Bulldog Weekly Report (March 8)

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 8, 2016 in Athletic Announcements

News and notes:

Women’s basketball opens up national tournament: Women’s basketball will be the fourth Bulldog team to compete at a national championship event in a five-day span when Drew Olson’s squad takes the court at 12 p.m. on Wednesday. Fourth-seeded Concordia (22-9) will take on Goshen College (Ind.) (24-8) in the first-round battle. It’s the 15th all-time national tournament appearance for the Bulldogs.

Listen to Bulldog softball in Arizona: The Concordia Sports Network will provide live audio of this week’s Concordia softball games in Tucson, Ariz. Mike Meyer will call the action. The link for live audio can be found HERE.

All-conference basketball teams announced: Last week the GPAC released its all-conference basketball teams. Chandler Folkerts and Quinn Wragge were both named to the first team.
-Men’s all-conference: Folkerts (first team), Jamie Pearson (second team), Robby Thomas (honorable mention), Eli Ziegler (honorable mention).
-Women’s all-conference: Wragge (first team), Mary Janovich (second team), Becky Mueller (honorable mention), Shelby Quinn (honorable mention).

Wragge embraces starring role: It didn’t take long for freshman Quinn Wragge to make herself comfortable on the basketball court. She enters the national tournament leading Concordia in scoring, rebounding, steals, blocks, field goal percentage and minutes played. To read more about the star freshman, click HERE.

Atwood thrives in only season as a Bulldog: Senior Matt Atwood enjoyed a breakout 2015-16 wrestling campaign in his only season wearing the navy and white singlet. Atwood finished the year at 25-7 overall. He won the 184-pound NAIA North Qualifier title and advanced to last week’s national championships. For more on Atwood’s journey to Concordia, click HERE.

Men’s golf tops Doane in match play: Head coach Brett Muller’s men’s golf team ventured to Florida and on Monday defeated Doane, 2-1, in match play at Fiddlesticks Country Club in Fort Myers. For a recap of the event, click HERE.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 4 p.m. CT: New this year is the Bulldog Coaches Show, which runs for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 4 p.m. CT on KAWL 1370-AM. The show can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the TuneIn Radio app and then searching “KAWL.” Play-by-play voice Matt Harab will call the action from the women’s basketball national tournament in Sioux City. The Bulldogs play at 12 p.m. on Wednesday in the first round.

