa, Ariz.) for cheer and sophomore Kalina Schoenfeld (Carroll, Iowa) for dance.

Shooting sports resumes 2018-19 season at ACUI Super Shoot: Head coach Scott Moniot took his shooting sports team to Tucson, Ariz., this past Thursday through Sunday (Jan. 24-27) in the first competition for the Bulldogs since November. Four different Concordia females took at least one gold in the disciplines that were featured at the ACUI Super Shoot. Check back later today (Jan. 29) for a detailed recap on https://www.cune.edu/athletics/

Previewing the 2019 Concordia baseball and softball seasons: The Concordia baseball and softball programs will get their 2019 seasons underway during the month of February. Last week cune.edu/athletics unveiled season previews for squads led by head coaches Ryan Dupic and Shawn Semler. Both teams were picked by league coaches to place fifth in the GPAC.
-Season previews: Baseball | Softball.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its fourth 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 2018-19 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Tyler Cavalli 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 fourth season calling Concordia volleyball.

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.

Women’s Basketball

  • Some hardware returned to Seward along with the top-ranked Bulldogs, who celebrated the program’s 29th all-time CIT title this past weekend. CUNE remained dominant in the event, triumphing in Ann Arbor, Mich., over Concordia University Wisconsin, 102-74, and over Concordia University Ann Arbor, 82-56. Those victories made 13th-year head coach Drew Olson a CIT winner for the 10th time in his tenure. The Bulldogs also defeated Doane, 106-47, last week and are now 22-2 overall and 14-2 in GPAC play (first place). For more information on Concordia women’s basketball, click HERE.
  • CIT has been drama free in recent seasons for the Bulldogs, who now own a 12-game CIT winning streak. During that stretch, CUNE has won each of those contests by double digit margins. The championship games have been decided by spreads of 20, 52, 22, 27, 46 and 26, respectively. The CIT MVPs over those seasons have been Bailey Morris (2014, 2015), Quinn Wragge (2016, 2017), Dani Hoppes (2018) and Philly Lammers (2019). Lammers is the 18th different Bulldog to win a CIT MVP award.
  • Lammers found no equal during the weekend stay in Ann Arbor. She was an easy choice for MVP after she piled up 40 points, 22 rebounds, seven steals and four blocked shots over the two contests at Cardinal Field House. She also put up 15 points, five rebounds and four steals in the win over Doane despite resting nearly the entire second half. For the week, Lammers went 23-for-35 (.657) from the floor. On the season, Lammers sports a field goal percentage of 60.3 (seventh best in NAIA Division II).
  • Sophomore guard Taylor Cockerill joined Lammers on the CIT All-Tournament Team. She sliced and diced her way to 35 points during CIT action. The Waverly High School product has ramped up her aggression this season. She has bumped her scoring average up from 9.0 as a freshman to 15.6 this season. That figure is the highest average for a Bulldog since NAIA Division II National Player of the Year Bailey Morris averaged 18.5 points during the 2014-15 season. Cockerill has piled up 709 points over her first 61 collegiate games.
  • With the release of last week’s national poll, Concordia regained the No. 1 ranking in NAIA Division II. It marked the 18th time in program history that the Bulldogs have reached that lofty perch. Concordia has taken up residence in the top five of the national poll ever since moving up into that position on Dec. 13, 2016. The program also has an active top 25 poll streak of 87, which dates back to the 2011-12 preseason poll.
  • Blowout wins have been numerous during the glory years that continue for Bulldog women’s basketball. Three more lopsided victories last week pushed the team’s season total of number of wins by 20 or more points to 14. Only two of the 22 triumphs this season have been decided by single digit margins – eight-point wins over No. 2 Southeastern University (Fla.) and No. 5 Northwestern. Concordia ranks No. 4 nationally in scoring margin (+24.5) while playing a schedule that Massey Ratings currently pegs as the third toughest in the entire NAIA.
  • The achievement of 20 wins in a season has become a given for Concordia. The Bulldogs have reached that mark 11 times during Olson’s tenure. Often Concordia doesn’t stop there. Olson has presided over seasons with win totals of 36 in 2017-18, 35 in 2014-15, 34 in 2016-17 and 34 in 2011-12. Olson’s teams have also racked up at least 25 wins eight times. Over the previous seven seasons, the Bulldogs failed to reach 25 victories only once (22-10 in 2015-16).
  • Off the bench, freshmen Delani Fahey and Mackenzie Koepke have supplied a lift with their offensive prowess from the perimeter. Fahey is an impressive 28-for-56 (.500) from 3-point range on the season after going 9-for-15 (.600) last week. Koepke has not been shy to pull the trigger in her freshman season. She went 7-for-21 (.333) over last week’s three wins.
  • Now it’s time for a challenging stretch run of the GPAC regular season. It starts on Wednesday when No. 14 Dordt (17-7, 10-6 GPAC) visits Walz Arena for a 6 p.m. CST tipoff. The Bulldogs hope to avenge a 97-92 double overtime loss that occurred at Dordt in the season’s first meeting. Then on Saturday, it will be off to Orange City, Iowa, for a clash with No. 2 Northwestern (20-3, 14-3 GPAC). The Red Raiders are coming off a stunning upset loss at Doane. That result put Concordia alone in first place.

