Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Male: Isaiah Shaddick, Soccer
A Lincoln Southwest High School alum, Shaddick produced three goals and two assists last week as the Bulldogs earned shutout wins over Briar Cliff and Presentation. Shaddick emerged with a hat trick in the victory at Presentation and pushed his career goal total to 17.
Female: Bree Burtwistle, Volleyball
Named the GPAC and NAIA National Setter of the Week, Burtwistle totaled 76 assists, 19 digs, five kills, five aces and two blocks last week as the sixth-ranked Bulldogs defeated Doane and No. 13 College of Saint Mary. Burtwistle ranks third nationally in assists per set (11.20).
Previous BAAM Athletes of the Week
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
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.
Hoops season on the horizon: The Bulldog basketball teams are less than two weeks away from officially tipping off the 2022-23 seasons. The GPAC unveiled the 2022-23 conference preseason coaches’ poll on Oct. 13. The coaches pegged the Concordia men fourth and the women fifth. Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad is coming off a storybook season that included GPAC regular season and tournament titles and a trip to the NAIA national quarterfinals. The Bulldogs bring back three starters from that team. Meanwhile, Head Coach Drew Olson’s bunch comes off the program’s 11th-straight national tournament appearance and welcomes back two-time First Team All-GPAC guard Taysha Rushton. Both teams will begin their seasons at the 23rd annual Cattle Classic on Nov. 4-5. Click the links below for season previews for both teams.
--Season previews: Men’s Basketball | Women’s Basketball
Wrestling to open season Nov. 1 with dual at Midland: The official start to the Concordia Wrestling season is one week away. The Bulldogs are getting set to dual Midland next Tuesday (Nov. 1) when the two sides will meet in Fremont, Neb. The dual will mark the Concordia debut for Chase Clasen, who was named the program’s head coach back in April. Clasen inherits a program that is coming off back-to-back sixth place GPAC tournament finishes. Entering the season, the team’s highest rated wrestler is Creighton Baughman, who landed at No. 12 in the NAIA at 141 pounds. For a season preview, click HERE.
Led by Blevins and Muff, Shooting Sports places third HOA at NCSSAA Central Regional Qualifier: National qualifying spots were on the line over the weekend (Oct. 22-23) as the Concordia Shooting Sports team traveled 25 athletes to the NCSSAA Central Region Qualifier hosted by Simpson College. Sam Blevins and Tanner Muff emerged as the top overall competitors for the Bulldogs, who placed third high overall out of 12 teams at the event staged at New Pioneer Clay Target Center in Waukee, Iowa. Blevins shot a perfect 100/100 in skeet as one of the weekend highlights for the Bulldogs, who have now competed at five events this fall. In an event that featured trap, skeet and sporting clay targets, Blevins and Muff both turned in scores of 291 (out of 300). They were one target behind the region qualifier champion Breydon Paxson of Simpson. After the shoot off, Blevins, a La Grange, Ky., native, wound up taking third in men’s skeet. In addition, Muff placed second in men’s sporting clays (94) and third in trap (99), Claire Kee took second in women’s sporting clays (87) and Katelyn Welker placed third in women’s trap (98). Based on performances at the first two qualifying events, 14 Bulldogs are qualified for the NCSSAA National Championships in the spring. For more on the Concordia Shooting Sports program, click HERE.
Powerlifting engages in first-ever competition: More history was made for Concordia University Lifting Sports as the program competed in a powerlifting competition for the first time in its existence. Eleven Bulldogs represented the program at the Warrior Collegiate Open hosted by Midland in Fremont, Neb., on Oct. 8. The competition was made up primarily of Concordia and Midland athletes with select competitors from Minot State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln sprinkled in. The competition included 10 different weight classes for women and eight for men. Athletes earned place finishes based upon the cumulative weight of their best lifts in squat, bench and deadlift. In the 56kg women’s competition, Concordia’s Rylee Ladd beat out Midland’s Ashley Lopez (305 – 260 kg) as one of the meet’s highlights. In the men’s 75kg class, Hunter Powers (522.5) outlifted two of his teammates and placed second out of five athletes. Next up on the powerlifting side of things will be the Midwest Regionals hosted by William Jewell University in Liberty, Mo., on Nov. 19-20. Weightlifters will be in action on Nov. 5 for their Midwest Regionals at Iowa State University. For more details on the program, click HERE.
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.
