Concordia Weightlifting
Head Coach: Freddie Myles (4th season)
2025 National Qualifiers (11 returning):
Men: Michael Davidge; Jack Freeman; Evan Fukuhara; Nolan Graupmann; Adrian Hernandez; Enzo Mancini; Kaiden Mima.
Women: Harley Jane Carter; Chloe Gaspar; Taylor Hedke; Kenzie Houser; Gracy Johnson; Nina Pollack.
2025 Team National Place Finishes: men – 4th; women – 6th; co-ed – 5th.
2025 All-Americans: Kaiden Mima (1st); Evan Fukuhara (2nd).
2026 National Championships: April 9-12 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Outlook
In back-to-back years, a Bulldog has represented Concordia University, Nebraska Weightlifting at the top of the national championship podium. Both Evan Fukuhara and Kaiden Mima return to the gym this season looking to add to their championship pedigree while pushing the program up the ranks of collegiate weightlifting. Year three of the program’s existence brought top six national finishes each of the breakdowns of men (fourth), women (sixth) and co-ed (fifth) in a display of swift progress.
Head Coach Freddie Myles has been the architect behind the quick rise for both the powerlifting and weightlifting programs. A roster of 16 weightlifting student-athletes aspires to continue to raise the bar as the 2025-26 season approaches. For those not aware, weightlifting involves the disciplines of clean & jerk and snatch.
In assessing how Concordia can build off the 2024-25 campaign, Myles remarked, “With the men being one spot out of the podium criteria, I think they can close that gap. We had four people inside the top five. I think it’s possible for us to have more athletes in that top five this year. Kaiden won and Evan was runner up. We have some other people who have a chance to be higher this year. I think both the men and women can move up and hopefully get into those banner finishes.”
The list of national qualifiers for Bulldog Weightlifting grew from six in 2024 to 13 in 2025. A native of Sacramento, Calif., Fukuhara helped legitimize the program in 2024 when he won the 67kg national championship in Columbus, Ohio. A year later, Mima (Colorado Springs, Colo.) broke through with a national title in the 61kg class after having transferred to Concordia the previous month. Additionally, Taylor Hedke (59kg) and Enzo Mancini (96kg) placed in the top five of their respective weight classes while racking up team points at the national meet. Hedke has proven to be a high achiever in both powerlifting and weightlifting.
The list of returning 2025 national qualifiers goes on to include Michael Davidge, Nolan Graupmann and Adrian Hernandez on the men’s side and Harley Jane Carter, Chloe Gaspar, Gracy Johnson and Nina Pollack on the women’s side. A junior from Coon Rapids, Iowa, Johnson also wasn’t far off a podium finish as she placed sixth at 71kg. As she rehabs from an elbow injury, Johnson has focused on building leg strength while observing the improvements of her teammates.
Johnson stands out as one of the athletes who has helped bring attention upon the lifting sports programs. Said Johnson, “It’s exciting to look back on it and see how our team went from not even placing my freshman year to last year with us being fifth place co-ed. The girls were sixth overall and boys were fourth overall. It was unheard of for us since we weren’t even in the running the previous year … I’d say our program is becoming more official. It was kind of an obsolete thing on campus where nobody really knew what it was. It kind of went from powerlifters versus weightlifters to all of us being best friends.”
For anyone looking to raise their game to another level, all they must do is look at the habits of national champions such as Fukuhara and Mima. There will be added motivation this season for Fukuhara, who moved up to the 73kg class last season and placed second (260kg total). As for Mima, he’ll be looking to ward off competitors hoping to take away his crown.
“They’re both very professional in the gym,” said Myles when asked about the competitive greatness of Fukuhara and Mima. “When they’re in there, they are focused on their lifting and working really hard. Outside of the gym, they are doing what they need to do to get better, like eating a certain way and making sure they are recovering well by sleeping and visualization. There are a lot of things that make you great. It’s not just the 10 hours you spend in the gym per week lifting. It’s also those other hours outside the gym and what you’re doing with those to be successful.”
A California native (Roseville) like Myles, Mancini has the desire to push for a lofty perch atop the podium. Also a young man with military aspirations and hopes of becoming a Navy seal, Mancini was convinced by Myles to compete at the collegiate level. He’s glad he took the plunge.
Says Mancini, “It’s awesome. I feel like I have a great purpose by being there. I feel like I’m a big part of the team. It’s always awesome to be part of something bigger than yourself. It’s a great feeling going in every day and having people who care about you and ask about your day.” He added of his first nationals experience, “It definitely provided me a big motivation. Now’s the time to really push.”
Mancini cites Hernandez and Graupmann as two influential athletes within the team who have pushed him to perform at a higher level. The environment and the culture that has been established demands that each athlete push to their limits.
As Johnson has observed, “Everybody’s technique has gotten really good this year from what I’ve observed. Everybody’s working really hard. I go in there after media day and everybody’s working hard after they got all dolled up and stuff. I get to see how everybody’s improving themselves and wanting to better our team.”
The first official competition of 2025-26 is coming up Oct. 18 at the Nebraska State Weightlifting Championships in Omaha. The slate also includes the Virus Weightlifting Finals (Dec. 4-7), the 2026 University Weightlifting National Championships (April 9-12) in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the CUNE Weightlifting Open (April 25).
Myles and assistant coach Chevy Stout will push their athletes to be at their peak come mid-April. Said Myles, “It’s a continual process. It’s so important to keep progressing and keep training. The large majority worked really hard over the summer. The first month of training, the intensity in the gym has been good. The effort has been good. Some of the numbers that our athletes are reaching is pointing in the direction of really good results come nationals time. We have to keep that focus up and keep healthy.”
The complete 2025-26 Concordia Weightlifting schedule can be found HERE.