Wrestling team places sixth in Missouri Valley College Invite with 100-point score

Photo credit: Bailey Mooney (photo from previous competition)

By Maddy Peters

Sports Editor

The Concordia wrestling team traveled to the Missouri Valley College Invite, placing sixth with 100 points in Marshall, Mo. on Jan. 24-25.

Senior Creighton Baughman was the highlight of the meet with a runner-up finish in the 141 weight class against the defending national champion Hartwell Taylor. Baughman had a tech fall win at 1:41 (18-1), a 7-1 decision win, 11-2 major decision, 4-1 sudden victory and a 5-3 decision on his way to the championship match. Baughman barely lost with the match coming down to a 3-2 decision win for Taylor.

Baughman’s opponents at the match also included several ranked wrestlers including no. 16 Randy Frailey (ranked in 133, competed in 141) of Siena Heights University and no. 6 Thomas Williams of St. Thomas University. Baughman himself is ranked seventh in the 141 class.

Senior Hunter Weimer placed fifth in the 184 weight class and had to fight his way up through the consolation bracket to make the semifinals. Weimer lost his first match in a 14-2 major decision, but came back with a 7-2 decision, 0:51 fall, 12-2 major decision, 4-1 decision and a 10-0 major decision before suffering another loss. He beat Jason Bartee of University of Rio Grande with a 7-3 decision.

Through his tirade in the consolation bracket, Weimer overcame No. 20 Trevor Stuyvenberg of Indiana Tech and No. 24 Malakai Owens of Wayland Baptist (Texas).

Junior Hagan Heistand, the Great Plains Athletic Conference male wrestler of the week, followed up his first-place win at the Denker Open with a sixth-place finish in the 149 weight class. Heistand tore through the top of the bracket with an 11-2 major decision, 5:19 tech fall (17-2), a 4:28 tech fall (21-5) and a 7-2 decision before losing in the semifinal match. Heistand forfeited the consolation bracket matches.

Another junior, Torrence Keehn also placed seventh in the 197 weight class. Keehn started off with a 3:31 tech fall (17-1), a 1:51 tech fall (20-5) and a 1:07 fall before losing in the quarterfinals. Keehn’s 1:07 fall win came against No. 8 Austin Vanek of Montana State University-Northern. He won his first consolation match with a 6:59 tech fall (19-2) before losing in the quarterfinals once again and going to the seventh-place match where he defeated Jake Henson of Central Methodist University with a 2:41 fall.

The Bulldog wrestlers have two more regular season events before the GPAC Wrestling Championships. The team travels to Miami, Okla. for the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen Open on Feb. 1 and then to Mitchell, S.D. for the second GPAC Day of Duals where Concordia will face Northwestern College, Briar Cliff University and Waldorf University.