After weeks of speculation the decisions were made regarding the professional futures of Mike Zimmer & Rick Spielman. That lead to the first foray into the offseason. In the days that followed came a stream of alerts as GM & coach candidates were contacted to set up interviews. The pool of possibilities will shrink this week but it may not be until next week before the new management is tabbed, which would likely mean that the new coach won't be hired until February.
The week also included the annual reminder that Erik Kendricks is too good for the exhibition Bowl. Kene Nwangwu was also named All-Pro, despite missing six games
The championship celebration started with another Coach of the Year award, the second for Matt Entz. The accolades continued as another All-American/All-Conference list plum with players was announced. The week wasn't all smooth as Bart Ogbu was the first to announce that he will be finishing college elsewhere. Coming from Bismarck there was optimism about his chances to make an impact that never carried over to the field, hopefully he lands as in a spot where the opposite proves true!
Non-game news continued as softball announced it's 2022 schedule. While men's 🏀 made surprising recruiting news.
Game action started early with the rescheduled trip to Denver. The quick trip didn't prevent them from feeling right at home in the Rockies. The high faded as the week went by with the women losing to St. Thomas while the men's game was postponed. The extra time wasn't enough for them come out sharply against Western Illinois as they lost at home to the Leathernecks for the first time since 2013. The women continued on to Macomb and got a career day by Heaven Hamling to bring them back to one game under .500 in the conference.
The shifting calendar also impacted 🤼 as they at least temporarily lost the chance to compete in Utah. They were, however, able to go into Laramie and pick up a 22 - 14 win over the Cowboys Sunday.
In between the track teams competed in the Team Cup with dominant efforts by both the men & the women.
For the second straight week Moorhead State was forced to cancel contests. The one exception came at the pool as 🏊 finished with the third most points.
Concordia's week didn't wait for games as freshman Dylan Inniger was named Player of the Week, the first time a Cobber freshman has been. The bubble burst when conference-leading Augsburg lined up against the men & women. The men's 🏒 team added another losses against UW-Eau Claire Friday & Saturday.
The weekend had some wins as well, starting with the 🏊 trip to their neighbors. 🏀 kept it rolling with a wire-to-wire win by the women over St. Mary's. It was closer in the next one but Braeton Motschenbacher's 22 points helped the men to a win as well.
Maybe you've heard this before but Minnesota's team continues to try and reach and then surpass a .500 record. A four-game winning streak going back to last week got them near the mark but then dropped two to fall two off of it. They rebounded to end the week with a 20-point win over Golden State. During the game they had a seven minute stretch which took them from down four to up 27 and they pretty well coasted from there. They've entered the second half of the season and yet it's anyone's guess which version of the team will show up on a game by game basis. There's still time for that flaw to be expunged but the margin narrows with every passing day.
The League may still be on lock-out but the team was able to come to terms with more young talent. While none of them will be of use at the most glaring of issues for the current roster they may be some of the ones that help the team end it's awful postseason losing streak.
In their ongoing efforts to dig out of a hole the Bolts added forward Ryan Alexander from Youngstown. His first action for Fargo was a tough one as Tri-City took them down 3 - 0. Then it was announced that the rematch would have to wait until a future date. They will spend the rest of the month at home against Sioux City & Des Moines while a few former members are on the US Team.
For the second week in a row the Birds made roster moves. This week's started with re-signing shortstop Sam Dexter off his outstanding 2021 and then retaining Davis Feldman to help on the mound.
Reminder that scores are added daily plus there's a new home for recruiting news, so check back often!
Now for this week's highlights
The week started explosively just west of town as Central Cass's girls smashed Lisbon by 40 while Sheyenne's hung a 33-spot on Central. The next day Enderlin's State-hopefully squad got 48 from the Hurlburt's en route to a 21 point win over LaMoure/L/M. Shanley's girls matched the margin of victory against Wahpeton while Davies ran away from North by 40. Tuesday also included a 23 point loss by West Fargo to Red River as the case for best in the East got increasingly more muddled.
Big things also happened on the ice. Moorhead's boys extended their winning streak to seven with a six-score win over EGF. Fargo North nearly did the same in their win over Grafton. Along with all the offense Davies goalie Trent Wiemken made his 1,000th save against Minot. The lady Potatoes matched their counterparts Thursday in shutout fashion against Thief River Falls.
The Spud's dance team also excelled, finishing top three in both styles Tuesday.
Sheyenne dominated Devils Lakes as well, on the mat Thursday. Moorhead had their own success to the tune of a second place finish at the Gadberry invitational Saturday.
Back on the court Northern Cass's Brock Carpenter set a new school record with 10 made three as they blitzed Larimore to the tune of a 51-point W. South's girls kept it closer than that but Sheyenne's 37-point win is nothing to scoff at. The Squirrel's continued their week with a 41-point win over Carrington.
Following a mostly-inactive Friday, Saturday brought a lot. South's James Hamilton built upon a strong showing Tuesday with 29 in a win over Devils Lake. That came as West Fargo & North each cruised to wins over Wahpeton & Central. During the win Carson Hegerle scored his 1,000th point. In an effort to firm up the race for the 1 seed at three teams Davies ladies pulled-off a 35-point win over Red River. In West Fargo's effort to effort against Wahpeton Miriley Simon had a cool 35/15/5 assists & 3 blocks.
Casselton wasn't done with their big week as they chopped down Oakes by 43. Must have been a Cass County thing as Northern beat Hillsboro by 44.
Beyond Moorhead, Hawley extended their winning streak to eight games to start the week but finished with a pair of losses. Fertile/Beltrami's boys had a loss early in the year but have continued to build on their successful Fall by reaching 9 - 1 with a 34-point win over Crookston, Friday. Hawley's neighbors to the West have been more up and down but also showed their quality against Crookston by 35. Barnesville was limited to one contest this week but showed that they're right with Hawley & D/G/F in the Heart of Lakes with a 25-point win over Park Rapids.
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