Wrestling

  • After going more than a month between duals, the Bulldogs came out well prepared for action on Jan. 26. Concordia swept four contests with conference foes as part of the GPAC Duals that it hosted on that date. It did so in dominant fashion, toppling Hastings, 42-6, Jamestown, 40-0, Doane, 44-9, and Briar Cliff, 25-14. First-year head coach Levi Calhoun’s squad is now 6-0 in GPAC duals (8-3 overall) and sits alone atop the conference standings. For more information on Bulldog wrestling, click HERE.
  • The performances on Jan. 26 brought back images of the recent past for a program that ruled the GPAC from the 2014-15 through 2016-17 seasons. During that time Concordia won all 21 conference duals while taking three GPAC dual titles and three NAIA regional/GPAC postseason tournament championships. Even with a bit of a slide back last season, the Bulldogs own a sparkling conference dual record of 32-3 since the beginning of the 2014-15 season. Concordia was spurred by GPAC Wrestlers of the Year in Enrique Barajas (2013-14), Emilio Rivera (2014-15), Andrew Schulte (2015-16) and Ceron Francisco (2016-17).
  • There were very few downers during the long day of action that began at 9 a.m. CST on Jan. 26. The Bulldogs won 33 of the 40 individual matches with 14 individuals claiming at least one victory on the day. Junior Deandre Chery appears to be on a mission to win another GPAC title and reach the national stage again. The 174-pounder notched two more pins as part of a 3-0 day. Freshmen Michael Stann (285) and Mario Ybarra (125) both went a perfect 4-0.
  • Chery and Stann could both push to become the program’s next GPAC Wrestler of the Year award winner at some point. The duo has been the backbone of the team to this point in the season. Both Bulldogs have reached the 30-win mark with Stann at 33-11 and Chery at 30-8. They are also neck and neck for the team lead in pins. Chery recorded two more at the GPAC Duals to push his season total to 15. Meanwhile, Stann has nailed 16 opponents to the mat.
  • At the end of the day, Calhoun had a tough time singling out just one standout performer. Fourteen Bulldogs registered at least one win. Kyle Carey (141) and Alberto Garcia (133) also added three victories apiece. Exactly two wins each were recorded by Blake Castillo, Cameron Devers, Walker Fisher, Chucky Hedrick, Tyler Jorgensen, Darrin Miller and Jason Watkins. Blake Crawford and Josh Nelsen turned in one win apiece.
  • New conference and national ratings were released last week by the NAIA. As a team, the Bulldogs slotted in at No. 1 in the GPAC with 159 points. They were followed by Morningside (156), Midland (131) and Northwestern (122) in the top four. On the national scale, Concordia sat just outside of the top 20. Individually, 11 Concordia grapplers appeared among the top six of their respective weight classes. Three Bulldogs are ranked nationally: No. 8 Alberto Garcia (133), No. 10 Deandre Chery (174) and No. 10 Michael Stann (285).
  • Entering the week, seven Concordia grapplers boast at least 10 victories this season: Stann (33-11), Chery (30-8), Ybarra (23-9), Nelsen (17-14), Jorgensen (15-14), Miller (13-13), Devers (12-12) Carey (11-13) and Garcia (10-2). To date, the Bulldogs have competed in 11 duals and six tournaments. Another two duals and three tournaments remain on the schedule (including the NAIA national tournament).
  • When the dust settled this past Saturday, Concordia stood alone at the top of the GPAC standings. Situated next in line behind the Bulldogs are Morningside (5-1), Midland (4-1) and Northwestern (4-2). Defending GPAC champion Briar Cliff is now 4-3 in conference duals. Morningside also hosted another pod of GPAC duals on Jan. 26. Midland emerged from Sioux City, Iowa, with a 3-0 day.
  • A couple of events make up this week’s schedule. Concordia will travel to dual Northwestern for a 6 p.m. CST dual on Thursday. The Bulldogs will then go to Sioux City for a tournament put on by Morningside on Saturday. A win on Thursday would clinch at least a share of the conference dual championship. Another conference champion will also be crowed at the GPAC tournament on Feb. 16.

