Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Male: Wyatt Hambly, Shooting Sports
A graduate student from Paso Robles, Calif., Hambly took home the high overall national title at the 2023 NCSSAA National Championships held this past week in Vegas. Hambly shot a 290/300 overall at the national championships and ran 100 straight in trap, 95 in skeet and 95 in sporting clays.
Female: Claire Kee, Shooting Sports
A junior from Gibbon, Neb., Kee won the women’s doubles skeet national title this past week while in action at the 2023 NCSSAA National Championships. Kee shot 93/100 in the event. From an HOA perspective, Kee shot 270/300 (seventh best among all Bulldogs at the event).
Previous BAAM Athletes of the Week
March 14 – Caitlyn McGarvie (softball) / Josie Puelz (track & field) / Zach Zohner (track & field)
Feb. 28 – Katie Birtell (Dance) / Noah Schutte (Basketball)
Feb. 21 – Issiah Burks (wrestling) / Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
Feb. 14 – Noah Schutte (basketball) / Taysha Rushton (basketball)
Feb. 7 – Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Calvin Rohde (track & field)
Jan. 31 – Noah Schutte (basketball) / Kristin Vieselmeyer (basketball)
Jan. 24 – Rylee Haecker (track & field) / Calvin Rohde (track & field)
Jan. 17 – Kylahn Freiberg (track & field) / Garrett Seagren (basketball)
Jan. 10 – Sadie Powell (basketball) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
Dec. 13 – Chase Berry (track & field) / Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Taysha Rushton (basketball)
Dec. 6 – Gabi Nordaker (volleyball) / Gage Smith (basketball)
Nov. 29 – Rylee Ladd (powerlifting) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
Nov. 15 – Rebecca Gebhardt (volleyball) / Federico Simonetti (Soccer)
Nov. 8 – Kylahn Freiberg (cross country) / Kaden Peters (football)
Nov. 1 – Breyer Meeks (shooting sports) / Carlos Orquiz (soccer) / Morgan Nibbe (volleyball)
Oct. 25 – Bree Burtwistle (volleyball) / Isaiah Shaddick (soccer)
Oct. 18 – Korrell Koehlmoos (football) / Carly Rodaway (volleyball)
Oct. 11 – Rylee Haecker (cross country) / DJ McGarvie (football)
Oct. 4 – Rebecca Gebhardt (volleyball) / Korrell Koehlmoos (football)
Sept. 27 – Bree Burtwistle (volleyball) / Ryan Wokutch (soccer)
Sept. 20 – Tanner Muff (shooting sports) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball) / Katie Welker (shooting sports)
Sept. 13 – Kierstynn Garner (soccer) / Jack Nelson (shooting sports)
Sept. 6 – Camryn Opfer (volleyball) / Camden Sesna (cross country)
Aug. 30 – Federico Simonetti (soccer) / Carly Rodaway (volleyball)
Aug. 23 – Bree Burtwistle (volleyball)
2022-23 BAAM Athletes of the Month
February – Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
January – Rylee Haecker (track & field) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
December – Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Gage Smith (basketball)
November – Rebecca Gebhardt (volleyball); Noah Schutte (basketball)
October – Bree Burtwistle (volleyball); Korrell Koehlmoos (football); Carly Rodaway (volleyball)
September – Gabi Nordaker (volleyball); Camryn Opfer (volleyball); Camden Sesna (cross country)
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. For information on how to join BAAM, click HERE. It is not a requirement to be a BAAM member in order to attend the weekly luncheons.
Shooting Sports places third at national championships, Hambly wins individual HOA title: The dust has settled on a week spent in Las Vegas at the 2023 NCSSAA National Championships. A group of 22 Bulldogs represented the Concordia University Shooting Sports program, which placed third overall as a team (in the Division IV breakdown) in competition that featured trap, skeet and sporting clays. Individually, graduate student Wyatt Hambly rose to the top of the field as the high overall Division IV national champion while also triumphing in sporting clays. In addition, Bulldog Claire Kee took home a national championship in women’s doubles skeet and Sam Blevins won the men’s skeet crown. As part of a new format for national championships sponsored by the NCSSAA, the action took place March 14-18 at Clark County Shooting Complex in Vegas. Head Coach Dylan Owens’ top five overall shooters combined to crack 1,405 targets towards the HOA leaderboard. That total tied Midland for second place. However, the Warriors were credited with second after winning a shoot off. For more details on the program, check out the homepage for Concordia Shooting Sports HERE.
