Day 1 Results (Track Wrestling)
CRETE, Neb. – It was an overall solid opening day at the 2023 GPAC Wrestling Championships for the Concordia University Wrestling team. After equaling a program record for dual wins in a season, the Bulldogs have their sights set on a top three conference tournament placement and as many individual berths to NAIA nationals as possible. In Friday (Feb. 17)’s action in Crete, Neb., Concordia advanced five wrestlers to the conference semifinals and totaled 42 team points.
Head Coach Chase Clasen’s squad has a one-point lead over Briar Cliff (41.0) for the No. 3 spot in the GPAC pecking order. The conference leaders heading into Saturday are Morningside (89.5) and Doane (74.0).
Team scores after day 1
1. Morningside – 89.5
2. Doane – 74.0
3. Concordia – 42.0
4. Briar Cliff – 41.0
5. Northwestern – 34.0
6. Dakota Wesleyan – 32.5
7. Midland – 19.5
8. Hastings – 14.5
9. Jamestown – 11.5
The five Bulldog GPAC semifinalists are Creighton Baughman (141), Tommy Wentz (157), Issiah Burks (165), Logan Davidson (184) and Stephen Duffy (184). Each competitor will take to the mat on Saturday with a chance at a spot in the finals. This is the moment Burks has been preparing for as a sixth-year member of the program. The Hemet, Calif., native’s path included a major decision (13-5) over Midland’s Kody Hahn and a 19-second fall of Briar Cliff’s Garrett Arment, the GPAC’s fourth-rated wrestler at 165 pounds. With those two wins, Burks moved up to No. 5 on the program’s all-time wins list with 74 for his career.
The two-time JUCO All-American Baughman entered the tournament as Concordia’s highest ranked competitor (No. 16 nationally) and backed that up with two victories on Friday. His wins came by major decision, 14-1, over Dakota Wesleyan’s Zach Zitek and by decision, 7-0, over Hastings’ Andy Rojas. The remaining three Concordia semifinalists needed only one win on Friday to reach their current standing. Wentz took out Briar Cliff’s Micah Lanier by major decision, 10-0, Davidson pinned Midland’s Connor Rinn in 1:36 and Duffy defeated Doane’s Garrett Cornwall by decision, 8-3.
Another five Bulldogs will wrestle on the back side of their respective brackets when the action picks up. Both Jeaven Scdoris (149) and Garrett Moser (174) went 1-1 on day one of the tournament. Meanwhile, Bryce Karlin (125), Tavoris Smith (157) and Jose Sanchez (174) all fell in their lone matches of the day and will have their seasons on the line at the start of day two. As for Grant Wells (133) and Cy Renney (285), they went 0-2 and were eliminated from the tournament.
Session II of the GPAC Championships will get underway at 10 a.m. CT from Fuhrer Fieldhouse on the Doane campus. Results will update live on TrackWrestling.com while host Doane will stream the tournament live from: https://www.youtube.com/@DSN2-live/streams. Updated brackets can also be found via Track Wrestling (link at the top).
Saturday semifinal matchups
141 – Creighton Baughman (CUNE) vs. Ethan Krey (Briar Cliff)
157 – Tommy Wentz (CUNE) vs. Tristan Zamilpa (Doane)
165 – Issiah Burks (CUNE) vs. Caleb Connor (Morningside)
184 – Logan Davidson (CUNE) vs. Hayden Wempen (Morningside)
184 – Stephen Duffy (CUNE) vs. Luke Jenness (Northwestern)