Dual Preview: Concordia to meet No. 4 Doane

By Jacob Knabel on Jan. 11, 2022 in Wrestling

SEWARD, Neb. – Fresh off its first tournament since the calendar flipped to 2022, the Concordia University Wrestling team preps for a major challenge coming up late in the week. The Bulldogs will go up against fourth-ranked Doane at 7 p.m. CT on Friday. Last time out within the conference, Concordia toppled Midland, 32-18, in action inside Friedrich Arena. Head Coach Myron Bradbury’s squad owns an overall dual mark of 4-3 (2-2 GPAC).

Dual Info

Friday, Jan. 14: Concordia (4-3, 2-2) at Doane (10-3, 4-0), 7 p.m.
Haddix Center (Crete, Neb.)
--Live Webcast | Live Results (Track Wrestling)

So far in GPAC dual meets, the Bulldogs have earned wins over Dakota Wesleyan, 32-13, and Midland, 32-18, while falling at the hands of Hastings, 29-17, and Morningside, 26-8. Back on Dec. 18, Concordia hosted its own set of duals and went 2-1 on the day with victories over Oklahoma Wesleyan University, 31-13, and Central Baptist College (Ark.), 58-0. Individually, Issiah Burks, Jacob Telles and Mario Ybarra each produced 3-0 records on the day. Burks was particularly dominant in claiming two pins and one victory via technical fall.

The most recent conference and NAIA national rankings were released on Dec. 30. As a team, the Bulldogs were ranked fourth in the GPAC on the strength of seven individual wrestlers ranked at the conference level. Those competitors are Thomas Ivey (fifth at 125), Mario Ybarra (second at 133), Issiah Burks (sixth at 165), TJ Huber (fourth at 174), Jovon Howe (fifth at 184), Mason Garcia (sixth at 197) and Jacob Telles (third at 285). Ybarra is the lone Concordia grappler to appear in the national rankings. He landed at No. 13 in the NAIA at 133. Telles had been ranked as the No. 20 heavyweight in the NAIA back on Dec. 16.

Head Coach Dana Vote’s Doane squad is coming off a third-place claim at the National Duals this past week. As part of the event, the Tigers collected wins over Baker University (Kan.), 21-16, No. 6 Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.), 31-6, and No. 5 Reinhardt University (Ga.), 17-16. Nine Doane wrestlers are ranked on the national level, including Baterdene Boldmaa (141), a two-time NAIA national champion. The Tigers are 10-3 overall in duals and are a perfect 4-0 within the GPAC. Doane has won 12-straight GPAC duals (went 8-0 in 2020-21). Vote served as head coach at Concordia from 2012-16 and led the Bulldogs to conference championships in each of his final two seasons in Seward.

In terms of rankings, the most anticipated matchup on Friday will come at 133 with No. 13 Ybarra slated to take on 17th-ranked Justin Ramirez of Doane. Another intriguing bout will take place at heavyweight with defending GPAC champion Jacob Telles of Concordia tasked with taking on NAIA third-ranked Odgerel Batkhishig. At 141, Conner Burrus will draw Boldmaa, who is the Tigers’ all-time record holder with 70 career wins. Meanwhile, Ybarra is the active wins leader among Bulldogs with 70 victories to his credit (sixth most in program history).

Concordia will have this Saturday off from competition while gearing up for the Missouri Valley College Invite (Jan. 21-22), the premier NAIA regular season tournament. Three more GPAC duals are slated for Jan. 29 in Sioux City, Iowa.

Probable Lineups

Concordia (4-3, 2-2)
125 – Isaac Agabin (9-9)
133 – Mario Ybarra (8-2)
141 – Conner Burrus (9-4)
149 – Jeaven Scdoris (7-7)
157 – Tavoris Smith (13-12)
165 – Issiah Burks (7-7)
174 – TJ Huber (9-8)
184 – Hunter Weimer (4-10)
197 – Jovon Howe (6-7)
285 – Jacob Telles (14-4)

Doane (10-3, 4-0)
125 – Daniel Vargas (7-3)
133 – Justin Ramirez (11-6)
141 – Baagii Boldmaa (13-0)
149 – Tristan Zamilpa (7-6)
157 – Chinges Tsermaa (11-6)
165 – Benjamin Dobler (11-12)
174 – Michael Scarponi (12-9)
184 – Garrett Cornwell (5-10)
197 – Bradley Antesberger (8-2)
285 – Odgerel Batkhishig (14-1)