The GPAC Coach of the Year honor for Josh Watts reflected the progress made by Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling over the past two seasons. Nine Bulldogs ended their seasons at the 2026 NAIA National Championships in one of the most successful campaigns for the program in recent years. Upon the announcement of Watts’ recognition, the second-year Bulldog coach credited his staff that includes Isaiah Crosby, Issiah Burks and Collin Schwartzkopf.
Collectively, they have helped lay the groundwork for a program with aspirations of making a big splash on the national landscape. There’s still work to be done after a disappointing finish to the national tournament. It wasn’t for lack of effort.
“I felt like the team went out and competed hard,” said Watts in recapping the NAIA Championships. “We lost some matches early and when you’re on the backside and fighting your way back, you’re kind of living dangerously. The guys went out and were aggressive. They wrestled to win. We had some bad breaks come our way at the end.”
Three Bulldogs lost in the blood round of the national tournament, meaning they were each one win short of reaching the All-America podium. Those results will undoubtedly light a fire under Concordia throughout its offseason training. Though the ending didn’t go as scripted, Concordia enjoyed a strong 2025-26 season by many markers. The Bulldogs placed second in the GPAC for the regular season and tournament, went 8-1 in duals (7-1 GPAC), recorded the program’s highest ever finish at the Missouri Valley Invite (third), had two GPAC champions and sent nine competitors to the national stage in Park City, Kan., where they finished 20th as a team.
Individual highlights were plentiful. The team’s GPAC champions were Cal Price at 149 pounds and Hagen Heistand at 157 pounds. Heistand finished his season at 22-3 overall (42-7 in two seasons at Concordia) and was the No. 4 seed in the 157-pound bracket of the national tournament. Heistand, Paul Ruff (133) and Barret Brandt (184) each came up one win short of All-America honors. At the national tournament, Brandt, a junior from Syracuse, Neb., notched his 50th career pin, equaling the program all-time record (shared with Deandre Chery). In his final collegiate season, Cole Price (165) led the team with 30 wins.
Price joined Torrance Keehn (197) and Hunter Weimer (174) as seniors who had the opportunity to finish their careers at the national tournament. Six of the nine Bulldog qualifiers won at least one match in Park City while combining for 23.5 team points. The draws were exceedingly difficult for the six unseeded Concordia wrestlers, who all went up against opponents seeded 11th or higher. On a positive note, Heistand and Ruff made their way to the quarterfinals before tasting defeat. Heistand had been the national runner up at 149 a year earlier.
In breaking down the national tournament further, Watts stated, “Paul competed well. He probably did some of the best wrestling he’s had this season. He was starting to hit a groove. Hagen lost a tough one in the quarters to Grand View. We had plenty of opportunities to finish shots, and we just weren’t able to finish them. That guy took one shot the whole match and happened to win. Hagen turned around and kind of got caught in a bad situation in the blood round match. It cost us being an All-American there. Barret was doing Barret things. He’s a dangerous wrestler. He did a really good job. In the blood round, he got unlucky with the No. 2 seed getting knocked off. We lost a tough match there.”
The GPAC Championships at Northwestern yielded some of the season’s most thrilling moments. Cal Price upset his way to a GPAC title as the No. 6 seed in the 149-pound weight class while Heistand managed to edge Doane’s Ben Miller, 7-6, in the 157-pound title bout. Additionally, four Bulldogs placed as conference runners up: Ruff (133), Stevie Barnes (141), Brandt (184) and Keehn (197). Another three Concordia wrestlers placed third: Cole Price (165), Weimer (174) and Gabe Kant (285). The Bulldogs amassed 146 team points, 24 shy of GPAC champion Doane, in a narrowing of the gap at the top of the standings.
In duals, Concordia triumphed comfortably in all eight of its wins. Watts’ crew ended the dual slate emphatically when it toppled Northwestern, Morningside and Dakota Wesleyan by a combined score of 109-27 at GPAC Day of Duals No. 2. Roughly a month earlier, the Bulldogs celebrated their seniors by thumping both No. 17 Friends University (Kan.), 37-13, and Midland, 46-3. The seniors who were honored as part of the evening inside Friedrich Arena were Bryce Karlin, Torrance Keehn, Francisco Mendez, Cole Price, Cy Renney, Jeremiah Vasquez, Brent Ward and Hunter Weimer.
Said Watts of the seniors who qualified for the national tournament, “They’re probably a little disappointed that they didn’t get on the podium, but they went out and wrestled. I don’t think they can be upset with the effort they put in and the attempts they made. Those guys worked hard all season. My hope is that they look back and don’t have any regrets and feel like they put everything out there.”
The Missouri Valley Invite results helped solidify Concordia as one of the NAIA’s top 20 teams. At the prestigious NAIA showcase tournament, Heistand earned a title at 157 and three teammates placed top four in their weight classes: Ruff (second at 133), Brandt (fourth at 184) and Cole Price (fourth at 165). The results pushed Concordia from 22nd to 16th in the NAIA team rankings. In the final ratings of the regular season, six Bulldogs appeared among the NAIA’s top 25 within their respective weight classes. Ruff, Heistand and Kant each held down top 10 rankings.
The success in the regular season had Concordia thinking big heading into the 2026 national tournament. Since it ended on March 6, the Bulldogs have been left to process the disappointment. The lack of All-Americans hasn’t set well with Watts. These sentiments will motivate the program as Watts and company begin preparing for 2026-27.
Says Watts of the offseason plan, “We’re back to lifting and the guys will start getting back on the mat soon. We’ll keep training and keep getting better until the school year is out. Hopefully we’ll have a large group of guys sticking around and training during the summer … Definitely still work to do. Recruiting is a never-ending machine. We anticipate a lot more recruits coming in over the next few weeks.”
The Concordia Wrestling program’s updated record book can be found HERE. Notably, Watts has led the program to back-to-back NAIA top 20 finishes for the first time since the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. Not only is Brandt tied for the most pins in school history, he also ranks tied for eighth in career wins. Meanwhile, Weimer moved into a tie for 11th on the career wins list with 63.
Keep up with the wrestling program throughout the offseason by following the team’s website homepage. The 2026-27 schedule will be made available to the public sometime following the conclusion of the 2025-26 academic year.