Winter seasons-in-review: In recapping the winter sports seasons that have concluded, we took a detailed look at the Concordia men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling teams. Each of their 2022-23 journeys culminated with appearances at national championship events. Click the links below for season-in-review stories.
-Men’s Basketball
-Women’s Basketball
-Wrestling
Flesner makes history as first NAIA All-American in Concordia Dance history: One of four Bulldogs to earn All-GPAC honors back in February, freshman Ryleigh Flesner has made history for Concordia University Competitive Dance. On March 13, the NAIA revealed the 2023 All-America teams and named Flesner to the All-America second team. She’s the first Bulldog in either cheer or dance to ever achieve All-America status. A native of Greeley, Colo., Flesner is studying Exercise Science at Concordia. In her first season as a Bulldog, Flesner helped the Bulldogs achieve school record-breaking scores during the 2023 competition campaign. Concordia finished ranked 13th nationally in average score (81.97).
Weightlifting program finishes 2022-23 season with four Bulldogs competing at National Championships: It was another first for Concordia University Lifting Sports as four Bulldogs represented the weightlifting team at the 2023 National University Championships held March 2-3. The inaugural season for weightlifting was capped at the national event hosted at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, where Kayleigh Maloney earned a first-place medal in the discipline of snatch. The competition marked the first time Concordia has taken part in a national championship event in either weightlifting or powerlifting. Overall national finishes for Bulldog athletes within their own weight classes were fourth for Merry Berris, fourth for Evan Fukuhara, 12th for Rylee Kara and sixth for Maloney. Fukuhara was in a close battle for third at 73kg. While weightlifting has completed its 2022-23 season, Concordia Powerlifting now looks forward to its national championships. Powerlifting nationals will unfold in Arlington, Texas, April 13-16. For more information on the Concordia Lifting Sports program: Men | Women.
Women’s Golf opens spring season in Arizona: The 2022-23 women’s golf season resumed during spring break as Head Coach Brett Muller and company traveled to Litchfield Park, Ariz., for the Southwest Minnesota State Spring Break Invite. The event featured 10 teams, 62 individual golfers and 36 holes contested at Wigwam Red Course. The Bulldogs shot a two-round total of 354-371–725 and placed ninth out of 10 teams. The Bulldogs were the lone NAIA representative in the field. All other teams present in Litchfield Park were affiliated with NCAA Division II. Individually, freshman Emery Custer led Concordia with her score of 82-97–179. Lauren Havlat (89-91–180) came next followed by Mya Nurse (87-93–180), Logan Eschliman (96-90–186) and Sarah Wilson (107-104–211). The next event on the Concordia golf schedule is the Doane Spring Invite (March 24-25) on the men’s side. The women will return to action April 3-4 for the Concordia Bulldog Spring Invitational. For more details on Concordia Golf: Men | Women.
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its eighth 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 2022-23 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 eighth 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. Live webcast links for away contests are publicized in sport specific releases that preview action for that particular week. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.
Baseball
· After having the weekend slate of GPAC games postponed, the Bulldogs began league play on Monday with a doubleheader sweep of Jamestown at Plum Creek Park. Concordia won by scores of 7-6 and 7-0 in what was a rematch of the 2022 GPAC tournament championship game (7-6 final in favor of the Bulldogs). Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad had the entire week off last week following its spring break trip. Concordia now stands at 16-8 overall (2-0 GPAC). The Bulldogs have won five games in a row. For more on the Concordia Baseball program, click HERE.
· Cold temperatures around the GPAC footprint prevented all scheduled games from being played this past Saturday. The Bulldogs pushed back the doubleheader with Jamestown by two days and postponed their scheduled twin bill at Hastings until March 28. Concordia had a full eight days without a game after it won the Warner University Invitational on March 11. Heading into the weekend, the Bulldogs have 26 regular season games (all against league opponents) yet to play. Concordia played all 22 nonconference contests as scheduled. Outside of league play, the Bulldogs won five games over teams that were nationally ranked at the time of first pitch.
· New ratings and metrics were unveiled early this week. In the official GPAC poll (posted to NAIA.org), Concordia is ranked No. 2 behind Doane. The rest of the top five includes Mount Marty, Briar Cliff and Morningside. In addition, a new set of “Bo Chip” ratings were released on March 19. The Bulldogs are listed at No. 47 out of the 201 NAIA baseball programs. Not associated with the official NAIA ratings, Massey Ratings lists Concordia as the No. 20 team in the NAIA. Both sets of national rankings become more accurate over the course of the season as more data points are included.
