Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week will return on Nov. 27. The Bulldog Athletic Association meeting did not take place this week due to the Thanksgiving break.
Previous Athletes of the Week
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:
Grove concludes 2018 cross country season at national championships: The 2018 cross country season officially came to an end last week at the NAIA national championships. Senior Taylor Grove of Billings, Mont., represented the Bulldogs as an individual qualifier. She placed 125th out of 340 runners by clocking in at 18:57.1 on the 5k course in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Grove earned a bid to nationals thanks to her fourth-place finish at the GPAC championships on Nov. 3. Both of head coach Matt Beisel’s squads placed fourth in the team races at the conference meet. For more on Grove’s performance at the national championships, click HERE. Also last week, the NAIA announced Scholar-Athletes for cross country. Grove was one of 10 Bulldogs to earn Scholar-Athlete distinction. For the complete list, click HERE.
Walter named Academic All-District by CoSIDA: Junior Zac Walter landed on the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Football Team, as announced by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Nov. 15. Honorees are chosen based upon their combined performances both academically and athletically. The Concordia football program has now had an all-district award winner in seven-straight seasons. For more details on Walter’s award, click HERE.
Late season strides make Boldts optimistic for future: The first season of Ben Boldt’s head coaching tenure had its ups and downs, but the Bulldog volleyball team ended the campaign in positive fashion. It captured late season victories over Morningside and Doane, allowing Concordia to qualify for the GPAC tournament. The Bulldogs finished 15-12 overall with second team all-conference honoree Emmie Noyd leading the way. For a wrap up of the 2018 volleyball season, click HERE.
Fall All-GPAC teams announced: All of the fall all-conference teams have been announced by the GPAC. In the sports of cross country, football and men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball, a combined 27 Concordia student-athletes garnered some form of all-conference recognition. For complete details, click the links below.
-Cross Country
-Football
-Men’s Soccer
-Women’s Soccer
-Volleyball
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.
Wrestling
- The season is now two weeks old for the Bulldogs, who were in action on Thursday and Saturday of last week. Concordia has already banked a pair of GPAC dual wins after coming back to defeat 13th-ranked Midland, 21-17, in Fremont on Nov. 15. Two days later, 15 Bulldogs took to the mats at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Holiday Inn Open. To date, first-year head coach Levi Calhoun’s squad has competed in three tournaments and two duals. For more on Concordia wrestling, click HERE.
- The Bulldogs are seeking a return to the top of the GPAC dual standings after placing fifth in 2017-18. Prior to last season, Concordia put together three conference championship seasons in a row. During that run, the Bulldogs went 21-0 while dominating their conference foes. Since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, Concordia is now 28-3 in GPAC duals. The defending GPAC champions from 2017-18 are Briar Cliff (dual) and Midland (tournament).
- Midland happens to be led by Dana Vote, who is in his second season with the Warriors. He was the Bulldog head coach for conference championship seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16 before leaving to take an operations role on the staff at Iowa State University. In the matchup against his former boss, Calhoun saw his team dig a 17-3 hole before triumphing in the final four matches while earning the victory. Deandre Chery started the roll with a win by decision at 174. He then passed the baton to Josh Nelsen (pin at 184), Darrin Miller (decision at 197) and Michael Stann (pin at 285).
- Junior Alberto Garcia stole the show at the UNK Open. He proved that his Concordia debut was worth the wait. The transfer from Palomar College went 4-0 in the process of winning the 133-pound title in the elite division of the UNK Open. Garcia defeated two NCAA Division II opponents and then two NCAA Division I foes during his run. In the championship bout, the native of Escondido, Calif., toppled Jevon Parrish of the University of Nebraska by decision, 13-7. Garcia was ranked 10th nationally in his weight class in the preseason despite having never wrestled at the NAIA level.
- Chery has placed at each of the first three tournaments this season. He won the 174-pound championship at the Dan Harris Open prior to placing third at the Dakota Wesleyan Open and then fifth at last week’s UNK Open. Chery’s two losses in Kearney both came against NCAA Division II opponents. Chery added a pin over Benjamin Krantz of Colorado School of Mines to push his season pin total to six. The native of Miami Gardens, Fla., is a returning national qualifier and defending 174-pound GPAC champion.
- Not only did Stann emerge from the dual at Midland as one of the heroes, he also enjoyed a 5-1 day at the UNK Open. Officially, Stann notched a fourth-place heavyweight finish, although he was unable to wrestle in the third-place match due to the rule that limits competitors to six matches in a day. Thanks to a 15-3 record, Stann is the team leader in victories. The native of Temecula, Calif., has helped solidify a spot in the lineup that was lacking last season after the graduation of national runner up Ceron Francisco.
