2026 National Championships Info
Live Coverage: Video Stream | Results
Location: Pontchartrain Convention & Civic Center (Kenner, La.)
SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Powerlifting is set to send 19 athletes to the 2026 USA Powerlifting Collegiate National Championships, which will be held in Kenner, La., April 9-12. The host venue will be Pontchartrain Convention & Civic Center located on Williams Boulevard. The traveling party for Head Coach Freddie Myles’ squad includes nine returning national qualifiers from 2025. The qualifier total is an increase from the 17 athletes the program sent to the national championships in both 2024 and 2025.
The qualifying field for Concordia is listed below. The returning qualifiers from 2025 include Dax Davis, Wyatt Hosick, Quentin Nelson and Hunter Powers on the men’s side and Teya Badger, Taylor Hedke, Abigail Lockingen and Nevaeh Osterbauer on the women’s side. At last year’s national championships held in Oklahoma City, Okla., the Bulldogs came away with team places of fifth for women and tied for 14th for the men. The individual medalists included national champion Rylee Ladd, Taylor Hedke (third place), Teya Badger (fourth place) and Wyatt Hosick (fourth place). For their top three placements, Ladd and Hedke earned All-America awards.
2026 Concordia National Competitors
*Returning National Qualifier
Men
· Luis Alarcon
· *Dax Davis (Grand Island, Neb.)
· Leo Guiza (Crete, Neb.)
· *Wyatt Hosick (Cozad, Neb.)
· Nolan Hyde (Hastings, Neb.)
· *Quentin Nelson (Omaha, Neb.)
· Will Peterson (Yutan, Neb.)
· *Hunter Powers (Grand Island, Neb.)
· Garrett Reimche (Lenexa, Kan.)
Women
· *Teya Badger (Brandon, S.D.)
· Rylee Bentz (Kearney, Neb.)
· Talisa Buhr (Adams, Neb.)
· Evyn Carpenter (Manvel, Texas)
· Taylor Gniot (Milwaukee, Wis.)
· *Taylor Hedke (Marysville, Kan.)
· *Abigail Lockingen (West Jordan, Utah)
· Givanna Nuyen (Lincoln, Neb.)
· *Nevaeh Osterbauer (Osceola, Wis.)
· Katie Wilson (Cozad, Neb.)
Badger and Hedke will look to build upon their All-America performances from last season. A senior from Marysville, Kan., Hedke will be pulling double duty while attempting to earn medals at both the powerlifting and weightlifting national championships. On her way to placing third at 2025 powerlifting nationals in the 60 kg class, Hedke posted lifts of 170 kg in squat, 82.5 kg in bench and 170 kg in deadlift for a total of 422.5 kg. Meanwhile, Badger competed at 100 kg and recorded lifts of 190 kg in squat, 92.5 kg in bench and 185 kg in deadlift for a total of 467.5 kg. Hosick just missed All-America recognition as he totaled 525 kg while competing at 60 kg.
Worth noting, Will Peterson will return to the national stage after missing last year's event due to injury. Peterson placed fifth at 140 kg at the 2024 national championships. Earlier this semester, Peterson won a junior division title at the Nebraska State Championship meet. Additionally, Dax Davis will make his fourth straight appearance at nationals, making him the only athlete in the program’s short history to accomplish that feat.
The 2025-26 season to date has included the CUNE Collegiate Powerlifting Meet (Oct. 4), the Central Collegiate Cup Series (Nov. 22-23) and the Nebraska State Powerlifting Meet (Jan. 31-Feb. 1). Twelve school records were broken at the Collegiate Cup Series. At 110 kg, Leo Guiza keeps raising the bar. His DOTS score of 476 eclipsed a school record. He is also the program’s first athlete to ever achieve a total greater than 800 kg. At the Collegiate Cup, Hedke reset the school record at 60 kg by totaling 440 kg.
The national championships will mark the end of the 2025-26 season. For more information on Concordia Powerlifting, check out the program’s online homepage HERE.