Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Female: Charli Preister, Soccer
A sophomore from Columbus, Neb., Charli Preister moved from center back to forward in last week’s outing and responded with two goals and an assist at Concordia toppled Northwestern, 4-0. Preister and the Bulldogs have moved into a three-way tie atop the GPAC standings. She is an Exercise Science major.
Male: Hugo Garrote, Soccer
A senior from Jerez De La Frontera, Spain, Hugo Garrote helped the Bulldogs remain unbeaten in league play (9-0) with last week’s 3-0 triumph over Northwestern. Garrote produced the team’s second goal of the game (fifth of the season). He is a Business Administration major and high level chef at the Dog House Grill.
2026-27 BAAM Athletes of the Week
Oct. 20 – Seohyeon Jang, Tennis / Joe McCarroll, Soccer
Oct. 13 – Jett Farwell, Football / Bella Hedke, Volleyball
Oct. 6 – Ella Brueggemann, Volleyball / Joe McCarroll, Soccer
Sept. 29 – Elijah Fulton, Soccer / Seohyeon Jang, Tennis
Sept. 22 – Abby Haynes, Soccer / Kaden Thompson, Football
Sept. 15 – Seohyeon Jang, Tennis / Carter Wiebusch, Soccer
Sept. 8 – Laynee Baker, Volleyball / Kai Olbrich, Men’s Soccer
Sept. 1 – Myla Emery, Volleyball / Gideon Stark, Football
Aug. 25 – Shandy Fa’ali’i, Volleyball / Sean Stratman, Men’s Soccer
News and notes:
BAAM luncheons are held every Tuesday (when classes are in session) 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.
Weightlifting begins 2026-27 competition season at Iowa-Nebraska State Championships: In the kickoff to the fifth season in program history, Concordia Weightlifting came away with team and individual hardware. The Bulldogs hoisted the team championship trophy after action concluded on Oct. 24 at the 2026 Iowa-Nebraska Weightlifting State Organization (WSO) Championships held at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Eight Concordia lifters emerged as champions within their weight classes and Kaiden Mima earned distinction as Best Overall Male Lifter while Taylor Hedke was named Best Senior Female Lifter. In addition to individual championships won by Hedke (69 kg) and Mima (70 kg), the following Bulldogs also took home first place medals: Alex Hibbs (53 kg) and Gracy Johnson (77 kg) on the women’s side and Nolan Graupmann (110+ kg), Wyatt Hosick (65 kg), Enzo Mancini (95 kg) and Marcus Sweet (85 kg) on the men’s side. For further details, check out the meet recap HERE. On another note, Mima traveled to Mexico recently and competed in the Pan American Junior Championships. He earned three gold medals for his efforts. The next events on the schedule are the Central Collegiate Cup Series (Nov. 21-22) for powerlifting and the Virus Weightlifting Finals (Dec. 3-6) for weightlifting.
--2026-27 Powerlifting Season Preview
--2026-27 Weightlifting Season Preview
Winter sports prepare for this weekend’s season openers: Season openers are fast approaching for three specific winter sports: men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling. Concordia Athletics began rolling out winter sport season previews in recent weeks. Links to those previews can be found below. All three squads will officially open their 2026-27 seasons this weekend while competing in neighboring states. Each program will be featured more prominently in next week’s Bulldog Weekly Report.
--Men’s Basketball | Season Opener: Oct. 29 at Kansas Wesleyan.
--Women’s Basketball | Season Opener: Oct. 30 vs. Valley City State (in Mitchell, S.D.).
--Wrestling | Season Opener: Oct. 31 at Friends Open.
Jang makes history, wins NAIA ITA Cup singles championship: The very first Bulldog to ever qualify for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Cup, Seohyeon “Lay” Jang made the most of her opportunity. In action that took place Oct. 14-18 in Rome, Ga., Jang won the NAIA ITA Cup singles championship while going 4-0 in the 16-player bracket (which can be found HERE). Seeded third, Jang toppled unseeded opponents in the round of 16 and quarterfinals before proceeding to defeat Georgia Gwinnett’s second-ranked Suryanshi Suryanshi, 6-4, 6-3, in the semifinals and Doane’s fourth-ranked Maria Purizaca, 6-4, 6-1, in the championship match. This fall, Jang went unbeaten in singles as she won the GPAC Fall Individual Championships, the ITA Central West Regional Championships and the ITA Cup. Including her victory in the dual versus Midland (a 6-1 team win), Jang posted a 14-0 mark this fall. Jang is a native of Seoul, South Korea, and is a Business Administration major. Head Coach Lisa Hart’s tennis programs will resume action in the spring of 2027.
