Sower sports roundup, March 3
Maddy Peters, Sports Editor
If you missed Concordia University Nebraska sports this weekend, here is what happened:
Concordia wrestling sent three athletes to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Wrestling Championships in Park City, Kansas, from Feb. 29-March 2. Senior Creighton Baughman (141), junior Tommy Wentz (165) and senior Mason Garcia (197) represented the Bulldogs with Baughman receiving a 10th seed placement for his weight class.
Baughman finished his last season with two wins in the championship. He began his bracket with a major decision over Cumberland University’s Elijah Griffin winning 14-1. He lost his next match in a 5-1 by decision against Oklahoma City University’s Cade Manion.
Baughman found another win and another loss in the backside of the bracket, beating Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Carson Coy by fall, and losing by a 15-2 major decision to Marian University’s Logan Wagner.
Wentz and Garcia were unable to score any wins in the championship. Wentz lost by tech fall (15-0) to Reinhardt University’s Matt Jenkins and by fall to Texas Wesleyan University’s Braedon Baller. Garcia lost by falls in both of his matches. He lost to Providence College’s Sawyer Hobbs in the championship side of the bracket and to Reinhardt’s Curtis Thomas in the backside.
The Concordia weightlifting team sent six athletes to Columbus, Ohio, for the 2024 National University Championships. Sophomore Evan Fukuhara won 67-kilogram the national title and the snatch and clean and jerk. Other athletes included freshmen Gracy Johnson (71kg), Michael Davidge (89kg), Cody Monsevais (89kg), Nolan Graupmann (102kg), and sophomore Adrian Hernandez (109kg)
Concordia tennis had a busy weekend with both the men’s and women’s teams facing the University of Saint Mary Spires on Feb. 29, the Sterling College Warriors on March 2 and the Iowa Central Community College Tritons on March 3.
The men beat the Spires (5-2) and the Warriors (4-3), but were swept by the Tritons in a 7-0 loss. The women meanwhile had wins over the Spires (5-2) and the Tritons (4-3), but were beaten 5-2 by the Warriors.
The men now have a 4-6 record while the women have a 5-4 record. Both teams will have a rematch against Mount Marty University on March 5 in Lincoln.
Against Saint Mary, the Concordia men took the doubles point winning two of the three matches. In the singles, juniors Grady Works and Manuel Rodriguez Berdud, and freshmen Michael Bedrosian and Mitch Krumm, won their singles matches for the Bulldogs.
At Sterling, the men won the doubles point once again, but split the singles matches, making for a close meet. Sophomore Santiago Abadia, Berdud and Bedrosian won their singles matches to narrowly take the game for Concordia.
Iowa Central’s clean sweep of the men went almost entirely uncontested. Sophomore Hugo Fuentes was the only Bulldog to take his match to three sets with the rest losing soundly.
On the women’s side, the Bulldogs had an uncharacteristic comeback against the Spires, taking five singles matches after losing the doubles point, a rarity in tennis. Sophomore Mariana Molano, junior Tessa Blough, sophomore Alana Lopez Pagan, freshman Alexa Richert and sophomore Lauren Gottberg won their matches to take the win for the day.
The reverse situation happened against Sterling, with the women winning the doubles point, but losing the singles. Pagan was the lone Bulldog to win her singles match against the Warriors.
The Iowa Central matchup was another close one for Concordia tennis. The women won the doubles point and just barely managed to win the singles because of a lack of players on the Triton’s side. Molano, Blough and freshman Chakira Derman lost their singles matches and once again Pagan came through to save the game for the Bulldogs.
The Concordia softball team had four games over the weekend as part of the Friends University Invite in Wichita, Kansas. The ladies split the invite, beating the Missouri Valley College Vikings (12-9) and the Park University Pirates (7-0) and losing to University of Saint Mary (8-5) and Sterling College (10-4). The team is now 4-10 and next travels to Tucson, Ariz.ona, for the Tucson invite from March 5-8.
Against the Vikings, the Bulldogs came out with a nine-run second inning. There were three home runs for the game, by senior Julia Van Wey and juniors Jennifer Katz and Zoie Isom. Isom had four total RBIs. Junior Megan Eurich was the pitcher credited with the win, going 10 hits for nine runs, three strikeouts and recording six errors.
In the next game against Saint Mary, Concordia struggled to keep up with the Spires. Top of the 6th was the best inning for the Bulldogs, with a Katz double allowing two Bulldogs to run home and later scoring off a foul out by junior Aubrey Brunning. Freshman Kaylei Denison was the pitcher credited with the loss, going three hits for five runs, zero strikeouts and recording two errors. Eurich also pitched in the game with six hits for three runs, four strikeouts and recording three errors.
Freshman Laycee Josoff and Van Wey were the top batters in the shutout against Park. The two recorded two RBIs each. Eurich pitched all seven innings and played a huge role in making sure the Pirates could not put anything on the board. She had two hits for zero runs, four strikeouts and no errors.
In the final game against Sterling, Concordia faced a good offense with an even better defense. While they faced one pitcher, Josoff managed to get a home run, and the team snuck a few runs in, the Warrior batters were too much for the Bulldogs to handle. Denison was credited with the loss going eight hits for seven runs, zero strikeouts and seven errors.
The Concordia baseball team traveled to West Palm Beach, Florida, for a four-game series against the Keiser University Seahawks. The Bulldogs lost the first game 11-6 but won the next two 10-9 and 10-8. The fourth game was canceled due to weather conditions. The team is now 10-4 for the season and will stay in Florida to face Mount Vernon Nazarene University and Valley City State University on March 4.
The first game looked promising as junior Jaiden Quinn shot off a home run and recorded three RBIs in the top of the 2nd. Senior Joey Grabanski and Alec Blakestad also hit homers in the game. However, Keiser kept scoring and Concordia was unable to respond. Senior Caden Johnson was the pitcher credited with the loss, going eight hits for seven runs, four strikeouts and seven errors.
Concordia narrowly won the second game after nearly falling apart in the last inning. The team came into the seventh 10-3, but Keiser put their all into a final push to tie up the game. With the bases loaded, Simon Grinberg let a home run fly to give the Seahawks four runs. The Bulldogs just managed to stave off Keiser for the rest of the inning. Quinn and freshman Matt Rhoades hit homers in the second game with Quinn hitting two. Senior Blake Benson was credited with the win, going six hits for three runs, five strikeouts and three errors.
The third game was another nail biter for Concordia as the defense again faltered in the 7th and Keiser scored five runs. The Bulldogs used a number of relievers to maintain the lead and finish. Quinn had a fourth homer for the weekend and has moved to the top of the national home run leader board with 12 on the season. Rhoades also hit another home run and senior Jay Adams got in on the action with two homers. Junior Christian Gutierrez was the pitcher credited with the win going seven hits for six runs, five strikeouts and four errors.
