SEWARD, Neb. – The final two duals of the 2023-24 Concordia University Wrestling season are on tap for this weekend. The Bulldogs will welcome Colby Community College to Friedrich Arena on Friday for senior night before heading to Crete for a makeup dual with No. 7 Doane on Saturday. Head Coach Chase Clasen’s squad is coming off a 1-2 record at GPAC Day of Duals No. 2 held this past Saturday in Sioux City, Iowa. Concordia earned a 33-11 win over Northwestern before slipping in two tight defeats – 22-20 to Briar Cliff and 29-21 to Jamestown. Those results leave the Bulldogs at 3-4 in GPAC duals (7-6 overall).
This Week
Concordia (7-6) vs. Colby CC | Senior Night
Friday, Feb. 2 | 6 p.m. | Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
Webcast: Concordia Hudl
Live Results: Track Wrestling
Concordia (7-6, 3-4 GPAC) at No. 7 Doane (9-3, 7-0 GPAC)
Saturday, Feb. 3 | 7 p.m. | Haddix Center (Crete, Neb.)
Webcast: Doane YouTube
Live Results: Track Wrestling
The season to date has featured 13 duals and five tournaments. After going 1-2 this past weekend in conference duals, the Bulldogs currently sit in sixth place in the GPAC regular season standings. In the duals that took place in Sioux City, Concordia won seven matches from Northwestern, five from Briar Cliff and four from Jamestown. In both defeats, the Bulldogs owned leads in the team scoring going into the final two weight classes. Individually, Creighton Baughman and Barret Brandt led the way for Concordia by both going 3-0 with three contested victories and two pins apiece. As part of a fine freshman season, Brandt has equaled a program record for pins in a single season with 21. Baughman (13-0) and Brandt (9-0) are both undefeated in duals this season.
The race for the team wins lead has heated up as Baughman stands at 26-5 and Brandt has run his mark to 26-8. Four other Bulldogs have collected at least 10 wins this season: Grant Wells (19-12), Hunter Weimer (15-10), Jeaven Scdoris (12-6), Stephen Duffy (12-8) and Mason Garcia (11-8). A native of Papillion, Neb., Baughman owns a two-year Concordia record of 51-15. From a team perspective, the Bulldogs’ dual wins have come over Midland, 45-6, Hastings, 41-9, Bethany College (Kan.), 55-0, Avila University (Mo.), 34-12, No. 18 Baker University (Kan.), 28-23, Waldorf University (Iowa), 56-0, and Northwestern, 33-11.
Prior to the dual on Friday night, Clasen’s program will celebrate seven seniors: TJ Allen, Creighton Baughman, Stephen Duffy, Clayton Laabs, Dontario Norwood, Anthony Perez and Jeaven Scdoris. A major highlight of their time as Bulldogs was being part of the 2022-23 squad that equaled a program record for dual wins in a season with 13. That squad placed third in the GPAC for both duals and the postseason and sent four individuals to the national championships. The likes of Allen, Baughman, Duffy and Scdoris have been regulars in this season's lineup.
Concordia hosted Colby Community College a year ago and came away with a 49-4 win on senior night. The Trojans are led by Head Coach CJ Shavers. Colby sent seven competitors to the 2023 NJCCA National Championships.
Doane visited Seward last season and emerged with a 44-0 blanking of Concordia. Head Coach Dana Vote’s squad landed 12 competitors in the most recent official GPAC rankings. Vote served as head coach of the Bulldogs during the 2012-13 through 2015-16 seasons (final two seasons resulted in GPAC championships for Concordia). Against GPAC opponents, Doane has been dominant this season with a 7-0 conference dual mark. Last week in Sioux City, the Tigers won three times (over Jamestown, Dakota Wesleyan and Morningside) and secured at least a share of the GPAC regular season title. Doane returned two 2023 All-Americans in Nathan Lendt (149) and Bradley Antesberger (197). The most notable departure from last season is Baagii Boldmaa, a three-time NAIA national champion.
Ranked wrestlers from both sides are listed below. Six Bulldogs appeared in the GPAC rankings released last week. Baughman is the GPAC’s top-rated wrestler at 141 pounds.
GPAC/NAIA Ranked Competitors – Concordia/Doane
NOTE: Full conference and NAIA rankings can be found here: https://www.naia.org/sports/mwrest/2023-24/Releases/Ratings.
Concordia (7-6, 3-4 GPAC)
141 – Creighton Baughman: GPAC – 1st | NAIA – 8th
149 – TJ Allen: GPAC – 6th
165 – Tommy Wentz: GPAC – 3rd
165 – Barret Brandt: GPAC – 4th
174 – Stephen Duffy: GPAC – 6th
197 – Mason Garcia: GPAC – 4th
Doane (9-3, 7-0 GPAC)
125 – Nathan Rizek: GPAC – 1st | NAIA – 12th
133 – Devin Avedissian: GPAC – 2nd | NAIA – 21st
149 – Nathan Lendt: GPAC – 1st | NAIA – 2nd
157 – Ben Miller: GPAC – 1st | NAIA – 14th
157 – Benjamin Dobler: GPAC – 2nd | NAIA – 24th
174 – Michael Scarponi: GPAC – 1st | NAIA – 15th
174 – Cael Jordan: GPAC – 2nd | NAIA – 22nd
184 – Tyson Beauperthuy: GPAC – 1st | NAIA – 5th
184 – Chase Stieb: GPAC – 5th | NAIA – 23rd
197 – Bradley Angesberger: GPAC – 1st | NAIA – 1st
197 – Kasten Grape: GPAC – 2nd | NAIA – 6th
285 – Eli Criblez: GPAC – 4th | NAIA – 20th
The most significant tournaments of the 2023-24 season will be up next. Concordia will host the 2024 GPAC Wrestling Championships the weekend of Feb. 16-17. For those who qualify, the season will continue with the 2024 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, Feb. 29 – March 2.