SEWARD, Neb. – One of two hosts for a pivotal Saturday within the conference, the Concordia University wrestling program is readying to welcome four league opponents to Walz Arena for the GPAC Duals. Saturday’s action will get started at 9 a.m. CST. Walz will house five teams and a total of 10 duals. The Bulldogs will be joined in Seward by Briar Cliff, Doane, Hastings and Jamestown.
The Concordia Sports Network will provide live coverage throughout the day with the main focus centering on the four Bulldog duals. Aaron Sweazy will serve as the play-by-play voice for CSN. Live results can be found via TrackWrestling.com.
GPAC Duals – Saturday, Jan. 26
9 a.m. – Concordia vs. Hastings (Mat 1)
9 a.m. – Briar Cliff vs. Jamestown (Mat 2)
10:30 a.m. – Concordia vs. Jamestown (Mat 1)
10:30 a.m. – Briar Cliff vs. Doane (Mat 2)
12 p.m. – Briar Cliff vs. Hastings (Mat 1)
12 p.m. – Doane vs. Jamestown (Mat 2)
1:30 p.m. – Concordia vs. Doane (Mat 1)
1:30 p.m. – Hastings vs. Jamestown (Mat 2)
3 p.m. – Concordia vs. Briar Cliff (Mat 1)
3 p.m. – Doane vs. Hastings (Mat 2)
In the other pod of the GPAC Duals, Morningside will host Dakota Wesleyan, Midland and Northwestern. Saturday will go a long ways towards deciding who wins the GPAC dual title. As it stands entering the weekend, Morningside (3-0 GPAC), Northwestern (3-0 GPAC) and Concordia (2-0 GPAC) are the only three teams that have yet to drop a GPAC dual. The Bulldogs own conference wins over Dakota Wesleyan, 58-0, and Midland, 21-17. Prior to Briar Cliff taking the crown last season, Concordia had won GPAC dual titles three seasons in a row.
Since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, the Bulldogs own a GPAC dual record of 28-3. During that stretch, Concordia put together a string of 22 conference dual wins in a row. The current team has not had a dual of any kind since the GPAC/Cascade Duals took place in Chandler, Ariz., on Dec. 16. While in Arizona, the Bulldogs went 1-3 with a victory over Life Pacific College (Calif.).
In the new conference ratings released on Tuesday, Concordia moved up to No. 1 with 159 points, ahead of Morningside (156) and Midland (131). Those rankings are based upon the individual ratings. Deandre Chery (174) and Michael Stann (285) both garnered No. 1 GPAC rankings within their respective weight classes. Alberto Garcia is No. 2 at 133. Eleven Bulldogs appear within the top six of the conference of their weight classes. New national ratings are set to come out today (Jan. 23). Twenty-four GPAC wrestlers were nationally ranked when the most recent ratings were announced on Dec. 28.
Following Saturday’s action, just two GPAC duals will remain on the schedule. Concordia also has the Sioux City Open coming up Feb. 2 and the GPAC championships on Feb. 16.