PHOTOS: GPAC podium gallery >>>
ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Compared to one year ago, the gap decreased considerably between Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling and the top spot in the GPAC team standings. The NAIA 16th-ranked Bulldogs finished 26 points out of first place while claiming second at the 2026 GPAC Men’s Wrestling Championships hosted by Northwestern. Six Concordia competitors advanced to conference title bouts with Cal Price (149) and Hagen Heistand (157) emerging as individual GPAC champions.
Based on the GPAC’s national tournament allocations, Head Coach Josh Watts’ squad has automatically qualified eight wrestlers for the upcoming NAIA Championships. Five (and possibly six) Bulldogs will be repeat national qualifiers from 2025.
“The guys competed hard,” Watts said. “We were winning ugly, but when it comes postseason time, it doesn’t really matter how the wins look. It just matters that you get them. We were finding ways to win. We just need to get back to work and get ready for nationals.”
Concordia GPAC place finishers:
· *1st – Cal Price (149)
· *1st – Hagen Heistand (157)
· *2nd – Paul Ruff (133)
· 2nd – Stevie Barnes (141)
· *2nd – Barret Brandt (184)
· *2nd – Torrance Keehn (197)
· *3rd – Cole Price (165)
· *3rd – Hunter Weimer (174)
· *3rd – Gabe Kant (285)
· 5th – Evan Sepanlou (174)
* = NAIA auto qualifier
The national runner up at 149 last season, Heistand claimed his first career GPAC title. The Dow City, Iowa, native dominated his way through the first three rounds, winning by technical fall, pin and major decision. Then in the 157-pound championship match, Heistand clipped defending GPAC titlist Benjamin Miller, 7-6. Miller (NAIA No. 3) tied the score, 6-6, on a late takedown before eighth-ranked Heistand earned the deciding point via an escape. Heistand pushed his overall season record to 19-1. He was the GPAC runner up at 149 in 2025.
Said Watts of Heistand, “Hagen was dominant all day until the finals. Ben Miller is a tough, tough wrestler. With Hagen moving up a weight class, we were kind of curious to see what that match would look like. We thought we had a couple more takedowns in there, but Hagen kept wrestling and did a great job.”
Cal Price put together an underdog run to a championship at 149 pounds. Ranked sixth in the GPAC at 149 entering the tournament, Price upset top-seeded and NAIA ninth-ranked Caden Eggleston of Morningside by pin (4:30) in the conference final. A round prior, Price dug deep and eked past Dakota Wesleyan’s Tyson Johnson, 5-2, in a tiebreaker. The La Vista, Neb., native Price earned the conference’s only auto bid to nationals at 149.
Said Watts of Price, “Cal started off a weight class lighter this year and at semester, we felt like his style matched up better up a weight class. It took him a little bit to figure it out. The past three or four weeks, he’s been trending up and things have started to click for him. In the finals today, Cal was in control of the match. Cal’s been really coming along well. He’s very coachable and works really hard.”
Out of the Bulldogs’ nine GPAC semifinalists, the four others that motored to championship bouts were Paul Ruff (133), Stevie Barnes (141), Barret Brandt (184) and Torrance Keehn (197). The former Iowa Western standout Ruff improved his season record to 13-1 when he quickly went from a cradle to pin in the semifinals. The seventh-ranked Ruff took out DWU’s No. 19 Kipp Cordes late in the third period. In the championship, Ruff fell (major decision) at the hands of Doane’s Matthew Terrence in a matchup of top 10 rated combatants.
Of the Bulldogs who dropped their championship matches, Barnes came the closest to tasting victory. The Pacific Junction, Iowa, native surrendered a late takedown that flipped the 141-pound title match in favor of Northwestern’s Noah Parmalee, a 9-6 winner. Barnes’ tournament included a pin and a win by decision in the previous rounds. Barnes is a hopeful at-large selection for the national tournament.
Barret Brandt (18-8) did Barret Brandt things as he pinned both Morningside’s Joseph Monge in the quarterfinals and Midland’s Nate McDonald in the semifinals (for his 47th and 48th career pins). In the championship, Brandt (Syracuse, Neb.) quickly took down Tyson Beauperthuy before the top-rated opponent responded emphatically. Beauperthuy ultimately won by pin while defending his GPAC title.
At 197, Keehn pinned Hastings’ Aiden Griffin in the quarterfinals and took a 9-6 decision from Doane’s Chase Stieb in the semifinals. In a ranked matchup in the championship, No. 22 Keehn was defeated by No. 10 Jaren Jackson of Doane via a first-period pin.
After falling in the semifinals, Cole Price, Hunter Weimer and Gabe Kant each came through with the wins they needed to secure national tournament bids. On the back side at 165, Price knocked off Doane’s Edward Ramirez, 9-7, and then Briar Cliff’s Jackson Balmer, 9-7. The final win marked Price’s 30th of the season (team high).
Weimer experienced similar success after dropping an 8-4 match to nationally ranked Jake Prudek in the semis. Weimer bounced back with a win over teammate Evan Sepanlou and then with a late pin of Dakota Wesleyan’s Teagan Foreman in the 174-pound third-place clash. At heavyweight, Kant won tight matches over Dakota Wesleyan’s Cole Hennings, 6-4, and over Northwestern’s Jaxson Hildebrand, 6-2. Kant is headed to the national tournament in his debut season as a Bulldog.
Added Watts, “It’s a tough thing to do what Cole, Hunter and Gabe did – to lose in the semis and turn around and know you have to be perfect the rest of the way. It’s tough to battle back like that. They had to fight some demons and find anyway to win. Those three came back and really helped us in the team race and gave themselves a chance to move on to the national tournament.”
Sepanlou wound up in fifth place in a 174-pound weight class with three NAIA auto bids. Meanwhile, Cannon Carey (165) and Jeremiah Vasquez (285) were eliminated from their brackets after going 0-2 at the conference tournament.
Concordia’s eight auto qualifiers would equal the number the 2025 team sent to the national stage. As a ’25 qualifier with a 13-6 record, Barnes has a strong case as a potential at-large choice and ninth Bulldog qualifier. The complete field will be announced next week.
For the qualifiers, the 2026 NAIA Men’s Wrestling National Championship (March 5-7) is up next. A 16-member committee consisting of conference raters and oversight members will meet to select the remaining at-large qualifiers, which will be released Tuesday, February 24, 2025, by 5 p.m. (CST), while the preliminary brackets and seeding will be announced on NAIA.org by 5 p.m. (CST) on Friday, February 27, 2025. All weight classes will consist of 32 wrestlers.