Bison
They finished the right way. #7 will join the collection at the SHAC. But I already did two posts about the championship. If you missed them, here's are the links: Championship Pick Six & the Running Man Chronicles. With that, I'm going to move onto the rest of the events by Bison athletes this week.
The year ended with a packed Sunday. The Wrestling team competed against three universities, losses against West Virginia, North Carolina & a dominating win over Indiana. It also included a pair of Summit losses by the Basketball teams, the women to South Dakota and the men to Fort Wayne.
The men's team followed that up with a loss at Omaha. They've been competitive, which is a moral victory but those don't do any good as far as the conference record is concerned.
Then came the championship on Saturday. Sunday brought another two games by the Basketball teams. The guys took care of Dickinson State while the ladies couldn't keep up with Omaha in the second half.
Dragons
The Dragons also had a light week back after the holidays. The Wrestling team took part in the Menlo Invitational, in California. They lost the first two and the third was yesterday but hasn't been posted yet.
Friday & Saturday also included a pair of Basketball games by each team. Winona State was first then to Upper Iowa. The women won the pair, being lead by Megan Hintz on Friday and Jacky Volkert on Saturday. The guys also swept the week, being lead by Johnny Beeninga in both games but each game also included balanced scoring behind him. On Friday, all four of the leading scorers had at least 11 points and Beeninga topped with 14 - balance. Saturday was a little bit different as they exploded for 99 points, with six in doubles lead by the 24 and Addison Park's 18 & 10. Both recipes for success lead to three point wins, which shows again that they can win any way they have to this year.
Cobbers
Concordia finished out 2018 with a lopsided win over St. Scholastica. All five of their starts scored at least 7 points and they got 18 from the bench. Grace Wolhowe lead the way with 20 and Kirstin Simmons chipped in with 10 points & 11 boards. The women followed that up with a thrilling win over Macalester on Wednesday and the men swept midweek, but you can read more about those wins.
The men's Hockey team got back to work on Friday against Wisconsin - Stevens Point and fell one goal short, 3 - 2. They followed that up on Saturday in Eau Claire and were swept off the ice, 8 - 1.
The proved to be the lone blemish on Saturday for the Cobbers. The Basketball teams traveled to St. Olaf and the success of Wednesday continue. Thomas Schyma chipped in 18 & 10 to lead the team in both categories as they won 61 - 57. The ladies took an early injury by starter Bailee Larson but got 13 big points off the bench from Braydn Dresser to help them win 81 - 72, Mira Ellefson was the high scorer for the Cobs with 16 points.
And last but not least, the Wrestlers won all three of their showdowns on Saturday. They beat Cornell 38 - 11, Wisconsin - Platteville 25 - 16 & Wisconsin - Oshkosh 28 - 15.
So not a perfect day but that's certainly a very good way to finish the first week of the new year!
Timberwolves
The Wolves continued their up and down run with a whoopin of the Lakers today. It's only one win in the books but beating teams that get bandwagon fans is always especially enjoyable. They're not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet but that ship is getting ready to sail. Instead of getting into all that again, I'm just going to enjoy the win on the first Sunday sans Vikings Football!
Or at least I was just going to enjoy the win until word came out about the firing of Tom Thibodeau. The trade came after a run through California then Thibs was fired after a game against the most high profile NBA team from Cali. Maybe the Wolves should avoid the "Golden State" for a while!
But in all seriousness, it's a shockingly sudden development but is also not super surprising beyond the timing & suddenness. With all the drama surrounding the organization because of the guy in Philly, it was likely that the coach wouldn't make it to next year. I just don't know if anyone thought he wouldn't make it to Monday.
My head is spinning about it. I don't really have anything to add that wouldn't be available all over Twitter so maybe I'll put something together in a few days but for now, it's the young Saunders team to coach & the GMs team to structure...on tentative basis'.
High School Sports
The holiday break was in effect until late in the week but that left the opportunity to take in one of my favorite pairings of teams on Saturday afternoon in North Moorhead. Check it out, if you're interested!