ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Through the first of two sessions at the 2026 GPAC Wrestling Championships, Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling is hanging tough near the top of the team leaderboard. The 16th-ranked Bulldogs racked up 66.5 points in Friday (Feb. 20)’s action at the conference tournament hosted in Orange City, Iowa, by Northwestern. Nine Concordia competitors have advanced to the semifinals within their respective brackets as they make their push for championships.
Head Coach Josh Watts’ program aspires to improve upon last year's yields, which included a third-place team conference finish and eight NAIA national qualifiers. Twenty-five automatic bids to the national tournament are on the line at the 2026 GPAC Championships.
The conference tournament’s first session navigated through the quarterfinals on the front side and the consolation second round of each bracket. The Bulldogs’ conference semifinalists, in order, are Paul Ruff (133), Stevie Barnes (141), Cal Price (149), Hagen Heistand (157), Cole Price (165), Hunter Weimer (174), Barret Brandt (184), Torrance Keehn (197) and Gabe Kant (285). Meanwhile, Evan Sepanlou (174) and Jeremiah Vasquez (285) will face elimination matches on Saturday. At 165, Cannon Carey was eliminated while falling in a tiebreaker to Dakota Wesleyan’s Jackson Remmers in consolation round two.
Heistand and Cole Price are both looking to ascend to the top of the podium after finishing as GPAC runners up in 2025. Both standout Bulldogs needed two victories on Friday to advance to the semis. Heistand (17-1) was utterly dominant in wiping out Hastings’ Nicholas Freeland by technical fall and Waldorf’s Marco Gandy by pin. As for Price (28-6), he took a 7-3 decision from Doane’s Edward Ramirez and then majored Briar Cliff’s Jackson Balmer, 14-3.
The other seven Concordia semifinalists, the path thus far has included both a contested win and a bye. Barnes (141), Weimer (174), Brandt (184) and Keehn (197) are seeking return trips to the national tournament along with Heistand and Price. At 133, Ruff (12-1) has pummeled the competition throughout the second semester. It took a takedown for Ruff to defeat Hastings’ Justin Rodriguez in sudden victory in Friday’s quarterfinal bout. Spots in the semifinals were sewn up with pins by Barnes, Heistand, Brandt, Keehn and Kant. The pin was No. 47 in the career of Brandt, who continues to creep up on the school record of 50.
Session II of the 2026 GPAC Wrestling Championships is slated to get underway at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday. All of the action can be watched live via the GPAC Network. Concordia’s semifinal matchups are listed below. Matchups between NAIA ranked foes are set to take place at 133 (No. 7 Ruff vs. No. 19 Kipp Cordes) and at 184 (No. 13 Brandt vs. No. 16 Nate McDonald).
The current top five in the team standings are Doane (76.0), Concordia (66.5), Dakota Wesleyan (49.0), Morningside (40.0) and Northwestern (29.5).
GPAC Semifinal Matchups
133 – No. 7 Paul Ruff (Concordia) vs. No. 19 Kipp Cordes (Dakota Wesleyan)
141 – Stevie Barnes (Concordia) vs. Ian Metz (Dakota Wesleyan)
149 – Cal Price (Concordia) vs. Tyson Johnson (Dakota Wesleyan)
157 – No. 8 Hagen Heistand (Concordia) vs. Gavin Braun (Dakota Wesleyan)
165 – No. 17 Cole Price (Concordia) vs. Carson Turnis (Morningside)
174 – Hunter Weimer (Concordia) vs. No. 25 Jake Prudek (Doane)
184 – No. 13 Barret Brandt (Concordia) vs. No. 16 Nate McDonald (Midland)
197 – No. 22 Torrance Keehn (Concordia) vs. Chase Stieb (Doane)
285 – Gabe Kant (Concordia) vs. Koen Mattern (Hastings)