· The opening game of GPAC play was a nail-biter with the Jimmies (11-9, 2-0 GPAC). Jamestown built leads of 3-0 and 5-3, only to have the Bulldogs rally back in both instances. Joey Grabanski got the Bulldogs going offensively when he belted a three-run homer to right center in the bottom of the third. Concordia then got a run apiece in the fourth through seventh innings while ultimately pulling it out on Alec Blakestad’s walk-off RBI single. Blakestad finished with three hits in the win while Ty Nekoliczak went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. In relief, Kellen Ingram picked up the win. Blake Benson had worked 5.2 innings (five earned runs) as the game one starter.
· In game two, the Bulldogs jumped on top quickly with Jaidan Quinn’s solo homer in the bottom of the first. In addition, Grabanski singled in a run, Garcia doubled one home and Jay Adams added a solo blast in the third. Four Bulldogs posted two hits in game two: Adams, Grabanski, Teyt Johnson and Tanner Tompkins. However, the story of the game was pitcher Frankie Cresta, who fired a seven-inning complete game shutout and allowed just three hits and two walks while recording 13 strikeouts. Cresta moved his record to 3-2 on the season.
· The outing for Cresta was the type of performance Concordia fans got used to seeing from Jake Fosgett when he was at his best. Cresta’s 13 strikeouts were the most by any Bulldog pitcher since Nick Little fanned 13 Northwestern batters on April 15, 2021. To find a Concordia player with more than 13 strikeouts in a game, one would have to go back to March 26, 2021, when Fosgett punched out 17 Dordt hitters in one of the best outings of his career. Dupic had confidence that Cresta would settle in and become a reliable top-of-the-rotation starter. Through six starts, Cresta has posted a 5.50 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 34.1 innings. He’s a native of Johnston, Iowa, and a transfer from Tennessee Tech.
· In the middle of his junior season, Grabanski has already moved to the top of the program’s all-time home run list. His blast in game one on Monday pushed his career total to 48, surpassing the previous standard of 47 by Keaton Candor. Current Bulldog Jesse Garcia is also close behind with 46 career homers. A native of Grand Forks, N.D., Grabanski had little trouble adjusting to the college game. He hit 17 homers in his freshman season and then followed it up with 18 in 2022 and has 13 so far this spring. He’s also produced 166 RBIs and a .738 slugging percentage in 136 career games. Garcia (180) and Grabanski are hot after Candor’s career RBI record of 188.
· Originally, the Bulldogs were scheduled to play two road doubleheaders this weekend. Due to unplayable conditions in South Dakota, the locations have been changed. Concordia and Mount Marty (21-4, 4-0 GPAC) will play a 1 p.m. CT twin bill on Saturday with Cloud County Community College’s Lee Doyen Field in Concordia, Kan. Then on Sunday, the Bulldogs will host Dakota Wesleyan (3-10, 0-2 GPAC) with first pitch set for 12 p.m. from Plum Creek Park.
Softball
· The Bulldogs recently completed a stretch of 13 games in eight days as they took part in the Friends Invite (March 3-4) and the Tucson Invite (March 7-10) over spring break. Concordia went 8-5 during the break while playing against 11 NAIA opponents and two NCAA Division III foes. Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad emerged from Tucson with an overall record of 11-10. Seventeen of those contests have been of the neutral site variety (four true road games). Due to the cancellation of a scheduled doubleheader at Mount Mercy University (Iowa) this past Sunday, the Bulldogs have been idle since returning from Tucson. For more on the Concordia Softball program, click HERE.
· Over the nine games in Tucson, the Bulldogs claimed victories over (in order) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.), Dickinson State University (N.D.), University of St. Francis (Ill.), Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) and Siena Heights University (Mich.). Three of the nine games ended in walk-off fashion. Caitlyn McGarvie struck for a walk-off, two-run double to edge St. Francis, 5-4, while Aubrey Bruning singled home the winner in the 2-1 triumph over Siena Heights. Concordia also fell victim to a walk-off in its 5-4 defeat at the hands of NAIA No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan University. So far this season, the Bulldogs have played in the states of Arizona and Kansas only.
· With 21 games in the books, Concordia has totaled 122 runs for an average of 5.8 per game. Meanwhile, its pitchers have combined for a 4.06 ERA through 134.1 innings. In terms of batting average, the Bulldogs’ leading hitters are Hanna Bowers (.414), McGarvie (.368), Bruning (.360), Kylie Shottenkirk (.354), Delanie Voshell (.346), Julia Van Wey (.344) and Zoie Isom (.339). Shottenkirk was honored as the GPAC Player of the Week on March 7 after her run of hot hitting at the Friends Invite. A native of Fillmore, Calif., Isom has been an RBI machine with 23 runs driven in so far. Shottenkirk has supplied impressive extra base power with six doubles and three home runs.
