SIOUX CITY, Iowa – In a critical day of pre-Thanksgiving conference action, the Concordia University Wrestling team hoped to prove itself a worthy contender for the GPAC regular season crown. Though the Bulldogs won eight individual matches on Tuesday (Nov. 21), they fell twice, enduring defeat at the hands of Dakota Wesleyan, 24-16, and No. 5 Morningside, 29-18. Concordia competed in those two duals as part of GPAC Duals Day No. 1 hosted at the Long Lines Family Recreation Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
Head Coach Chase Clasen’s squad will use the outing as a learning experience heading into the holiday weekend. The Bulldogs stand at 2-2 with the wins having come at home over Midland and Hastings. Clasen’s program placed third in the 2022-23 GPAC standings.
After being toppled by reigning GPAC champion Morningside, 35-6, in last season’s dual meeting, Concordia still had a shot at a team victory all the way down to the heavyweight battle. That’s where the Mustangs’ seventh-ranked Hunter DeJong dashed hopes of an upset with a pin early in the second period. Morningside effectively rallied back from a 15-0 deficit after the first three matches. The Bulldogs still held an 18-9 advantage after Tommy Wentz earned a 6-3 victory at 165 pounds.
The clash with the Mustangs began in rousing fashion when Concordia freshman Bryson Bussinger wiped out a deficit and pinned Caelan Oakes Sudhish at the 6:43 mark. It was the first career dual experience for Bussinger, a native of Cozad, Neb. After Morningside forfeited 133 pounds, No. 10 Creighton Baughman and No. 12 Taylor Vazquez took center stage. The difference was a third-period takedown for Baughman as he won, 4-1. At 184 pounds, Hunter Weimer put up a strong fight against 11th-ranked Alex Vandyke. His Mustang competitor took him down and pinned him in the closing seconds of the third period in what had been a 1-1 tie.
A much-improved Dakota Wesleyan team that’s now 3-0 in GPAC duals got the best of the Bulldogs in Tuesday’s first round of action. Concordia never held a lead in the dual after conceding 125 pounds by technical fall and 133 pounds by decision. The Bulldog wins were delivered by Baughman (decision at 141), Brent Ward (decision at 157), Weimer (forfeit at 184) and Mason Garcia (major decision at 197). The Tigers managed to pull out the victory courtesy of Cole Hennings’ pin at heavyweight. The wins by Garcia and Weimer had gotten Concordia within 18-16 in the team score.
The Papillion, Neb., native Baughman continues to go about his business. He pushed his season record to 9-2, including a 4-0 dual mark. Now in his second season as a Bulldog, Baughman has gone 34-12 since first donning the navy and white singlet.
The Bulldogs will have the remainder of Thanksgiving week off while looking ahead to hosting Bethany College (Kan.) on Friday, Dec. 1. The dual is slated to get underway at 7 p.m. CT from Friedrich Arena. Concordia manhandled the Swedes, 36-9, in last season’s matchup in Seward.