Ballfield Project underway, funding still sought: Over the summer, Concordia University, Nebraska went public with the Shine Forth Campaign, an initiative that includes the hybrid baseball-softball Ballfield Project. Concordia continues to seek funding for the project, which will bring a state-of-the-art facility to the east part of campus. For more details on the Ballfield Project, check out the article that first appeared in the Broadcaster magazine HERE.
Concordia Athletics features: The Concordia Athletics website regularly spotlights Bulldog student-athletes, teams and alums with detailed profiles and feature articles. Recent feature stories are linked below.
--Former teammates (Jason Weides and Bernie Ochoa) reunite over passion for Concordia, Bulldog Soccer
--Shandy Fa’ali’i takes on expanded on-court, leadership role
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show has returned for a 12th year. 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 2026-27 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. Eric Allgood will be the primary voice for 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 with the 2023-24 academic year, Concordia Athletics began a partnership with Hudl for live video 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 via the Hudl account. For select JV streams, check out that specific sport’s Facebook page. Starting in 2026-27, Concordia broadcasts are simulcast with the GPAC Network and Urban Edge Network.
Shooting Sports
· Most recent:
o Placed 2nd/10 at the Southeast Community College Invitational on Oct. 24-25.
· Links: 2026-27 Schedule | Roster
· Notable: The fifth and final event of the fall season occurred this past week as the Bulldogs placed second out of 10 teams at the Southeast Community College Bobcat Invitational held at Lincoln Trap & Skeet Club. Only Fort Hays State University (1,387) managed to outgun Concordia and its team total of 1,376. The Bulldogs swept HOA individual championships courtesy of graduate students Devin Harris (280/300) and Katie Welker-Luetje (269). On the women’s side, the Hamill, S.D., native Welker-Luetje won trap (98) and placed second in sporting (80) while sophomore Delayna Rife took second in skeet (94). On the men’s side, sophomore Jerry Kaibel won sporting (88) and senior Lane Schoff was the trap runner up (96). From a team perspective, the Bulldogs placed second to Fort Hays State in both sporting (421-417) and trap (479-478) at the SCC Invite. As Owens noted, dropped targets in the latter stages of individual rounds prevented Concordia from winning in trap. In skeet, the Bulldogs (481) were just one target behind the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for second place. At the top of the team’s HOA lineup, junior Clayton Gellerman made a run at Harris for the overall championship. Gellerman finished second among Bulldogs at 276/300. Harris and Gellerman were followed by Schoff (271), Welker-Luetje (269) and Jaggar Luejte (266) in the team’s top five. Head Coach Dylan Owens’ team finished the fall with back-to-back second place claims. Concordia will resume the 2026-27 season at the UNL Cornhusker Invite (Feb. 20-21, 2027) next semester.
· Up next:
o The 2026-27 season will resume in the spring semester with the UNL Cornhusker Invite on Feb. 20-21, 2027.
Cross Country
· Most recent:
o Placed 12th/27 on the men’s side and 11th/28 on the women’s side at the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic on Oct. 24.
