HASTINGS, Neb. – The Hastings Open marked the most significant tournament of the 2025-26 season to date for Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling, in terms of both quality and quantity. Of the 22 Bulldogs that took to the mats at Hastings Senior High Gymnasium on Saturday (Jan. 10), nine emerged with top-four place finishes. The headliners were bracket champions Paul Ruff at 133 pounds and Cole Price at 165 pounds. Wrestlers from 13 institutions convened for the fast-moving tournament.
Head Coach Josh Watts’ squad is ramping things up in the month of January. Two days after dominating No. 17 Friends University (Kan.) and Midland in home duals, Concordia put forth a fine showing in Hastings.
“We’re starting to hit a little bit of a groove here,” Watts said. “This is a tournament I like to bring as many guys to as possible. We get to see guys in the same weight class wrestle the same competition and allows us to evaluate who to take to Mo-Val (Missouri Valley Invite) in a couple weeks. Our guys are making strides. We’ve been talking about wrestling through transitions and positions. They did a pretty good job of that today. That won us some matches in the last minute or 30 seconds today. The guys are doing a nice job.”
Below is a summary of the place finishers for the Bulldogs. Price, Ruff and Hunter Weimer (174) each advanced to title bouts at the Hastings Open while Barret Brandt (184) was awarded second place as part of a 3-1 day. Seven Concordia competitors reached the semifinals of their respective brackets.
Concordia place finishers:
· Cole Price (165) – 1st
· Paul Ruff (133) – 1st
· Barret Brandt (184) – 2nd
· Hunter Weimer (174) – 2nd
· Ramon Arredondo (184) – 3rd
· Stevie Barnes (141) – 3rd
· Hagen Heistand (149) – 3rd
· Torrance Keehn (197) – 3rd
· Blane Boehmer (184) – 4th
A Gering, Neb., native and transfer from NCAA Division II University of Central Missouri, Ruff made his Bulldog debut on Thursday. In his run to a championship on Saturday, he won by technical fall and major decision before edging unattached Drew Garfield, 3-1, in the 133-pound final. Prior to that match, Garfield had majored NAIA No. 21st-ranked Justin Rodriguez of Hastings. As for Cole Price (undefeated this season versus NAIA foes), he went 4-0 at the Hastings Open. He put an exclamation point on his tournament by pinning Augustana College (S.D.)’s Caleb Durr in 4:37 for the 165-pound title.
A returning national qualifier now in his final collegiate season, Weimer of Porterville, Calif., pinned his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents. With a 174-pound title on the line, Weimer lost a narrow 4-3 decision to NCAA D2 University of Nebraska-Kearney’s Henry Reilly. At 184 pounds, Brandt pushed his career pin total to 40 by wiping out two teammates to open the tournament. Brandt also earned a tech fall over a Hastings opponent. The Syracuse, Neb., native ended his day with a loss at the hands of a D2 grappler.
Concordia claimed four third-place finishes in Hastings, courtesy of Stevie Barnes (141), Hagen Heistand (149), Ramon Arredondo (184) and Torrance Keehn (197). The Hastings Open marked the first tournament of the season for Heistand, the 2025 NAIA national runner up at 149. Heistand went 5-1 on Saturday with his only loss coming against a combatant from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Heistand reached the third-place match with a takedown that gave him a sudden victory over an NCAA D2 opponent. In other highlights, Barnes toppled a D2 foe in his third-place clash, Arredondo finished strong with two pins to close the day and Keehn quickly bounced back after opening up the tournament with a loss.
At 184 pounds, Blane Boehmer took fourth place with the help of a tech fall over a Hastings competitor. Though he did not earn a place finish, Concordia heavyweight Gabe Kant produced a signature victory by taking out Hastings’ NAIA sixth-ranked Koen Mattern by an 8-2 decision. Of the 22 Bulldogs who competed in Hastings, 18 came away with at least one victory. Concordia wrestlers with multiple wins were Heistand (five), Barnes (four), Cole Price (four), Brandt (three), Bryce Karlin (three), Keehn (two), Ruff (three), Ramon Arredondo (two), Cannon Carey (two), Cal Price (two), Cy Renney (two), Aidan Trowbridge (two), Jeremiah Vasquez (two) and Weimer (two).
Said Watts, “We’ve always geared ourselves towards the second semester. It’s a progression-based system. The goal is to get into a groove for the second semester and ride it … It was nice to get Paul into the competition and wrestle some matches. We also got Hagen some more matches. Having those two guys is going to help us out quite a bit.”
The Bulldogs have another break in the schedule as they look forward to an annual showcase tournament within the NAIA. The Missouri Valley Invite will take place on Jan. 23-24 in Marshall, Mo. At last season’s Missouri Valley Invite, Concordia turned heads by placing sixth out of 53 teams in the tournament field.