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

  • The 2015-16 season came to an end over the weekend (March 4-5) at the 2016 NAIA Wrestling National Championships (Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan.) where the Bulldogs placed eighth in the team standings. That placement is the best in program history. From an individual perspective, junior Andrew Schulte highlighted Concordia’s efforts with the program’s first-ever national title. Schulte was one of 10 national qualifiers and one of three All-Americans for fourth-year head coach Dana Vote. For more on Bulldog wrestling, click HERE.
  • Schulte turned in the best season ever for a Concordia wrestler. Not only was he the first Bulldog to win a national title, he broke a school record for wins in a season (40-6), won the 141-pound NAIA North Qualifier title for the second-straight year and was named the GPAC wrestler of the year. The native of Blythe, Calif., ended his season with a 26-match winning streak. In just two seasons as a Bulldog, Schulte owns a career record of 60-10. Schulte’s 5-0 national tournament run included wins over wrestlers ranked third, seventh and 10th and 12th in his weight class. Schulte claimed the title by pinning Ottawa University’s No. 12 Tyler Hinton in the finals.
  • Junior Ken Burkhardt Jr. made his third-straight national tournament appearance and found his way to the podium for the second year in a row. After an eighth-place national finish in the 197-pound bracket last year, Burkhardt Jr. moved up to seventh in 2016. He completed his tournament with a pin of Doane’s Chandler Knight. That victory gave Burkhardt Jr. the 86th of his career and 12th pin of the season. Burkhardt Jr. went 32-12 in 2015-16.
  • At 133, Kodie Cole went 4-2 at the national tournament in rising up from eighth place in 2015 to fifth place in 2016. The junior from Palmdale, Calif., owned a record of 7-8 at one point this season, but turned it on by going 9-4 in his final 13 bouts of 2015-16. On his way to the medal stand, Cole defeated wrestlers ranked sixth, eighth and 13th in his weight class. Cole pinned both No. 6 Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist) and No. 13 Jesse Martinelli (Lindenwood Belleville).
  • During Vote’s four-year tenure, Concordia has steadily climbed up the national leaderboard. The Bulldogs went from no national qualifiers in 2013 to placing 22nd in 2014 before a 12th-place finish in 2015 and ultimately an eighth place claim over the weekend at the 2016 event. Over the past few years, Vote has coached a total of eight individual All-America performances. He’s also won back-to-back GPAC and regional coach of the year awards.
  • Concordia’s 10 national qualifiers combined for a total of 21 wins and six pins at the 2016 national tournament. Eight Bulldogs recorded at least one victory. Three fell just a single win shy of earning All-America status: Matt Atwood (184), Ceron Francisco (285) and Jr Lule (157). Francisco finished sixth in the heavyweight bracket in 2015. This year the fifth-ranked Francisco was the victim of a first-round upset.
  • Three different Bulldogs reached 50 career wins at last week’s national tournament: Lule (50-15), Cole (52-37) and Tommy Bailey (50-52). Lule needed just two seasons to rack up 50 wins after transferring from Palomar College in California. Both Bailey and Cole are in their third years at Concordia.
  • Vote’s roster sports 13 individuals who finished 2015-16 with 10 or more. Eight Bulldogs reached the 20-win mark. The latest to do so were Cooke and Smith. Five Concordia wrestlers collected 30 or more wins.
    • Andrew Schulte (141/149) – 40-6
    • Jr Lule (157) – 35-9
    • Ken Burkhardt Jr. (197) – 32-13
    • Ceron Francisco (285) – 30-15
    • Tommy Bailey (165) – 30-22
    • Matt Atwood (184) – 25-7
    • Dmitri Smith (125) – 21-18
    • Travian Cooke (174) – 20-16
    • Kodie Cole (133) – 17-12
    • Foster Bunce (141/149) – 14-11
    • Daniel Melcher (149) – 13-8
    • Alexander Reimers (197) – 11-11
    • Austin Starkey (157/164/174) – 11-15
  • The 2016-17 Bulldogs will feature plenty of familiar faces. All three 2016 All-Americans are current juniors. The two impact seniors that will depart are Atwood and Lule. Eight of the 10 national qualifiers are underclassmen.