· Links: 2026 Schedule | Roster | NAIA Ratings: Men | Women
· Notable: The final meet of the regular season unfolded this past Saturday as the Bulldogs went up against top-notch NAIA competition at the Blazing Tiger Classic co-hosted by College of Saint Mary and Doane. Concordia came away with place finishes of 12th out of 27 on the men’s side and 11th out of 28 on the women’s side in a meet that featured a combined 19 squads that were either ranked or receiving votes in the latest NAIA ratings. The top finishers for the men (8K race) were seniors Trey Robertson (25:44.6), Aidan Limback (26:18.3) and Keith Siek (26:18.9). Robertson ran a season best 8K time and placed 25th. On the women’s side, freshman Hope Beck led the way once again, placing 41st in the women’s 6K in a time of 23:32.3. She was followed by two freshmen: Rachel Prince (23:54.0) and Katie Johnsen (23:55.5). Notably, the women placed in front of No. 23 Southern Oregon University. Beck was the women’s top finisher at all five regular season meets. Based on recent ratings, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads will need to make a significant push at the conference meet in order to boost its chances of qualifying for the national championships. For the 20 runners (10 men and 10 women) who make the cut for Concordia’s GPAC roster, the season will continue with the GPAC Championships at the Dordt Cross Country Course on Saturday, Nov. 7. Last season, the Bulldogs posted GPAC place finishes of third for men and fifth for women.
· For additional news and notes on the Concordia Cross Country teams, click HERE.
· Up next:
o Saturday, Nov. 7 at the 2026 GPAC Championships (Dordt Cross Country Course in Sioux Center, Iowa), 10:45 a.m.
Football
· Current record: 3-4, 3-4 GPAC.
· Most recent:
o Lost at No. 6 Morningside, 61-21, on Oct 24.
· Links: 2026 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Coaches’ Poll
· Notable: In playing a ranked opponent for the third time this season, Concordia fell at No. 6 Morningside, 61-21, after coming off a bye. The Mustangs (7-1, 6-1 GPAC) built leads of 20-0 in the opening quarter and 41-14 by halftime in Sioux City, Iowa. The stars of the game for the Bulldogs included receiver Jonny Puelz and safety Kaden Thompson. The Lincoln Lutheran High School alum Puelz hauled in eight receptions for 169 yards and a touchdown. On the other side of the ball, the Hershey Public High School product Thompson posted 14 tackles (one for loss). At quarterback, Gideon Stark returned to the field after missing the previous two games. He completed 18-of-42 passes for 278 yards. Carlos Collazo also got back to action (after also missing two games) and rushed eight times for 45 yards and a touchdown. Collazo did not play in the second half. Freshman Dylan Mika also totaled 35 rushing yards and a touchdown while Adam Van Cleave made five catches for 42 yards. The Morningside offense ran 86 plays and accumulated 599 total yards. The Mustangs committed one turnover on a fumble caused by Luke Penrod and recovered by Drake Trent. The loss puts Concordia in a tie for sixth place in the GPAC standings with three game remaining in the season. The Bulldogs will play their first home game in more than a month when Doane visits Seward on Saturday for a 1 p.m. CT kickoff. Concordia has won five of the past six series matchups (including each of the past three).
· For details on each week’s matchup, check out the game notes linked HERE.
· Next up:
o Saturday, Oct. 31 vs. Doane (3-5, 2-5 GPAC), 1 p.m.
Women’s Soccer
· Current record: 9-3-3, 8-1-1 GPAC.
· Last week:
o Bye on Oct. 21.
o Won vs. Northwestern, 4-0, on Oct. 24.
· Links: 2026 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Selection Committee Poll
· Notable: With one game left in the regular season, the Bulldogs have pulled themselves into a three-way tie for first place in the GPAC standings. Concordia had last Wednesday off before routing Northwestern, 4-0, this past Saturday. It was a stellar outing for Charli Preister, who has spent much of this season at center back. Head Coach Jason Weides moved her forward in the attack, and she responded with two goals (39’ and 42’) and an assist in scorching the Red Raiders. Additional goals came from Guadalupe Sanchez (22’) and Abby Haynes (61’). A Columbus High School product like Preister, Haynes added an assist of her own. Triniti Rowe added two assists as a dangerous facilitator in set-piece situations. Rowe teamed up with Evie Keller along the back line as the Bulldogs posted their seventh shutout of the season. In goal, Aaliyah Matthews (73 minutes) and Aliya Vidro (17 minutes) were also influential in the final score line. Sanchez has pushed her team-high season goal count to eight. Concordia has run its conference record to 8-1-1 (25 points), placing it in a tie with both Hastings and Morningside for first place. The Bulldogs can clinch at least a share of the GPAC title with a win over Midland in Wednesday’s regular season finale. Meanwhile, Hastings will play at Mount Marty and Morningside will travel to Waldorf. The quarterfinals of the GPAC tournament will be played on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
· For additional news and notes, check out the program’s homepage HERE.