- In sum, Concordia’s 15 wrestlers at the UNK Open combined for 23 wins and three place finishes. Chery, Garcia and Stann were collectively responsible for 13 of those victories. Tyler Jorgensen (184), Darrin Miller (184) and Demetrius Miller (184) each went 2-2. Four Bulldogs picked up exactly one win at Kearney: Dakota Brace (125), Blake Castillo (174), Giancarlo Facio (125) and Zack Moistner (133).
- Concordia will now be idle until Friday, Dec. 7 when it is scheduled to make its first home appearance of the season. The opponent will be Benedictine College (Kan.). The pre-Christmas slate also includes the Doane University Open (Dec. 8) and the GPAC/Cascade Duals (Dec. 16). The next GPAC duals will take place Jan. 26 inside Walz Arena.
Women’s Basketball
- It was another impressive week within conference play for the top-ranked Bulldogs, who notched two more victories of nationally-ranked foes. Concordia defeated No. 13 Hastings, 82-68, on Nov. 14 and then routed No. 16 Jamestown, 87-59, on Nov. 17. The Bulldogs have already knocked off four top 25 teams having also claimed wins over No. 15 Indiana Wesleyan University and No. 14 University of Saint Francis (Ind.). Thirteenth-year head coach Drew Olson’s squad has moved to 8-0 overall and to 4-0 in conference play. For more information on Concordia women’s basketball, click HERE.
- It takes something special for an opponent to emerge from Walz Arena with a victory. The Bulldogs have now won 40 home games in a row, which is the longest active streak of any NAIA women’s basketball program. Southeastern University (Fla.) is not far behind with its active run of 38-straight home wins. As impressive as Concordia’s streak is, it won’t be able to break the NAIA record this season. The record for longest NAIA home win streak in women’s basketball is 122 by Southern Nazarene (Okla.), whose streak spanned from 1988-98. The Bulldogs have not suffered a home loss since January 2016.
- Concordia continues to devastate its opponents by turning up the pressure defensively. Entering the week, the Bulldogs are leading all NAIA Division II teams in steals per game (23.1) and turnover margin (+17.4). No opponent thus far has turned it over fewer than 21 times. In last week’s action, Hastings and Jamestown were guilty of 29 turnovers apiece. That number is especially sparkling considering the Broncos employ an All-American point guard in Shandra Farmer. On average, Bulldog foes are turning it over 36.0 times per game. Concordia has even forced more than 40 turnovers three times.
- Chief among the gnats has been point guard Grace Barry, who currently ranks No. 1 among NAIA Division II players in steals per game (4.63). Every team can use a Grace Barry, a playmaking guard. She pilfered seven steals against Hastings, just a game after swiping eight steals in the win at Briar Cliff. The Lincoln East High School product is also No. 4 on the national leaderboard for assists per game (5.75). She’s also scored at least eight points in every game this season while averaging 12.1 points per contest.
- One would be hard pressed to find a backcourt duo at this level that is playing better than Barry and sophomore Taylor Cockerill. For a team that plays games with a lot of possessions, the ability of Barry and Cockerill to take care of the ball has been vital. Barry has dished out 46 assists to 21 turnovers while Cockerill has 22 assists to just 13 turnovers. A Waverly High School product, Cockerill has also ramped up her scoring. She’s the team leader with an average of 16.5 points per game, up from 9.0 per game as a freshman.
- Concordia has been undeniably good, and that sentiment is backed up by the computer rankings. Massey Ratings currently has the Bulldog ranked No. 1 among all NAIA women’s basketball teams (including NAIA Divisions I and II). The computer rating system also has Concordia ranked as the top offensive team in the nation and the 13th best defensive squad. Massey Ratings is high on the GPAC, listing Dakota Wesleyan at No. 2, Northwestern at No. 3, Morningside at No. 8, Hastings at No. 14, Jamestown at No. 16 and Midland at No. 20.
- Still No. 10 on the program’s all-time scoring list, senior Quinn Wragge needs just 15 more points to reach 1,500 for her career. The Crofton, Neb., native has been a model of consistency throughout her career. So far she’s averaging 13.1 points with strong shooting percentages of 60.3 from the floor and 78.6 from the free throw line. She also ranks ninth on the school’s all-time rebounding list with 672. Wragge seems to be on track to accomplish a rare feat – earn first team all-conference honors all four years.
