Wrestling Team Starts Their Season at the Grand View Open
The Bulldogs kicked off their season competing at the Grand View Open in Pleasant Hill, IA November 5th. The Concordia wrestling team boasts a new head coach, Andrew Nicola, with a top ten NAIA national coaches poll ranking.
Both Ken Burkhardt Jr. and Ceron Francisco, two returning senior All-Americans, placed first in their respective weight brackets over NCAA Division I wrestlers. Despite competing in a challenging field, the Bulldogs managed to earn a total of 27 wins. Other Bulldogs also saw some success.
Freshman Gabe Crawford finished second in the 157 weight class. Freshman Deandre Chery had a fourth place finish in 174 weight class. Sophomore Alexander Reimers and freshman Darrin Miller earned fifth place finishes in their weight brackets. Crawford, Chery, and Miller are not only new to the team, but to college wrestling as well.
The Bulldogs are back on the mat November 11th at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota. Voted a favorite to win the GPAC yet again and coming off consecutive GPAC titles, the team has high expectations for the season
