The first mock draft of the offseason
Then the coaching staff was finalized.
As anticipated, Klint Kubiak was promoted to offensive coordinator. The receivers coach, Andrew Janocko, moved into the vacated quarterbacks coach position. And to complete the staff, Keenan McCardell was hired to lead the receivers.
So, all that's left is...everything
NDSU started the week with the second of two against South Dakota State đ on Monday. It was a sweep.
After a mid-week lull the track & field was at Iowa State. As with the win on Monday, it was another hold-to-the-standard performance by both the men and the women!
Friday also included the debut of the â˝ď¸ team. They hosted Kansas City but lost after an 82nd minute shot got past Abby Wilkinson. They rematched on Sunday with Brookelyn Dew & Olivia Lovick scoring for the Bison to split the set.
But before that win came the rest of the work on Saturday. The track team finished up their events while the Wrestling team was in Brookings to face Air Force & Utah Valley. NDSU took care of both of them, 28-19 & 25-12.
Which leaves the đ team as they opened another two-gamer against ORU with a 3-2 win today.
But beyond the on court and on field action came the preparations for Spring activities. Darren Mueller's dominant program was the preseason pick to win the conference.
And with only days remaining until the Dome is buzzing again, this year's captains were announced. The six-man crew once again goes to show how much turnover there has been since 2019.
And then there was the other development today.
Thanks to UND's wins over South Dakota NDSU is now in a three-way-tie (percentage points) for first place with the South Dakota schools. With Oral Roberts just behind and North Dakota & Kansas City at .500 the fight to the finish is going to be intense! Which will hopefully translate into an even better tournament than normal, as much of a bummer as that would be since fans can't be there. Only Denver & Omaha are really out of the conversation with two weekends remaining!
Moorhead State's week started on Wednesday with the conference water-sports championships at the Hulbert. To put it lightly, when the results were set on Saturday it was sub-optimal for the U.
Thursday also included a trip by the 𤟠to Augustana but Moorhead's lone win came by way of a forfeit. Also, less than impressive.
The trajectory started to turn on Friday with the đ teams hooking the University of Mary. Mariah McKeever lead the women with 18 points while Peyton Boom & Karley Motschenbacher had 13. Sarah Jacobson added 10 on the way to a 86-75 win. The guys finished game 1 ahead 82-71. They got a game-high 21 from Lorenzo McGhee on 7 of 13 shots. Bryce Irsfeld was second with 18 while Gavin Baumgartner scored 12.
Those 12 points put him over 1,000 and he celebrated the accomplishment as well as anyone could. 18 of Moorhead's first 20 points came from him and he finished with a game-high 29. As only a junior there's no telling how high he'll be able to climb in the record books by the time he moves on. Saturday was a statement game if there's ever been one. The team followed his lead and cruised to an 89-60 win. Meanwhile, out in Bismarck, Motschenbacher set another career-high with 22 points off the bench, including the game-winning free throw with two seconds left. She had already been establishing herself as a core-player of the future but the future may be arriving even sooner than expected. With five others scoring at least nine points they edged UMary 76-75.
Part of the T & F team was also in Bismarck on Saturday, while the rest was in Brookings for a Saturday/Sunday. Participants did the school proud in both locations, including 11 event wins at the Marauder Festival.
đž started this weekend as well. They started with a 5-2 win over Bemidji State on Saturday and then swept Crookston today. The closest that the Eagles got were a pair of 6-1 sets in singles play. Not bad for only the second event in nearly a calendar year!
The Cornstalks had a week with more in-completes than completed games. One of the exceptions came in the form of women's đ . Hosting St. Benedict they earned their first victory, 82-78, on Wednesday. It was the exception though as only four of the 11 scheduled events the rest of the week happened. The Track & Field teams competed against Southwest Minnesota and Valley City State on Saturday. The men won 88-53 & 89-65 while the women did equally well, 93-54 & 100-62. The upcoming week of action is already littered with "postponed" & "cancelled" but some events may still happen as planned.
Karl "Big KAT" Anthony Towns returned and Minnesota was competitive in three straight games. They nearly beat the lesser LA team but then came up short against Charlotte, another less-than-stellar loss before finishing with a win tonight against Toronto. There are only seven to chose from, but it's the second best win of the season. Both of the best Ws have come with the new record holder for 3s made in franchise history active and on the court. In the guard & wing era it's unique to be built around a center but that's how Rosas has gone about putting together his roster so it makes sense that the centerpiece would pull things together.
Now we just need to see how the other max-contract player fits into the puzzle. If he sinks them then the top 3 protection may become of use and his replacement will join the club.
As the 2021 roster continues to take shape the signing of Alex ColomĂŠ became official and they also claimed outfielder Kyle Garlick off waivers from Atlanta. With pitchers & catchers set to arrive in Fort Myers on Friday there may not be more moves in the next few days. With 19 starting pitchers still on the market though, I think they're just biding their time to get the most of the money that they spend.
The three-game week for Fargo started out well, with Lincoln losing 6-3. #10 for Austin Wong was followed by Aaron Huglen & Owen Gallatin's second, all in the first 10:33 of the contest. Linc got one back early in the second but Tristan Broz answered with his 12th less than two minutes later. Jacob Braccini made it a four score cushion a minute after that, his eighth score of the year. The reigning goalie of the week, Brennan Boynton, gave up two more before it was over. But then Huglen completed the scoring with his seventh.
Then came Omaha. Fargo kept both games close into the third periods but then ran out of steam, 4-2 & 7-4. The Bolts remain seven points clear of Tri-City and will try to increase that lead when Sioux City comes to the Arena on Friday.
Fargo-Moorhead's team has released the schedule for the 2021 season.They will play a 100-game season with 54 home games and 46 games on the road. The season will begin on May 18th against Cleburne and end on September 6th at Winnipeg. The home opener will be on May 25th against Chicago Dogs.
It's a small step, but on the heels of a classic Winter week, news related to the upcoming warmth is welcomed!
The sub-head for the high school week was personal records being set by several players. The accomplishments and college commitments keep coming so don't miss out!
As for in-person action, it started with Detroit Lakes visiting Moorhead in girls đ . Then, on Thursday, Roseau was at the Ice Patch. The week concluded with South visiting Moorhead for boys đ .