- Now 326-93 overall as Bulldog head coach, Olson entered this season ranked 15th among active NAIA Division II women’s basketball coaches for most victories. Of the 14 head coaches with more wins, only two of them owned a higher winning percentage. With an 8-0 start to this season, Olson’s career win percentage has climbed to .782. Olson has led the program to four national semifinal appearances, including two advancements to the national championship game.
- This will be a lighter week for Concordia, which will be at College of Saint Mary (1-7, 0-3 GPAC) tonight (Nov. 20) for a 6 p.m. tipoff. The Bulldogs will then break for the Thanksgiving holiday. After the contest in Omaha, Concordia will be idle until hosting 11th-ranked Morningside (5-1, 3-1 GPAC) on Nov. 28.
Men’s Basketball
- The first blemish on the home record came last week for the Bulldogs, who entertained a pair of GPAC opponents inside Walz Arena. Concordia snuck out a 92-87 overtime victory over Hastings on Nov. 14. Three days later, the Bulldogs fell flat offensively in a 74-61 home loss to new GPAC member Jamestown. Concordia then went on the road and eked past Waldorf University (Iowa), 75-72, on Monday. Those results put sixth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad at 5-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play. For more information on Bulldogs men’s basketball, click HERE.
- The two GPAC outings last week were very different in terms of offensive production. The Bulldogs shot 54.4 percent (37-for-68) from the floor and 43.5 percent (10-for-23) from 3-point range in the win over Hastings. The percentages dropped to 39.6 (21-for-53) from the field and 26.3 (5-for-19) from beyond the arc in the loss to Jamestown. Concordia struggled mightily in the second half of the defeat, making only 7-of-25 attempts from the field. The 21 turnovers for the game also proved costly.
- The biggest highlight of last week was the play of Brevin Sloup in the overtime session against Hastings. In that particular game, Sloup did not score a single point in the first half but still managed to lead the team with 19 points for the game. Twelve of them came in the overtime that saw him go 3-for-4 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. The 5-foot-9 junior guard from Seward leads the team with an average of 15.5 points per game.
- The victory at Waldorf marked the 200th in the head coaching career for Limback. In five-plus seasons leading his alma mater, Limback has put together a record of 85-74 overall. He also spent nine seasons as head coach at Concordia University, Ann Arbor, where he oversaw 115 victories. During that time, Limback guided the Cardinals to their first two CIT championships (2006 and 2007). His high water mark for wins in a season is 21 (2016-17).
- Sophomore Ryan Holt became the seventh player this season to crack the starting lineup. The native of Highlands Ranch, Colo., has found himself in a much bigger role as compared to his freshman campaign. Holt delivered on Monday at Waldorf by chipping in 12 points while splashing in a pair of 3-point shots. With 111 minutes of action entering Tuesday, Holt has already far surpassed the 12 minutes he saw in all of the 2017-18 season on varsity. He is averaging 6.4 points per game.
- In terms of offensive numbers, the contest at Waldorf was one of the better performances of the season put forward by the Bulldogs, who shot 50 percent (28-for-56) overall and 48.0 percent (12-for-25) from 3-point range. Seven different Concordia players knocked down at least one trey in the game. Junior Zach Auguste even poured in his first triple of the season. That shot pushed the Bulldog lead to 72-67 with 2:15 left in the game. In addition to strong shooting percentages, Concordia cut its turnovers down to 11.
- Often times, the Bulldog offensive attack has gone as Tanner Shuck and Sloup go. Those two combine to average 30.0 of the team’s 76.3 points per game. Shuck is looking to regain his stroke after going a combined 7-for-26 over the past two games. He is a career 40.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc and has piled up 821 points over 69 games at Concordia. Sloup and Shuck are the only Bulldogs averaging double figures with Carter Kent (8.3) the next closest.
- With the victory at Waldorf, Concordia picked up its first on the road this season. The Bulldogs are now 4-1 at home and 1-2 on the road. The other two road defeats came at the hands of conference foes Midland and No. 10 Briar Cliff. Since the start of the 2016-17 campaign, Concordia is a combined 25-8 at home compared to 15-15 in true road contests.
- A busy Thanksgiving week continues tonight (Nov. 20) with a contest at NCAA Division I University of North Dakota (3-1). It will be an exhibition game for the Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT. Concordia will also be at Peru State College (4-0) for a 4 p.m. start time on Saturday. The Bobcats reached the second round of the NAIA Division I national tournament this past March.