Track and Field

  • For the second-straight national championship meet, both Concordia squads put together top-five finishes. At the 2016 NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships, the Bulldog men placed third (58 points) and the women fifth (43 points). The event took place over three days (March 3-5) at David E. Walker Track at Gentry Field in Johnson City, Tenn. A total of 18 Concordia athletes garnered All-America honors while combining on 21 All-America performances. For more on Bulldog track and field, click HERE.
  • Cody Boellstorff and Zach Lurz added to their already impressive résumés with national titles last week. Boellstorff broke his own program record once again with his winning weight throw toss of 69’ 9.” A native of Waverly, Neb., Boellstorff received the honor of most outstanding performance with his toss that gave him his second career national title (2015 hammer throw). Meanwhile, Lurz defended his 2015 indoor shot put title with a mark of 57’ 7 ¾.” Lurz totaled 16 points by himself by also recording a third-place claim in the weight throw.
  • Boellstorff and Lurz became the ninth and 10th athletes in program history with multiple career national titles. The other six men to accomplish the feat are Gene Brooks, Kregg Einspahr, Patrick Gellens, TJ Kloster, Michael Saalfeld and Christ Tegtmeier. Only two Concordia female athletes have one more than one national title: Carol Bailey and Stephanie Beberniss.
  • The 2016 indoor championships were the latest display of dominance for Concordia throwers. The 12 national qualifying throwers combined for 14 All-America plaques, eight personal bests, two national titles and a school record. They went 1-3-4-7 in the men’s weight throw, 1-2-8 in the men’s shot put, 4-6-7-8 in the women’s weight throw and 2-3-6 in the women’s shot put. The impressive performance followed a sweep of all four GPAC indoor throwing titles. Fittingly, throws coach Ed McLaughlin was recently named the Midwest regional men’s and women’s assistant coach of the year by the USTFCCCA.
  • Lurz was one of four Bulldogs to garner All-America plaques in both throwing events. The others were Trey Barnes, Stephanie Coley and Kali Robb. Barnes also received second team All-America recognition as a defensive end on the football team this past fall. Barnes, Philip Kreutzer and Sam Liermann are all first-time All-Americans. Coley has six career All-America honors in the shot put alone (eight total). Robb had previously been an All-American in the hammer and weight throw.
  • Senior Kim Wood qualified for the national championships in four individual events but narrowed her focus to the 1,000 meter and one mile runs last week. She placed third in the one mile and fourth in the 1,000 meters on her way to two All-America claims. She also ran a leg for the 4x400 meter relay that finished 11th. Wood is now a three-time All-American in the indoor 1,000 meter race. She’s also been part of two All-America 4x800 meter relays.
  • The fifth-place indoor team finish is the highest in program history for Concordia women’s track and field. It also marked the fourth-straight year that the Bulldog women have placed inside the top 15 at the indoor championships (2013 – 13th; 2014 – 11th; 2015 – 11th). Meanwhile, the men’s indoor finish of third was the best for the program since a runner-up claim in 2000. The men have had five top-five national indoor finishes over the past 17 years.
  • Junior CJ Muller repeated as an All-American in the 600 meter race. He placed sixth in the event after finishing his finals race in a time of 1:21.23. He clocked in at 1:20.77 in the prelims. He also ran a leg for the All-America 4x400 meter relay that placed eighth. That relay included first-time All-Americans in Trevor Bresson and Nathan Matters.
  • The outdoor track and field season is slated to get started on April 2 at the Hastings Broncos Invite. Concordia is coming off of outdoor national finishes of first (men) and fifth (women) in 2015. The Bulldog men are the defending GPAC outdoor champs having won two-consecutive conference outdoor titles.

 