Men’s Basketball

  • CIT week meant the Bulldogs were in action three times in a four-day stretch. They began and ended that foray in winning fashion with a loss sandwiched in between. CUNE ran away from Doane, 70-53, at home on Jan. 23 before flying to Ann Arbor, Mich., for CIT. While there, the Bulldogs fell to Concordia University, Wisconsin, 86-70, and then defeated Concordia University, Chicago, 77-69. Those results leave sixth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad at 13-12 overall and at 5-10 in the GPAC (tied for eighth place). For more information on Bulldog men’s basketball, click HERE.
  • CUNE has now been relegated to the CIT consolation game in back-to-back years. That came on the heels of CIT championships in 2016 and 2017, which were the 26th and 27th CIT titles in program history. In last week’s CIT, CU-Wisconsin dominated in a fashion that was similar to the way CUNE breezed to the title at home in 2017. In that instance, MVP Chandler Folkerts powered the Bulldogs to victories over CU-Chicago, 104-82, and over CU-Ann Arbor, 85-58. Ann Arbor again got blown out in the championship in 2019, falling by an 84-62 final to CUW.
  • Junior guard Brevin Sloup became the latest CUNE representative on the CIT All-Tournament team. Sloup knocked down his first five attempts from 3-point range versus CUW on his way to 24 points. He then added 21 points in the win over CUC. “The Mayor” turned in efficient CIT shooting numbers – 13-for-23 from the floor, 8-for-13 from 3-point range and 11-for-13 from the free throw line. Sloup is the GPAC’s top free throw shooter at 86.7 percent. He also ranks eighth in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.419).
  • The Bulldogs have now won four of their last five outings within conference play. Concordia has been particularly effective at Walz recently, having produced three double digit home victories in a row – 102-92 over No. 7 Briar Cliff, 66-51 over Midland and 70-53 over Doane. The Bulldogs have been tremendous in the second half of each of those wins. While avenging a loss at Doane that occurred earlier in the season, Concordia outscored the Tigers over the final 20 minutes, 39-25, while holding them to 37.0 percent shooting over that stretch.
  • The Bulldogs got one player back from injury over the weekend with sophomore Ryan Holt returning to action. He played in a total of 13 minutes at CIT. Holt notched five points in the win over CUC. Unfortunately, freshman Tanner Wubbels had to be removed from that particular game due to a foot injury. His status is uncertain for the remainder of the season. In the win over Doane, Limback had tightened the rotation to eight players.
  • Junior Chuol Biel is counted upon for only occasional scoring, but he seems to make at least one eye-popping play each game. In the win over Doane, Biel had one instance in which he blocked a shot on the defensive end and then raced to the other end for a layup. He also threw down an alley-oop dunk. In last week’s action, Biel grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked six shots. He is the GPAC leader with an average of 1.68 blocks per game.
  • Prior to the game versus CUC, Shuck had gone through a four-game stretch during which he had averaged 9.0 points per game and went 8-for-24 from 3-point range. He heated back up with a 6-for-11 performance from beyond the arc that included 20 points versus CUC. After last week’s contests, Shuck has moved past CUNE Hall of Famer Mike Works (1,039) for 29th on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,064 career points.
  • Shuck and company were rock solid last week from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs blitzed CUC after halftime by making six of their first nine second half attempts from long range. Overall last week, CUNE went 38-for-100 (.380) from beyond the arc with either 12 or 13 made 3-point field goals in each game.
  • In a fight for a top eight finish required to reach the GPAC tournament, the Bulldogs find themselves entering a crucial week of conference action. They will host Dordt (15-9, 7-7 GPAC) at 8 p.m. CST on Wednesday before traveling to take on Northwestern (14-10, 8-7 GPAC) at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads got the best of Concordia in the first meetings of the season. The Bulldogs’ main competition for the top eight of the standings include the likes of Midland (5-10) and Doane (4-12).

