SEWARD, Neb. – For the second April in a row, Concordia University, Nebraska Powerlifting will host a home meet. The 2024 Concordia Collegiate Powerlifting Meet represented the first home competition in the history of Concordia University, Nebraska Lifting Sports. The 2025 event is slated to get underway at 9 a.m. CT from the PE Center Gym and will include Concordia along with competitors from Midland University and Coffeyville Community College. The event will conclude the 2024-25 competition season for Head Coach Freddie Myles’ powerlifters.
2025 Concordia Collegiate Powerlifting Meet
· Saturday, April 12 | 9 a.m. CT
· PE Center Gym (Concordia campus)
· Live results: https://liftingcast.com/
· Facebook live stream: https://www.facebook.com/CUNElifting
Roughly 27 athletes are expected to compete Saturday’s home meet. That group includes 10 Bulldogs. Powerlifting tests athletes in squat, bench press and deadlift. At the end of the competition, Concordia will recognize its seven powerlifting seniors (listed below). Some of the seniors have plans to return next season for further competition.
2024-25 Concordia Seniors
· Jack Freeman (Palm Coast, Fla.)
· Tyrek Fuller (Albany, Ga.)
· Jack Hedke (Marysville, Kan.)
· Taylor Hedke (Marysville, Kan.)
· Kenzie Houser (Riverton, Kan.)
· Abigail Velten (Whitesboro, Texas)
· Adam Widmann (Long Beach, Calif.)
The home meet will showcase many of Concordia’s athletes that did not travel to Oklahoma City for the 2025 Collegiate Powerlifting National Championships. At the national championships that concluded this past Sunday, the yields included a team banner for placing fifth on the women’s side and four individual medals. At 52kg, Rylee Ladd claimed the national title and broke her own American collegiate women’s bench press record for that weight class. She was joined with All-America honors by teammate Taylor Hedke (third place at 60kg). In addition, Teya Badger (fourth at 100kg) and Wyatt Hosick (fourth at 60kg) earned medals for their efforts and Jack Hedke (eighth at 125kg) and Kenzie Houser (10th at 56kg) placed within the top 10.
Prior to the national championships, the 2024-25 season included the Strong Husker Meet (Oct. 12), the Central Collegiate Cup Series (Nov. 23-24) and the Friends University Open (Feb. 1). Some of the major highlights were three individual titles and three school records at the Strong Husker Meet, eight new school records and five first-place awards at the Central Collegiate Cup Series and a Best Female Lifter honor for Abigail Velten at the Friends Open. In addition, Ladd was tabbed the Best Female Lifter at the Strong Husker competition.
On the weightlifting side of things, the Bulldogs are scheduled host a home meet inside the Walz Fieldhouse on Saturday, April 26.