Baseball

  • Concordia entered Tuesday (March 8) halfway through its 10-game slate at the 2016 Tucson Invitational. The Bulldogs split a doubleheader with William Penn University on March 5, were swept in a twin bill with undefeated University of Jamestown (N.D.) on Sunday and then racked up 18 runs in an 18-8 run-rule win over Missouri Valley College on Monday. Currently 2-3 on the road trip in Tucson, Ariz., second-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad is now 7-10 overall in 2016. For recaps of recent action, click HERE.
  • The Bulldogs have now tallied 15 or more runs in four of their last eight games. In Monday’s outburst, six different players collected two or more hits as part of a 16-hit attack. Leadoff hitter Alex Alstott went 2-for-2 with a home run while reaching base in all four plate appearances. Out of the cleanup spot, second baseman Alex Cargin drove in five runs, including three with a bases clearing triple. Kaleb Geiger added three RBIs. In sum, seven Bulldogs had at least one RBI.
  • Junior righty Nic Seaman has been a dependable arm out of the bullpen so far this season. The native of Storm Lake, Iowa, threw 3.2 scoreless innings and struck out six in the 9-3 win over William Penn. Seaman picked his first victory as a Bulldog. Over 7.2 innings this season, Seaman has allowed just a single run on three hits and two walks. He’s teamed with the likes of Jared Schipper (2.81 ERA in 16 innings) and Josue Melchor (0.00 ERA in four innings) for a solid bullpen nucleus.
  • Though inconsistent in the early going, the Concordia lineup is averaging 7.2 runs per game and has produced a solid slash line of .284/.399/.369. Six regulars are batting better at least .300: Taylor Bigandt (.378), Cargin (.333), Logan Ryan (.326), Taylor Dudley (.326), Kaleb Geiger (.306) and Ryan Fesmire (.300). Five Bulldogs have at least 10 RBIs: Cargin (14), Geiger (14), Christian Montero (13), Bigandt (11) and Dudley (10).
  • Dupic is also hoping for his starting staff to settle in. Of the five pitchers to start at least twice this season, righty Mark Harris, a Tucson native, owns the lowest ERA (2.70). Dupic has also used the likes of Cole Jackson (3.66), Neil Ryan (4.24), Taylor Bickel (6.75) and Casey Hall (18.69) to fill out his starting staff. Concordia’s team ERA currently sits at 5.68 through 130 innings pitched.
  • The Bulldogs are now 10-4 in games played in Arizona under Dupic. Last season Concordia rolled to an 8-1 record on its Tucson swing. The Bulldogs carried a six-game Arizona win streak into this year’s Tucson Invitational.
  • Lefty Josh Prater was chased early from Monday’s start against Missouri Valley. Prater had entered the game with a scoreless innings streak of 23.2. He had last allowed a run in the first inning of a 6-4 win over Grace University on April 8, 2015. The native of Colorado Springs, Colo., recorded five-straight scoreless appearances since that date. That run included a seven-inning, 10-strikeout performance in a victory over a York College (April 14, 2015) and a nine-inning shutout of Morningside (April 21, 2015).
  • Concordia is scheduled to play five more times in Tucson before returning home. The rest of the Arizona slate includes a single game with the University of Winnipeg at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday (March 8). The Bulldogs will also play two games apiece on Thursday and Friday in Arizona. They are scheduled to play host for the first time this season on March 19 versus Grace University (1 p.m.).

Softball

  • Third-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad is off to an impressive 8-2 start following three more victories on Monday. The Bulldogs are 5-0 on their current Arizona road trip and will carry a six-game winning streak into their pair of games on Wednesday. Since arriving in Tucson, Concordia has made victims of Aquinas College (Mich.), the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Siena Heights University (Mich.), the University of Great Falls (Mont.) and Ashford University (Iowa). Three of the wins have come by two runs or less. To read recaps of recent action, click HERE.
  • This week Concordia has continued its recent run of success in the state of Arizona. In 2014, LaVelle’s first year as head coach, the Bulldogs went 9-0 in Tucson while breaking the program record for most consecutive wins to begin a season. Last year Concordia went 7-6 in Arizona and is 5-0 so far in 2016. It sums up to a combined record of 21-6 in games played in Arizona since LaVelle has been at the helm of the program.
  • The Bulldogs got several standout individual performances in Monday’s action. Junior Kylie Harpst gave up just a single run in a seven-inning complete game win over Ashford. She also rapped out an RBI double in the victory over Siena Heights and had three hits in the victory over Great Falls. Fellow Lincoln North Star High School alum Taylor Huff also enjoyed a monster second game on Monday when she doubled, tripled and drove in five runs to help Concordia rally from deficits of 4-0 and 9-6. Meanwhile, third baseman Autumn Owens has already blasted three home runs this season. She came through with a game-winning, walk-off single to lift the Bulldogs past Michigan-Dearborn in the bottom of the seventh.
  • Concordia has had to come from behind to win in three of its last four games. The Bulldogs turned in come-from-behind wins over Michigan-Dearborn, Great Falls and Ashford. Four of the team’s eight wins have required it to shake off early deficits.
  • The 8-2 start marks a large improvement from the first 10 games of last season when Concordia sat at 3-7 overall. LaVelle’s first team (2014) went 9-0 before falling in its 10th game of the year. No Bulldog softball team had begun a season by winning more than eight of its first 10 games since the 2008 squad went 8-2 to begin the campaign.
  • Harpst and Michaela Woodward have shouldered the load in the circle so far for LaVelle’s squad.  Harpst got the win in the first and third games on Monday while Woodward was credited with a victory over Great Falls. Woodward closed out the opening contest after Harpst ran into trouble versus Siena Heights. Woodward is coming off a second team all-conference season as a freshman in 2015. On the other hand, Harpst is a transfer from NCAA Division II Pittsburg State. She sat out the 2015 season after having shoulder surgery.
  • Concordia had gone 21-straight days without a game before the Tucson Invitational. The Bulldogs had last played at the Cowtown Classic (Feb. 12-13) in Fort Worth, Texas. It marked the earliest start to the season in the history of Concordia softball.
  • The Bulldogs have five more games scheduled before their departure from Arizona. After taking Tuesday (March 8) off, Concordia returns to action with contests versus Purdue University-North Central and University of St. Francis (Ill.) on Wednesday. They conclude the trip with three more games on Friday.