Cross Country
· Last week provided one more chance for the Bulldogs to test themselves competitively prior to the GPAC Championships. Concordia made its way to Yankton, S.D., for the Mount Marty Invite on Oct. 22 and wound up with team place finishes of third out of 12 on the men’s side and fourth out of 11 on the women’s side. Both races featured six GPAC squads, including conference favorite Dordt. In the national rankings, the Bulldog women are currently listed at No. 21 while the men are receiving votes. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads participated in five meets this regular season. For more information on Concordia Cross Country, click HERE.
· Through five meets this season, the Concordia women have recorded place finishes of ninth out of 28 at the Augustana Twilight, third out of 19 at the Greeno/Dirksen Invite, first out of five at the Dean White Invite, second out of 14 at the Dordt Classic and fourth out of 11 at the Mount Marty Invite. Meanwhile, the Bulldog men have turned in place finishes of 12th out of 32 at the Augustana Twilight, sixth out of 21 at the Greeno/Dirksen Invite, second out of two at the Dean White Invite, third out of 14 at the Dordt Classic and third out of 12 at the Mount Marty Invite. The women had not been defeated by any NAIA opponents until placing as the runner up to Dordt on Oct. 8. They then placed behind Dordt and Northwestern last week.
· With 86 points, the Bulldog men placed behind Dordt (28) and the University of Sioux Falls (38) at the Mount Marty Invite. At the top of the pack, Reed City, Mich., native Calvin Rohde led Concordia by finishing the 8k race in 25:30.40, putting him in eighth place out of 145 competitors. Camden Sesna, the team’s top runner at each of the season’s first four meets, placed 13th in a time of 25:46.67 while battling through some aches and pains. Dordt was the lone GPAC opponent to beat out the Bulldogs, who placed in front of Mount Marty (seventh), Northwestern (eighth), Morningside (10th) and Briar Cliff (11th).
· The Bulldog top five at Mount Marty looked similar to recent meets as Jack Ellis (26:55.86), Jimmy Nguyen (26:57.10) and Aaron Jendro (27:13.11) rounded it out while each placing in the top 35 individually. The rest of the team’s top 10 in Yankton included Nathan Pennekamp (27:57.50), Logan Walgate (28:11.21), Charlie Hayden (28:11.30), Trevor Kuncl (28:21.86) and Thomas Gorline (28:26.17). Beisel made special mention of the breakthrough performance for Walgate, native of St. Charles, Mo. Seventeen Bulldogs completed the race.
· The Concordia women came in at 98 points as they placed behind Sioux Falls (34), Dordt (44) and Northwestern (81) in Yankton. The Bulldogs were missing a key piece as past GPAC runner up Kylahn Freiberg missed the meet to attend a wedding in her home state of Idaho. Beisel liked the way the rest of the team helped pick up the slack. For the second meet in a row, Rylee Haecker emerged as the top runner for the Bulldogs. She crossed the finish line with a 5k time of 18:48.75. Nationally ranked Concordia defeated other GPAC rivals in Morningside (fifth), Mount Marty (ninth) and Briar Cliff (10th).
· Haecker was followed in the top five of the lineup by Julie McIntyre (19:35.08), Rhaya Kaschinske (19:41.34), Hannah Beintema (19:52.33) and Martin (19:56.92). A transfer from Trinity Christian College, McIntyre has been a regular in the team’s top five this fall. So too have been the likes of Kaschinske and Beintema. The latter has been Concordia’s top freshman. The team’s six through 10 spots at the Mount Marty Invite were earned by Keegan Beisel (20:40.87), Jaiden Tweton (20:58.58), Sammi Vojslavek (21:42.02), Bella Marchisio (21:50.09) and Kyra Becker (21:56.18). There were 19 Bulldogs who completed the 5k race.
· Beisel will choose 10 men and 10 women (plus an alternate on both sides) to travel to the 2022 GPAC Cross Country Championships next Saturday (Nov. 5) in Jamestown, N.D. The meet is slated to get started at 10:45 a.m. CT. While it will be difficult for any teams to outrun Dordt, Concordia is hoping for top-two placements that just might be rewarded with team bids to the national championships. The most recent GPAC titles for the Bulldogs were 2019 for the women and 2012 for the men. If they can place third or better, it would mark the best placement for the men’s program since Beisel took the reins of his alma mater in 2016.
