Farmer takes title, two other Dawgs place at Edmonds Open

By Jacob Knabel on Feb. 1, 2020 in Wrestling

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The 20th-ranked Concordia University wrestling team may be finding its groove at the right time. Already having wrapped an undefeated run through GPAC duals, the Bulldogs traveled 12 competitors to the Sioux City Dave Edmonds Open on Saturday (Feb. 1) and emerged with three place finishers and 23 combined victories (10 by pin). The tournament was staged at The Arena in Sioux City.

Head coach Levi Calhoun’s squad was paced by 285-pound tournament champion Tanner Farmer, second-place Deandre Chery (174) and third-place Cameron Devers (149). The trio combined for 12 wins.

“We’re still figuring out our 12 guys for regionals so this was a big tournament for us,” Calhoun said. “It was one of the better weekends we’ve had this season, top to bottom. We faced a lot of tough competition from D-I’s on down. I liked the way we scrapped.”

The subject of many local media profiles for his transition from University of Nebraska football starter to NAIA heavyweight, Farmer just keeps on winning. He ran his record to 17-0 with five more victories on Saturday. Along the way, the Highland, Ill., native collected two pins and closed the day with a pair of wins over NCAA Division I South Dakota State University opponents. Farmer defeated SDSU’s Spencer Trenary, 6-0, in the championship tilt for his third tournament title as a Bulldog.

As for Chery, it likely did not sit well with the two-time GPAC champion that he had lost twice at the GPAC Duals on Jan. 25. He was on a mission on Saturday. His day featured two pins while he also avenged an earlier loss to Zach Lee of Grand View University (Iowa). Chery fell in the 174-pound championship match to Iowa State University’s Logan Schumacher.

Devers seems to be putting together the best wrestling of his career. He followed up a pin in Thursday’s dual with York College by going 4-1 at the Edmonds Open. Like Chery, Devers’ only defeat came at the hands of an NCAA D-I foe. Devers closed the tournament with a victory over Grand View’s Trevor Anderson in the 149-pound third-place match.

“All three led the way for us,” Calhoun said of Farmer, Chery and Devers. “Tanner went up against a couple tough South Dakota State kids and really wrestled tough. Deandre was the best we’ve seen all year. He’s getting that mindset back. Cam wrestled some tough matches. That was also the best he’s wrestled.”

Four other Bulldogs claimed exactly two wins on the day: Gabe Crawford (157), Issiah Burks (165), Blake Castillo (174) and Michael Stann (285). All three heavyweights (including Demitrius Miller) entered the fray and posted a collective eight wins. Ten of the 12 Concordia competitors in Sioux City earned at least one win.

The final dual of the 2019-20 season will unfold on Thursday (Feb. 6) when the Bulldogs will welcome Bethany College (Kan.) to Walz Arena for a 7 p.m. CT battle. Concordia (12-2, 8-0 GPAC) is 5-0 this season in home duals having just defeated Dakota Wesleyan and York College inside Walz Arena.