Vikings

It's their bye week and the Vikings are pretty light on knucklehead's so there's not much to say. Until next Sunday!

Bison

Bison Hoops was the first on the scene of all the college teams so what better thing to start with then that?

The ladies hosted the Mayville Comets in what turned out to be another closer than it probably should have been game. NDSU managed four players in double figures en route to the 49 - 43 win which also means that only one non starter scored and the fifth starter managed a single free throw. There's good and bad in that so take it for what you will. A couple days later they hosted a Creighton team with strong odds of being in the field in March. With that in mind, they got drubbed 86 - 51. They returned to the court today against New Hampshire & managed to survive through the final minutes of the game. And I mean survive in the fullest sense of the word for sports. They clung to a 1 point lead for the last minutes of the game before the foul game kicked in to give them some cushion. It should serve as a learning experience for them & is a step in the right direction, even if it wasn't the most encouraging play!

As for the guys, they started off the week with a trip to New Mexico State. It's the tip of the iceberg of their schedule and is far from their toughest during the non-conference schedule but I can only hope showed enough things for them to work on to be able to compete with one or two of the tournament level teams that are on the horizon. It was a loss but if it brings improvement then that's a win. They also followed up with a game this afternoon at the SHAC in which they won both halves & got three bench players to score in double figures. Tyson Ward & Deng Geu each poured in 16 points to lead the way for the nine players who scored. That's the kind of balanced attack that would pay dividends in the conference slate if it can be that way those weeks from now. Either way, it was good to see it from them today in the 82 - 63 victory!

Before the weekend dawned, the Wrestling team hosted Northern Illinois and choked out their hopes in almost no time at all. 35 - 4 was the final point spread.

Then on Friday the Cross Country teams took to the NCAA Midwest Regionals. Kelby Anderson managed the ninth fastest time out of 230 runners in the female group. It was just shy of an automatic qualifier for the championships but still represents one of the best efforts in school history. The best of the fellas was 78 spots behind Anderson's effort. Need I say more? No.

Friday was rounded out with a visit to Oral Roberts by the Volleyball as the first of two times on the court. They took care of ORU 3 - 1 before returning against USD earlier today, an 0 - 3 loss to finish the regular season.

Saturday included the 48th Bison Open for Wrestling. Scores weren't kept but it included many successful efforts by NDSU wrestlers.

Speaking of successful efforts, the Football team trampled Missouri State but for more on that, check out the Pick Six!

Dragons

The Dragons had eight events in two days and came away on the right end of many of them. It started with a pair of Basketball games on Friday. The women were in Kansas City for a two day tournament. Against Arkansas St they were lead by a 16 point, 13 rebound double/double from Megan Hintz to a 65 - 51 victory. It was a wire to wire win that propelled them in a Saturday game against Pittsburg State. Miss Hintz came back with a 19/12 game and was joined in double figures by Kiley Borowicz's 16 points. Idk if two players scoring more than 50% of the points will work every time but it worked yesterday as the finished with a 66 - 55 win.

The men's team also played a pair over the last two days. First came UM-Morris who go scorched by hot shooting. Lead by Travaun Coad & Addison Park's 20 & 21 respectively, the Dragons had five players in double figures & Coad also lead them with 9 boards. That paced them to a 28 point victory, 97 - 69. The fun didn't end there as Dickinson State came to Moorhead & got a similar treatment. Bryce Irsfeld & Gavin Baumgartner lead the way on offense this time with 23 & 16 points a piece. Irsfeld went 5-6 from three on the way to his game high in points as they won 98-70.

So it was an impressive start by the hoops but like I said, it was a very good weekend that's just a part of it. The Aquathletes also took to their competition area at St. Thomas & came home with a fifth place finish. Taylor Beynon was the top finisher of the water workers but was not alone as a top three finisher in events. Check out the rest of the press release

Which brings us to the Saturday exclusives. The Wrestling team participated in the Bison Open and while scores weren't the objective, Moorhead State's wrestlers have some positives to take away from the day on the mat. Four of the wrestlers placed in the top four of their weight classes & a couple managed to top NDSU wrestlers.

Which leaves the highlight of the weekend. The Dragon's Football team had already reached rarely levels of success for the program but took it one step higher in the season final game against St. Cloud St. With an appearance in the Mineral Water Bowl on the line, MSU survived the snow, cold & wind to get their first win over the Huskies since 1983! I didn't think the offense's would struggle quite as much as they did but after falling behind 10 - 0, the Dragons managed to scrape together enough plays to tie the game then with under a minute to go, got a field goal from Joe Tjosvold to win the game. It was an exciting finish & a well deserved trip to Missouri is there's as a result!

Cobbers

The Wrestlers started it off for Concordia at Northern State but fell 23 - 14.

The Hockey team's followed that up on Friday with ice time against Wisconsin - River Falls for the men & St. Cate's for the women. Aaron Herdt scored two for the guys and two more goals came from the Cobbers as well but they gave up five before the horn sounded. The ladies got three from three, the third from Amanda Flemming in overtime to secure the victory. The teams replayed each other on Saturday. The men managed a tie thanks to Kyle Siemers' second period goal while the women got two from Callie Fagerstrom, including the game winner in overtime, again.

Saturday also featured the Cross Country teams get after it in the NCAA regional meet. The guys finished in 19th while the women finished 12th, including a top 20 finish by Meritt Miller to pace the way. It was the top such finish by a Cobber runner since 2015.

Meanwhile, the Football team put a stamp an impressive closing stamp on their season with a 51 - 14 win over Carleton. Each of their eight touchdowns came on the ground from seven different sources. Like I said, it was an impressive conclusion!

Which leaves only the women's Basketball team as they spent Saturday & Sunday in Wisconsin. They got 18 from Grace Wolhowe & 12 from Rachel Hoernemann & Autumn Thompson. The tight contest came down to the fourth quarter but they weren't able to win it & in turn fall 70 - 68. They closed out their time in Scony against Finlandia and didn't waste any time shutting down their hosts. Another 17 from Grace Wolhowe was accompanied by 16 from Mira Ellefson to score nearly as many points combined as the Lions generated as a team. The 63 - 42 win for Concordia included a 16 point halftime lead, which is to say that it was never really close.

So there's plenty of room for improvement but each of the three college's had successful weeks with banner accomplishments within each's athletics department!

Timberwolves

It happened. HE'S GONE! I was a big fan of Jimmy last season. The way he played is how I would like every pro to play but the guy is as terrible off the court as he is great on it. So Thibs finally caved and got a good deal for Butler. After a 0-5 west coast road trip, it's the news that all Wolves fans needed, now the team needs to respond with improved play!

High School Sports

Friday marked the unofficial end of the Fall sports season in North Dakota. There's still Volleyball champions to be determined but with Football being done & snow being on the ground it's pretty easy to move into the white season of sports.

Check out the recaps & photos from championship Friday

Class AA

Class A

9-man

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