Tennis

  • Both Bulldog tennis teams hosted a single match last week as Bethel College (Kan.) paid a visit to the Walz Fieldhouse on March 4. The Concordia men earned a 5-4 win while the women fell by a 7-2 final. With the win, the men moved above .500 for the season at 5-4 overall. On the other hand, the women dropped to 1-8 overall. For more information on Concordia tennis: MEN | WOMEN.
  • Last week’s outing marked the third-straight match that the Bulldog men have won by a 5-4 score. During the win streak, Concordia has defeated a trio of Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference teams: Southwestern College, Tabor College and Bethel. Two of the team’s four losses have also come against KCAC squads: No. 13 Bethany College and Ottawa University. Concordia now has the second most overall victories among GPAC squads.
  • For the first time this season, freshman Thomas Greeff played at the No. 1 singles position due to the absence of fellow freshman Willy Pardos. Greeff filled in with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Chris Soosalu to boost his season singles record to 4-5. Greeff also teamed up with junior Patricio Esquivel on an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles. The Bulldogs overcame a 2-1 deficit in doubles by winning four singles bouts. In addition to Greeff’s win, Javier Moreno (No. 2), Esquivel (No. 3) and Philip Yox (No. 5) all picked up triumphs of their own.
  • As a team, the Bulldog men are 25-29 in singles matches and 9-18 in doubles play. Four different players each have five singles wins: Pardos (5-3), Esquivel (5-4), Moreno (5-4) and Gabe Poling (5-4). Three Bulldogs have been part of four doubles wins: Pardos (4-4), Greeff (4-5) and Moreno (4-5).
  • On the other hand, the women have lost three-straight matches since their 8-1 victory over Bethany on Feb. 13. On the plus side, sophomore Annie Horn (No. 1) and freshman Hailey Lemos (No. 4) both earned singles victories for Concordia. Lemos, also a member of the women’s basketball team, made good in her very first collegiate tennis match. She’s a native of Windsor, Colo.
  • Collectively, the Bulldog women have produced records of 12-42 in singles play and 4-23 in doubles action. Six different players have at least one singles win. Alison Ebel, Horn and Kayla Smock each have two singles victories.
  • Both teams have a busy stretch ahead with matches scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The road trip begins with a trek to Kansas Wesleyan University (M: 1-1 | W: 0-3) for a 2 p.m. match on Wednesday. It continues with a 3 p.m. match at Friends University (Kan.) (M: 0-1 | W: 0-0) on Thursday and then a 2 p.m. contest at Seminole State College (Okla.) (M: 7-3 | W: 9-2) on Friday. Following Friday’s action, both squads will be off until April 2 when they host Morningside in the GPAC opener.