Men’s Soccer
· This is shaping up as a season to remember. The Bulldogs went 2-0 last week while earning a 1-0 home win over Briar Cliff on Oct. 19 and then a cruised to a 9-0 blowout at Presentation on Oct. 22. Those results leave Head Coach Jason Weides’ squad at 12-2-2 overall and at 7-1-2 in GPAC play. With one game remaining in the regular season, Concordia has ensured that it will place no lower than third in the league standings. A victory on Wednesday would lock up the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament. For more information on Concordia Men’s Soccer, click HERE.
· In terms of sheer overall wins, this has already been one of the top seasons in the history of the program. With 12 victories, the 2022 Bulldogs have equaled the 2000 squad for the second most wins in a single season in school history. The program record holder in that category remains the 2017 team that went 16-3-1 overall and is arguably the best Concordia Men’s Soccer team ever. The current team could put itself in that conversation with a deep postseason run. Weides guided his 2015, 2016 and 2017 teams to the GPAC tournament final and celebrated a conference tournament championship in 2015.
· The home meeting last week with Briar Cliff appeared to be headed towards a draw as the game was locked in a 0-0 stalemate for more than 80 minutes of action. At last, in the 83rd minute, Victor Meneses surfaced with his first goal of the season after he finished a well-executed volley into the box by Isaiah Shaddick. It was a feel-good story as Meneses had not played since late September and had missed the entire 2021 season due to injury. The 1-0 win was a fair result considering Concordia’s commanding advantage in shots, 20-8. The Chargers (4-7-5, 2-3-4 GPAC) have struggled this season after sharing the GPAC regular season title in 2021.
· The Bulldogs simply took care of business in their journey north to Aberdeen, S.D. Dominic Abdel-Ahad opened the floodgates with the game’s first goal in the 14th minute. The onslaught was on as Shaddick went for a hat trick, Ryan Wokutch knocked in two goals and one goal apiece was notched by Abdel-Ahad, Iker Casanova, Carlos Orquiz and Meneses. It had just been a matter of time for Shaddick, who had not found the back of the net in 2022 – until this past Saturday. The Lincoln Southwest High School alum has tallied 17 goals in his collegiate career. The nine goals as a team were the most for the program in one game since also defeating Presentation 9-0 in September 2019.
· The 10 goals scored last week helped beef up the team’s season statistics. Through 16 games, Concordia has outscored its opponents, 44-15, and has outshot them, 221-124. Abdel-Ahad tops the team with 10 goals and is the first Bulldog to reach double figures in goals in a season since three players did so in 2017: Micah Lehenbauer (12), Lewis Rathbone (12) and Marcelo Hernandez (11). Next in line after Abdel-Ahad on the current team for goals are Wokutch (six) and Orquiz (five). In addition, the two clean sheets last week ran the team’s season shutout total to seven. At keeper, Gabriel Mendoza played all 90 minutes versus Briar Cliff while Callum Goldsmith went all 90 at Presentation.
· The regular season will conclude on Wednesday when the Bulldogs will host Doane (2-12-2, 2-5-2 GPAC) at 8 p.m. CT. Prior to kickoff, Concordia will honor its senior class. It may be the final game of the regular season, but the Bulldogs are also guaranteed to host in the GPAC quarterfinals on Nov. 3. Conference tournament pairings will be announced this weekend by the conference, after all regular season games have gone final.
Volleyball
· It was a week of dominance against in-state rivals as the sixth-ranked Bulldogs earned straight sets wins over Doane at home on Oct. 19 and over No. 13 College of Saint Mary on the road on Oct. 22. Concordia’s chances of catching Jamestown (12-1 GPAC) at the top of the league standings are slim, but it has put itself in position for an opportunity to host in the quarterfinals of the GPAC tournament. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad stands at 19-3 overall and at 10-3 in league play (tied for third). Midland resides in second place at 11-2 in the conference. For more information on Concordia Volleyball, click HERE.
· Reaching 10 conference wins is a significant accomplishment within the GPAC, the NAIA’s best volleyball league. The Bulldog program has now attained the feat three of the past four seasons with GPAC marks of 11-5 in 2019, 12-3 in 2020, 9-7 in 2021 and 10-3 in 2022. Though the ’21 team just missed double-digit GPAC wins, it went on to advance to the GPAC tournament championship match. The school record for conference wins in a single season remains 12, a total achieved by both the 2015 and 2020 teams. The current squad would break that record if it wins the remainder of its regular season matches.