· This week:
o Wednesday, Oct. 28 vs. Midland (1-13-1, 1-8-1 GPAC), 5:30 p.m.
o GPAC Tournament begins with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Men’s Soccer
· Current record: 11-4, 9-0 GPAC.
· Last week:
o Bye on Oct. 21.
o Won vs. Northwestern, 3-0, on Oct. 24.
· Links: 2026 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Selection Committee Poll
· Notable: After clinching at least a share of the GPAC regular season title the previous week, the Bulldogs took it a step farther this past Saturday, locking up the outright conference championship. Concordia remained unbeaten in league play (9-0) thanks to its 3-0 blanking of Northwestern. A goal apiece was delivered by Sebastian Montino (2’), Hugo Garrote (44’) and Connor Robbins (70’). Defensively, Sean Stratman and Michael Wyvill were strong in the back once again and Florian Quast played all 90 minutes (two saves) in goal while earning the clean sheet. On its way to a championship, Head Coach Bernie Ochoa’s squad has left no doubt, outscoring conference foes by a combined total of 41-6 over its nine league outings. The Bulldogs have achieved at a high level while showcasing balance. Four different players have tallied at least five goals this fall: Joe McCarroll (eight), Kai Olbrich (six), Sebastian Montino (six) and Garrote (five). Concordia leads the GPAC, by a wide margin, in goals per game with an average of 3.20. It also ranks second among conference teams for goals against average (1.33). Dating back to last season, the Bulldogs have won 15 consecutive games versus GPAC opponents. They will attempt to polish off an unbeaten conference season when they host Midland in the regular season finale on Wednesday. Concordia will then host a quarterfinal game against an opponent to be determined on Saturday. Kickoff has been set for 6 p.m. CT.
· For a closer look at this week’s matchups, check out the game notes linked HERE.
· This week:
o Wednesday, Oct. 28 vs. Midland (3-6-4, 3-2-3 GPAC), 5:30 p.m.
o GPAC Quarterfinals – Saturday, Oct. 31 vs. TBD, 6 p.m.
Volleyball
· Current record: 21-3, 12-1 GPAC; ranked No. 3 in the NAIA selection committee poll.
· Last week:
o Bye on Oct. 21.
o Won at No. 14 Midland, 25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17, on Oct. 24.
· Links: 2026 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Selection Committee Poll
· Notable: A mid-week bye allowed the third-ranked Bulldogs a chance to rest and recover while preparing to play No. 14 Midland for a second time. Concordia took the first two sets and triumphed in four in Fremont this past Saturday. Freshman Myla Emery starred as she tallied 29 assists, 11 digs and five aces. Three of those aces came during the Bulldogs’ 7-0 run to open the fourth set. In another strong effort, senior middle Bella Hedke produced 10 kills and four blocks. Shandy Fa’ali’i led the team with 12 kills while Jenna Sladky paced the back row with 17 digs. Makenna Starkey also added nine kills and five blocks and Maddie Paulsen hit .429 on her way to eight kills. The result puts Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad at 12-1 in league play (21-3 overall), second to Northwestern (13-0) at the top of the standings. In the NAIA national selection committee poll released last week, Concordia remained at No. 3 while the Red Raiders jumped to No. 1. Based on the new top 25, the Bulldogs own wins over the following ranked teams: No. 8 Morningside, No. 10 McPherson College (Kan.), No. 14 Midland (two) and No. 17 Nelson University (Texas). As part of a challenging week, Concordia will play at Hastings on Wednesday before welcoming No. 18 Dordt to Friedrich Arena on Halloween Saturday.
· For additional news and notes on Concordia Volleyball, check out the team’s homepage HERE.
· This week:
o Wednesday, Oct. 28 at Hastings (16-6, 8-5 GPAC), 7:30 p.m.
o Saturday, Oct. 31 vs. No. 18 Dordt (18-7, 9-4 GPAC), 4 p.m.