CRETE, Neb. – By the end of the afternoon on Saturday (Feb. 7), Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling stood alone in second place in the final GPAC dual standings. The NAIA 16th-ranked Bulldogs flexed their muscles at GPAC Day of Duals No. 2 hosted by Doane by cruising past Northwestern, 42-6, Morningside, 35-6, and Dakota Wesleyan, 32-16. Concordia won 24 of the 30 individual matches, including 17 with bonus points.
Head Coach Josh Watts’ squad closed the 2025-26 dual slate with an 8-1 overall record (7-1 GPAC). Each of the wins came by double-digit margins.
“The guys wrestled hard and wrestled well,” Watts said. “We’ve been getting better from competition to competition this semester. That’s kind of a trend with how we run things. We’re definitely looking forward to next week’s prep to get ready for conference, but we’re making pretty good strides … (the dual record) is an improvement from last year. We pulled off some pretty tough wins today. We’ll have to make some adjustments to create some distance between those guys and gain ground on the guys we did lose to.”
Saturday’s morning dual was no contest as the Bulldogs surrendered only one match to the Red Raiders (4-5 GPAC). Concordia put the exclamation point on the blowout with pins in each of the final three weight classes, via Barret Brant (184), Torrance Keehn (197) and Jeremiah Vasquez (285). Cannon Carey was also a winner by technical fall. Northwestern got on the board at 141 with a tech fall.
In the middle dual of the day, Concordia avenged one of its two GPAC losses from last season. The Bulldogs took all but two matches versus the Mustangs (4-4), who dropped back to fourth place in this season’s final dual standings. There were no pins in the dual, but the following Bulldogs each triumphed by technical fall: Gabe Lujan (125), Bryce Karlin (141), Heistand (157) and Gabe Kant (285). In addition, major decisions were posted by Paul Ruff (133), Brandt (184) and Hunter Weimer (174).
To cap the day, Concordia ran away from Dakota Wesleyan (5-3 GPAC), a team that was situated above the Bulldogs in the most recent GPAC ratings. Lujan and Brandt claimed pins and Heistand throttled his counterpart by technical fall. An especially noteworthy win was seized by Carey, who upset the Tigers’ 20th-ranked Jackson Remmers by a 4-2 decision at 165. Concordia won seven of the 10 matches while locking up second place in the GPAC.
Four Bulldogs went 3-0 for the day: Lujan (125), Ruff (133), Heistand (157) and Brandt (184). With two more pins, Brandt moved his career total to 46 (four shy of the all-time school record) while Heistand owns a near spotless 15-1 record on the season. In addition, Carey (165), Keehn (197) and Kant (285) all went 2-0 at the GPAC Day of Duals.
Said Watts in highlighting some individuals, “Gabe Lujan has really come a long ways. Last year he may have only won a couple matches. He’s grown a lot this year. He was scoring us some bonus points. I’m really proud of how he’s worked. Paul Ruff went 3-0 and is getting better each week. Hagen was very dominant today. Cal Price is improving a ton. He’s figuring that weight class out. Cannon Carey beat a nationally ranked guy and Barret did Barret things.”
Concordia has now placed second in the conference regular season standings in back-to-back years under Watts. During that time, the Bulldogs have gone a combined 13-3 in GPAC duals. The hunt for the program’s first conference championship since the 2019-20 season continues.
Postseason tournament action is up next. Twelve Bulldogs will take aim at podium finishes and national tournament bids when the 2026 GPAC Wrestling Championships unfold on Feb. 20-21. Northwestern will host this year’s conference tournament. Concordia placed third at the 2025 GPAC Championships.