· Impressively, neither of last week’s opponents reached 20 points in any set. In the matchup with Doane, Concordia overwhelmed the visitors from Crete while hitting .420 with 53 kills. By comparison, the Tigers managed only 24 kills and a .140 hitting percentage. The Bulldogs attacked Doane with their typical offensive balance as three players posted double figures in kills: Carly Rodaway (13), Gabi Nordaker (11) and Camryn Opfer (11). Ashley Keck added seven kills while hitting .500 from the outside. Setter Bree Burtwistle notched 38 assists, eight digs, four kills and two aces while Rebecca Gebhardt paced the team with 14 digs.
· The Bulldogs have had College of Saint Mary’s number this season. Concordia defeated the Flames convincingly, 25-18, 25-18, 25-13, this past Saturday while racking up 10 blocks. Nordaker led the way in that department as she collected two solo blocks and four assisted blocks. Also in the middle, Morgan Nibbe contributed to four blocks. A fifth-year senior from Red Cloud, Neb., Nibbe took advantage of starting opportunities last week with Kalee Wiltfong sidelined by injury. As part of the win at CSM, Keck hammered 14 kills and Opfer filled the stat sheet with 10 kills, 16 digs and two blocks while hitting .476. As a team, Concordia outhit the Flames, .289 to .128.
· In Ben Boldt’s mind, the two statistics most telling of a team’s dominance are hitting percentage and blocks. With last week’s strong performances on the attack, the Bulldogs remain at No. 2 nationally in hitting percentage (.276) behind only Marian University (Ind.). As for its blocking, Concordia ranks 94th nationally with an average of 1.76 blocks per set. The hitting percentage is especially impressive when considering that the Bulldogs have played a schedule that Massey Ratings judges to be the fourth most challenging in the NAIA.
· This will be the last ‘normal’ week of the regular season (in terms of playing Wednesday-Saturday). Concordia will host Mount Marty (6-17, 1-12 GPAC) at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday before heading to Hastings (18-10, 7-6 GPAC) for a 1 p.m. first serve on Saturday. Just like the aim last week, the Bulldogs will be shooting for season sweeps of both opponents. The regular season will conclude next Tuesday with a visit from fifth-ranked Midland.
Women’s Soccer
· Every game lately has been critical as the Bulldogs attempt to improve their positioning for a spot in the eight-team GPAC tournament. Concordia fell by a 3-0 score to GPAC title contender Briar Cliff on Oct. 19 before rebounding with a 1-0 win at Presentation on Oct. 22. Had the result at Presentation been reversed, the Bulldogs would be on the outside looking in at the top eight in the league race. As it stands, Head Coach Thomas Goines’ squad is tied for sixth place with 14 league points (9-5-2, 4-5-2 GPAC). For more information on Concordia Women’s Soccer, click HERE.
· The program has reached the GPAC tournament in each of the previous 13 seasons (missed the postseason most recently in 2008). The current standings remain muddled as the likes of Concordia (14 points), Morningside (14 points), Doane (13 points), College of Saint Mary (12 points) and Presentation (11 points) fight for the sixth through eight seeds in the GPAC tournament. Things will clear up a bit after Wednesday night. If the Bulldogs can hold off Doane at home, they would be a near lock to finish top eight. All Concordia wants is a shot. Its veteran players were part of the 2020 GPAC tournament title run.
· Based on how league play has transpired, the Bulldogs knew they would have to play close to flawless in order to beat Briar Cliff last week. The Chargers showed some flair on the attack in building a 2-0 lead by halftime. An own goal put the contest completely out of reach and allowed Briar Cliff (11-1-3, 9-0-1 GPAC) to remain unbeaten within the conference. One of the biggest highlights of the second half for the Bulldogs was a diving save made by Kalie “Rocket” Ward at the 75-minute mark. It was still a two-goal game at the time. The Chargers outshot Concordia, 10-4, although the Bulldogs had a slight edge in corners, 3-2.
· The mid-week loss basically made the match at Presentation a ‘must have.’ Concordia rose to the challenge, particularly in its defensive play in limiting the Saints (6-5-3, 3-5-2 GPAC) to three total shots. The Bulldogs just had to find that one goal, which they did in the 24th minute courtesy of freshman Savannah Andrews, a native of Gretna, Neb. She was assisted by fellow freshman Niah Kirchner. As part of the shutout (the team’s eighth this season), Ward made three saves. Andrews led all players in the game with two shots on goal.