Track & Field

  • The first few weeks of the indoor season have gone about as well as the Bulldogs could have hoped. Now ranked in the top 10 nationally by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the men’s and women’s teams produced seven fresh automatic national qualifying marks last week while host the Concordia Classic (Jan. 24-25). Head coach Matt Beisel’s programs got the indoor season started the weekend of Jan. 11-12. For more on Concordia track and field, click HERE.
  • Through the first two weeks of the season, Bulldog athletes have now combined for 21 automatic national qualifying marks and 11 ‘B’ standard qualifying marks. Samantha Liermann, Johanna Ragland and Addie Shaw lead the way having locked up spots at nationals in both the shot put and the weight throw. The pole vault crew has shown off impressive depth by piling up seven ‘A’ clearances between the men and women. The list below also includes Concordia multi-event athletes with performances that met the minimum standard required to reach the national championships.
    • Men’s 4x400m relay (A, 3:20.04)
    • Women’s 4x400m relay (A, 3:58.50)
    • Rachel Battershell – 400 meters (B, 59.15)
    • Zach Bennetts – pole vault (B, 15’ 1”)
    • Allie Brooks – pole vault (A, 11’ 6 ½”)
    • Jacob Cornelio – weight throw (A, 64’ 11 ½”)
    • Gavin Davis – 200 meters (A, 22.23)
    • Morgan De Jong – weight throw (B, 52’ ½”)
    • Gavin DeHaai – pole vault (A, 15’ 5”)
    • Jessica Deterding – triple jump (B, 36’ 7 ¾”); No. 9 nationally in pentathlon (3,183)
    • Jodi Fry – shot put (A, 44’ 8”)
    • McKenzie Gravo – pole vault (A, 11’ 6 ½”)
    • Mariah Huneke – weight throw (B, 52’ 10 ¼”)
    • Leah Larson – triple jump (A, 38’ 2 ¾”)
    • Samantha Liermann – shot put (A, 47’ ¼”); weight throw (A, 53’ 9 ¾”)
    • Erin Mapson – pole vault (A, 11’ 6 ½”)
    • Nathan Matters – 600 meters (A, 1:21.89)
    • Josiah McAllister – 1,000 meters (A, 2:29.93)
    • Kennedy Mogul – No. 19 nationally in pentathlon (3,030)
    • Tristen Mosier – pole vault (A, 11’ 6 ½”)
    • Jacee Pfeifer – pole vault (A, 11’ 6 ½”); 400 meters (B, 59.22)
    • Tucker Platt – pole vault (B, 15’ 1”)
    • Ben Pratt – high jump (B, 6’ 6 ¼”)
    • Johanna Ragland – shot put (A, 45’ 1 ¾”); weight throw (A, 55’ 9 ¾”)
    • Addie Shaw – shot put (A, 46’ ¾”); weight throw (A, 60’ 6 ¾”)
    • Adrianna Sims – triple jump (B, 37’ ¼”)
    • Sam Sisco – pole vault (B, 15’ 1”)
    • Cody Williams – pole vault (A, 15’ 9”); 60 meter hurdles (B, 8.38); No. 2 nationally in heptathlon (5,096)
  • The first USTFCCCA computer ratings released last week were a reflection of the spectacular start to the 2019 campaign. In the NAIA national ratings, the Bulldogs checked in at No. 2 on the women’s side and at No. 6 on the men’s side. The early indications seem to make it quite clear that Concordia is ready to make a leap forward from its 2018 NAIA indoor national finishes of ninth (women) and 69th (men), respectively. The Bulldogs may go even higher in this week’s ranking considering they own nine combined national top-five event rankings.
  • Concordia appears to have the deepest collection of pole vaulters in the NAIA. Current automatic national qualifiers so far are Allie Brooks, McKenzie Gravo, Erin Mapson, Tristen Mosier and Jacee Pfeifer on the women’s side and Gavin DeHaii and Cody Williams on the men’s side. Not only that, another three Bulldog men have turned in ‘B’ standards in the pole vault. Gravo is a two-time All-American while Brooks has one All-America award to her credit.
  • Senior Leah Larson continues to push herself to new heights. At the Concordia Classic, Larson broke her own school record in the indoor triple jump with a mark of 38’ 2 ¾.” That figure puts her No. 3 on the NAIA national list. The native of Norfolk, Neb., ranks behind only Life (Ga.)’s Bria Sands (38’ 7 ½”) and Eastern Oregon’s Kalulusno Ngaida (38’ 3 ¼”).
  • The Bulldogs have become a more well-rounded team this season that can also excel on the track. Senior Josiah McAllister enjoyed another big meet. He is now the national leader in the 1,000 meters after he clocked a first place time of 2:29.93 at the Concordia Classic. He also ran the anchor leg for the 4x400 meter relay that finished in 3:20.04 – good for the best time in the GPAC and the fourth best in the NAIA. Also on the men’s side, Gavin Davis (200 meters) and Nathan Matters (600 meters) are qualified for nationals.
  • It takes heavy hitters at the top of event categories to win team national titles like the program did in 2015 (men’s outdoor) and 2016 (women’s outdoor). Currently, McAllister (1,000 meters) and Shaw (weight throw) are rated No. 1 in the NAIA. Others listed among the top three nationally in their respective events are the women’s 4x400 meter relay (No. 3), Larson (No. 3 in the triple jump) and Williams (No. 2 in the heptathlon). Several other Bulldogs also appear within the top five.
  • Most Concordia athletes now look forward to the Fred Beile Invite hosted by Doane on Saturday. Select Bulldogs will also appear at the Sevigne Husker Invite hosted by the University of Nebraska on Friday and Saturday. Concordia and the rest of the GPAC has only three more weeks to prepare for the conference championships on Feb. 15-16.