· McGarvie recorded her 100th career hit on March 4 at the Friends Invite. The Lincoln North Star High School product got out to a bit of a slow start due to a minor injury, but she heated up considerably in Tucson. Over the nine games at the invite, McGarvie went 13-for-29 (.448) with two doubles, two triples, a home run and nine RBIs while slugging .759. On the season, McGarvie is hitting .368 with a .471 on-base percentage and .632 slugging percentage. Not only did she have a walk-off double in Tucson, she also ended the win over RPI by gunning down a runner at the plate. She’s a two-time First Team All-GPAC award winner on track for more honors as a fourth-year player.
· To this point, Megan Eurich has been the team’s most effective pitcher. The sophomore from Gretna, Neb., appeared in five games in Tucson and recorded a 3-1 record and 2.59 ERA in 24.1 innings (12 strikeouts). Eurich entered the final two games of the trip in relief and was credited with the win in both instances. Eurich has moved her season record to 7-1 with a 3.07 ERA. Her 57 innings are most on the team. Culler also feels confident in Jessie Bestenlehner, Jerzi Rowe and Brooke Townsend in the circle. Rowe has the most college experience of the bunch. Just a freshman, Bestenlehner has allowed only three earned runs in her first 11.1 innings.
· It appears the weather will allow this week’s home games to be played as scheduled. The Bulldogs will make their home debut on Thursday when former GPAC rival Nebraska Wesleyan University pays a visit to Plum Creek Park for a 4 p.m. CT doubleheader. Then on Saturday, Concordia will open up conference play by hosting Morningside for a 1 p.m. twin bill. Barring any additions to the schedule, it will be conference play for the remainder of the regular season once the games with Nebraska Wesleyan go final.
Tennis
· Due to changes in the schedule, the Bulldogs have been idle since both the men’s and women’s teams played two matches in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference territory on March 12. On that date, the Concordia men went 2-0 while defeating Bethany College (Kan.), 7-0, and Kansas Wesleyan University, 4-3. On the women’s side, the Bulldogs went 1-1 with a 7-0 victory over Kansas Wesleyan and a 4-3 loss to Bethany. Those results leave Head Coach Cam Long’s squads at 5-5 overall on both the men’s and women’s sides. They have yet to begin conference play. For more on Concordia Tennis: Men | Women.
· Both the men’s and women’s teams began their 2022-23 seasons back in the fall. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs have earned wins this season over Bethel College (Kan.), Tabor College (Kan.), Sterling College (Kan.), Bethany and Kansas Wesleyan. In other words, Concordia has cleaned up against KCAC foes. On the women’s side, the Bulldogs have defeated Iowa Central Community College, Pratt Community College, Tabor, Sterling and Kansas Wesleyan. Both teams had their very first outings back on Sept. 13 at Bethel.
· In the action that took place on March 12, the Concordia men went a combined 10-2 in singles and 3-3 in doubles. Three Bulldogs posted 2-0 records in singles: Hugo Fuentes, Juan Rabellino and Manuel Rodriguez. In doubles, the combo of Santiago Abadia and Eduardo Rojas went 2-0. Overall this season, Rodriguez paces the team with a 7-2 singles record. The duo of Abadia and Rojas has gone 4-1. Fuentes was named the GPAC Player of the Week on March 15 for his role in the wins over Bethany and Kansas Wesleyan.
· On the women’s side on March 12, the Bulldogs showed off their strength in doubles, going 6-0 against the Coyotes and Swedes. Meanwhile, Concordia went 8-4 in singles play. While again holding down the No. 1 spot in the lineup, freshman Mariana Molano went 2-0 in singles and teamed up with Tessa Blough on two doubles victories. In addition, Kylie Freudenburg won both of her singles matches. Molano tops the team with a 6-4 overall season record (all matches at No. 1). In doubles this season, Ella Dean and Gabrielle Heiser have combined to go 3-0.
· Both squads are hoping to play twice this week. The Bulldogs hit the road today (March 21) to play in Pella, Iowa, home to Central College. First serve is slated for 4 p.m. CT. Then on Saturday, Concordia will begin conference play by hosting Hastings at 11 a.m. on the outdoor tennis courts. The matches that had been scheduled for this past Saturday at Baker University have been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 28 in Baldwin City, Kan.