· Youth in the attack has shown up during GPAC play as Concordia has relied upon gritty defensive play to keep close with some of the league’s top teams. The Bulldogs have not scored more than one goal in a game since their 5-0 home win over Dakota Wesleyan on Oct. 1. There have been four games decided by 1-0 scores during the month of October, including wins over College of Saint Mary and Presentation and losses to Jamestown and Hastings. Overall this season, Concordia has tallied 30 goals while surrendering 15. Talented freshman Kierstynn Garner has been stuck on seven goals since last scoring at Mount Marty on Sept. 17.
· The Bulldogs’ 12th and final conference regular season game will be staged at home on Wednesday when Doane (7-7-2, 4-5-1 GPAC) will make a visit to Seward. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. CT. A victory would provide a major boost to either side’s chances of qualifying for the GPAC tournament. Concordia has won each of the last nine series meetings with the Tigers, who have improved considerably after going 1-10-1 in GPAC play last season. The conference tournament will begin with the quarterfinals on Nov. 2.
Football
· Despite the most prolific passing performance in school history, the Bulldogs finished on the short end of a 29-28 final score while up against Dordt on Oct. 22. Concordia was hoping to extend what had been a three-game winning streak. The Defenders got the deciding points on Fulton Gunderson’s 20-yard field goal with 4:10 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs were unable to mount a scoring drive on either of their final two possessions. Head Coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad slipped to 3-4 overall (3-4 GPAC). For more information on Concordia Football, click HERE.
· Daberkow turned almost exclusively to the passing game offensively and, for the most part, it worked. DJ McGarvie and the offense caught fire after a slow start. The signal caller out of Lincoln North Star High School broke the program record for most passing yards in a single game with 458. That total eclipsed the 455 passing yards by Andrew Perea versus Northwestern in 2018. McGarvie also threw for four touchdowns last week – 27 yards to Korrell Koehlmoos, 22 and 14 yards to Austin Jablonski and six yards to Luke Lang. Over the past four games, McGarvie has completed 112-of-182 passes (.615) for 1,341 yards and 11 touchdowns to go against two interceptions.
· McGarvie got all of his receivers involved as six of them caught at least four passes: Koehlmoos (seven for 96 yards), Lang (six for 117 yards), Devin Zeigler (six for 34 yards), Carsen Arline (five for 91 yards), Jablonski (five for 80 yards) and Daylan Russell (four for 34 yards). Koehlmoos fell just short of reaching 100 receiving yards for a sixth game in a row. Among GPAC players in 2022, Koehlmoos ranks first in receptions (62), third in receiving yards (730) and third in receiving touchdowns (nine). For his career, Koehlmoos has hauled in 188 receptions for 2,600 yards and 21 touchdowns.
· Concordia went up against one of the nation’s top rushing attacks last week and held its own in containing Dordt to 4.2 yards per rush (253 yards on 60 attempts). The Defenders threw for an uncharacteristic 232 yards, including 88 yards that came on a halfback pass for a touchdown. Leading the way for the Bulldog defense was Kam Baker with 12 tackles (one for loss). Eleven stops apiece were made by Jayzen Armstrong, Michael Doiel and Gabe Knisley. In addition, Isiaha Conner broke up two passes, Lukas Coe intercepted a fourth down pass and Michael Grindey notched a sack.
· Koehlmoos’ punting was a key factor, particularly in the first half. He punted seven times for an average of 48.7 yards per attempt with six of his punts being downed inside the opposition’s 20. However, special teams issues were a problem for the second week in a row. The Bulldogs missed a 31-yard field goal and later had a 27-yard field goal try blocked and returned 78 yards for a touchdown. Concordia still managed to build a 28-20 fourth quarter lead before Dordt rallied to win. The Defenders have won five straight in the series.
· After three in a row at home, the Bulldogs will be on the road this Saturday for a short drive to Fremont, Neb., home to No. 17 Midland (7-1, 6-1 GPAC). Kickoff from Heedum Field is set for 1 p.m. CT. The Warriors have a chance to push for an NAIA playoff berth with Concordia, No. 4 Northwestern and Dordt remaining on their schedule. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs hope to duplicate last season’s result – a 21-7 win over Midland that featured six interceptions of Warrior quarterbacks. Midland is coming off a 22-13 win at Dakota Wesleyan this past week.