MARSHALL, Mo. – With day one in the books, Concordia University, Nebraska Wrestling has put itself in the thick of the race for the team championship at the Missouri Valley Invite. As part of Friday (Jan. 23) action in Marshall, Mo., six Bulldogs reached the quarterfinals and three then advanced to the semifinals. Their efforts have helped position 22nd-ranked Concordia in fourth place (80.5 team points) out of 41 NAIA programs in the field at the Missouri Valley Invite. Six Bulldogs remain alive in their respective brackets heading into day two.
Head Coach Josh Watts’ program hopes to improve upon last season’s Missouri Valley Invite placement of sixth. The team’s top individual place finisher a year ago was Creighton Baughman, the 141-pound runner up.
A summary of Concordia’s 2026 Missouri Valley quarterfinalists is included below. Paul Ruff (133), Hagen Heistand (157) and Barret Brandt (184) will return to the mats on Saturday morning with a chance to advance to championship bouts. A semester addition to the lineup, Ruff remains unbeaten in the Bulldog singlet. He went 3-0 on Friday with a quarterfinal victory over No. 17 Dante Rigal of Briar Cliff. At 157, Heistand dominated with two tech falls and win by decision over a nationally ranked foe. At 184 pounds, Brandt wiped out all four of his Friday opponents by pin (each in the first period), pushing his career fall count to 44.
The other quarterfinalists were Cole Price (165), Torrance Keehn (197) and Jeremiah Vasquez (285). Those three Bulldogs will return to the mat on Saturday with hopes of maneuvering through the backside of their brackets. Price won his first three matches before running into No. 12 Justin Windauer of Montana-State Northern. At 197, Keehn posted a tech fall and a pin before also being defeated by a nationally ranked opponent. At heavyweight, Vasquez won twice and then was pinned in the quarterfinals.
Missouri Valley Invite quarterfinalists:
· 133 – Paul Ruff (made semis)
· 157 – Hagen Heistand (made semis)
· 165 – Cole Price (lost in quarters)
· 184 – Barret Brandt (made semis)
· 197 – Torrance Keehn (lost in quarters)
· 285 – Jeremiah Vasquez (lost in quarters)
Among other highlights, Stevie Barnes went 3-2 with three pins at 141 pounds while Cannon Carey (165) and Evan Sepanlou (174) won three matches apiece. Additionally, Hunter Weimer went 2-2 at 174 and Cal Price picked up a win at 149. Bryce Karlin dropped his two matches at 141.
With 80.5 team points, the Bulldogs are situated just 2.5 points behind host Missouri Valley College (83.0) and Southeastern University (Fla.) (83.0). Central Methodist University (Mo.) sits in third place with 81.0 points. The Missouri Valley Invite annually features many top individuals and teams from across the NAIA landscape.
The Missouri Valley Invite is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. CT from the Burns Athletic Complex. Live coverage is being supplied by Flo Wrestling. A comprehensive recap of the tournament with thoughts from Coach Watts will be posted to the Concordia Athletics website on Saturday evening.