Women’s Basketball

  • No. 16 Concordia has been idle since its 76-69 loss at 12th-ranked Briar Cliff in the GPAC quarterfinals on Feb. 24. On March 2, 10th-year head coach Drew Olson’s squad learned that it was awarded an at-large bid to the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships in Sioux City, Iowa. As a No. 4 seed, the Bulldogs drew fifth-seeded Goshen College (Ind.) in a first-round matchup that will take place at 12 p.m. on Wednesday inside the Tyson Events Center. For notes on Concordia women’s basketball in the national tournament, click HERE.
  • In its first 14 appearances at the national championships, Concordia has posted a record of 22-14 with four trips to the national semifinals and four quarterfinal finishes. The Bulldogs are 9-5 overall in first-round games, including an 8-3 mark in the last 11 first-round contests. All of the program’s 15 national qualifying seasons have come since 1992 – the same year the NAIA split into two divisions for both men’s and women’s basketball. Concordia will make its eighth trip to the national tournament and fifth in a row under Olson.
  • The 2015 national championships saw Concordia advance to the national title game for the first time in program history. National player of the year Bailey Morris led the way, averaging 17.6 points at the tournament in leading the Bulldogs to wins over Bryan College (76-35), College of Saint Mary (92-82), University of Jamestown (76-59) and Briar Cliff (72-62). Concordia was edged in the championship game, 59-57, by top-ranked Morningside.
  • Olson became the fifth coach in program history to lead the Bulldogs to the national tournament when he made his first appearance as head coach in 2008. Now with eight national tournament appearances, Olson has five more than Todd Voss for the most among head coaches in school history. Olson’s 11 national tournament wins are also a program high. Voss went 8-3 with two national semifinal advancements during his tenure as head coach. Mark Lemke is the only other Bulldog coach to take the program to more than one national tournament.
  • Concordia carries a record of 5-7 this season against teams that have qualified for the national tournament. The five wins have come over Briar Cliff (22-9), Dakota Wesleyan (25-8), Hastings (19-11), Jamestown (29-4) and Mount Marty (22-10). Four of those teams had top-10 national rankings at the time they were defeated by the Bulldogs.
  • Nine of the 14 players on the Bulldogs’ official national tournament roster have prior experience at the national tournament. These nine individuals have combined for 38 career games over appearances from 2013 through 2015. A trio of Bulldogs have played in six national tournament games apiece: Jenna Lehmann, Becky Mueller and Shelby Quinn. Four returners saw time in all five of the 2015 games at the Tyson Events Center: Mary Janovich (currently out with a torn ACL), Laurel Krohn, Mueller and Quinn. Mueller has tallied a total of 53 points in her six games on the national stage. Janovich knocked down 13-of-24 attempts from beyond the arc while averaging 11.4 points during last season’s run to the title game.
  • In the program’s first 36 games at the national tournament, the Bulldogs have averaged 71.3 points per game (2,566 total points) while allowing an average of 64.3 points (2,315 total points). The school record for most team points scored in a single tournament game was broken last season in the 92-82 win over College of Saint Mary. The Bulldogs’ stingiest defensive effort occurred in 2005 when they held Western Baptist to just 28 points in a 70-28 first-round victory.
  • Concordia has made a living in the NAIA national rankings. It has appeared in 65-straight top 25 polls dating back to the 2011-12 preseason rating. The Bulldogs moved up one spot in this week’s rankings to No. 16. Concordia is aiming to finish a season with a national ranking for the seventh time under Olson. The program’s highest final ranking was No. 2 in 2015.
  • Wednesday’s winner between Concordia and 18th-ranked Goshen (24-8) will advance to play in the second round at 10:15 a.m. on Friday against either top-seeded Saint Xavier (Ill.) (29-3) or eighth-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan (17-9). The Bulldogs’ quadrant of the 32-team bracket also features matchups of No. 2 Davenport (Mich.) (27-5) vs. No. 7 Southeastern (Fla.) (24-5) and No. 3 Dakota Wesleyan (25-8) vs. No. 6 Haskell (Kan.) (23-6). To view the bracket, click HERE.