SEWARD, Neb. – A trio of duals will take place on Thursday when the Concordia University Wrestling program celebrates its senior night. As part of the event, the Bulldogs will take on Colby Community College and York University inside Friedrich Arena. Dual No. 1 of the night will get started at 6 p.m. CT from Friedrich Arena. Head Coach Chase Clasen’s squad intends to finish the dual season in style after it went 3-0 this past week at GPAC Day of Duals No. 2. At the conference dual event, Concordia defeated Northwestern, 21-15, Briar Cliff, 19-17, and Jamestown, 37-12.
Thursday, Feb. 2 | Senior Night
6 p.m. CT | Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
Webcast: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/cun/
Order of events (rolling schedule):
1. Colby CC vs. York University
2. Senior Day Ceremony
3. Concordia vs. Colby CC
4. Concordia vs. York University
Senior Honorees:
Brandon Gonzalez (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Jose Sanchez (Wyle, Texas)
Tavoris Smith (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
The 3-0 day at the GPAC Day of Duals pushed the Bulldogs into third place in the final GPAC regular season standings. Concordia placed behind only Morningside (8-0) and Doane (7-1). The season to date has included 13 duals and six tournaments. At 11-2 in duals, the Bulldogs far surpassed their win total from 2021-22 when they went 6-6 (3-5 GPAC). The two losses this season have come at the hands of the two highest rated teams in the GPAC. To this point, 26 Bulldogs have wrestled in at least one match. The following Concordia competitors own at least five wins on the season: Creighton Baughman (19-7), Tommy Wentz (18-9), Stephen Duffy (11-8), Issiah Burks (11-11), Grant Wells (11-11), Bryce Karlin (10-8), Jose Sanchez (10-14), Jeaven Scdoris (9-13), Garret Moser (8-9), Logan Davidson (7-4), Thomas Ivey (7-9), Kobe Lyons (6-2), Torrance Keehn (6-8) and Cy Renney (6-16). Karlin paces the team with eight pins, followed by Baughman with five and Renney and Wentz with four apiece. Burks’ 70 career wins rank seventh on the program’s all-time list.
With 11 overall dual wins, the 2022-23 team has equaled the 2016-17 squad for the third most dual victories in a single season in program history. The record of 13 continues to be held by the 2015-16 (13-4) and 2019-20 (13-2) editions that won GPAC championships. There have now been five squads in school history to reach at least 10 dual wins. The 1970-71 squad coached by Roger Meyer went 10-3 and was the NIAC champion. Concordia sponsored wrestling from 1962-63 through 1977-78 and then went until 2009-10 before reintroducing the sport.
York University will enter Thursday with a dual record of 3-6. The Panthers have earned wins over Central Christian College (Kan.), Wayland Baptist University (Texas) and Bethany College (Kan.). York boasts four wrestlers ranked in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference: Harley Williamson (third at 125), Andy Garza (fifth at 141), John Fox (second at 157) and Marce Vasquez (third at 197). Colby Community College calls Colby, Kan., its home and goes by the nickname of Trojans. Colby is coached by CJ Shavers.
Bulldogs in the rankings …
Concordia (11-2, 6-2 GPAC)
125 – Bryce Karlin: GPAC – 5th
141 – Creighton Baughman: GPAC – 2nd | NAIA – 15th
157 – Tommy Wentz: GPAC – 4th
165 – Issiah Burks: GPAC – 5th
174 – Jose Sanchez: GPAC – 6th
184 – Logan Davidson: GPAC – 3rd | NAIA – 25th
184 – Stephen Duffy: GPAC – 5th