As expected Minnesota did not offer it's general manager job to any of the candidates that interviewed but they reportedly have narrowed it down to Cleveland's Kwesi Adofo-Mensah & Kansas City's Ryan Poles. K A-M has a business background, he came up through San Fran after a stint as a trader on Wall Street. Poles started as a scout & worked his way up the ladder. The second interviews are set to take place by mid-week. With only four teams remaining there are several more coaches that they can get in the building for interviews, so moving quickly to hire the boss is very practical.
A light week between the lines started with home & road losses to Kansas City. The men were doomed by a 21 - 0 run spanning nearly eight minutes of the second half. The women did get another milestone for Emily Dietz. Back on the court Saturday against ORU both teams managed different results with the sort of fortitude they will need to avoid first round exits in Sioux Falls.
At the same time the men & women of 🏃 were in Brookings and continued their long tradition of winning.
The same didn't happen as 🤼 visited Northern Iowa Saturday or Iowa State Sunday.
The best may have been the news that came away from competition.
Owen Pentz was named Wrestler of the Week.
Trevor Otterdahl was named Field Athlete of the Week.
Brayden Thomas joined Cordell Volson, Josh Babicz & Christian Watson on the list of players with the chance to compete in draft exhibitions this cycle.
The intrigue and excitement is bound to ramp up even more over the next few months!
After the unscheduled pause Moorhead State was back to full-go this week. 🤼 struggled to begin and end the activity but the in-between was a different story. 🏃 was in Brookings Friday & then back in Moorhead Saturday with successful events in each locations. 🏊 also went against Concordia to usher in the weekend and was a rousing success. The teams were also on home court, against Winona & Upper Iowa. The women showed grit to open but weren't able to comeback from a 16-point halftime deficit. The men trailed early but used a 13 - 4 stretch late in the first half to take control for good. The next day it was the ladies who scorched early en route to an 11-point win while the guys battled with #13 but finished a few points shy of a tie or the win.
Taking the cancellation baton from their neighbors, Concordia started the week with an axe to a women's 🏀 game against Carlton. When the weekend came and the games began the women's hockey team had their fifth & sixth consecutive games against a ranked opponent. This time it was #6 Gustavus coming to Moorhead. It was a different sort of gust for the men as they left no doubt to end either Friday's or Saturday's contests. 🤼 did even better against St. John's, winning 47 - 0. Sunday included a dis-spiriting loss by the men's 🏀 while the women finished 10 points clear of Carlton. The 🏊 team also got some competition in as they prepare for the conference meets in three weeks time.
Another week has gone by and Minnesota hasn't made or lost ground in the standings. With wins over two of the teams that aspire to win it they seem to remain on the right track but now they face four of the teams they're trying to chase down in the standings. The top four in the West have done a good job separating themselves but Denver & Dallas could be overtaken. Minnesota's pursuit may have gotten a bit tougher as Anthony Edwards left the floor with the help of two trainers Sunday night. Word is that he shouldn't miss much, if any time, but sitting him for the Portland game seems logical given what comes after it. If it is indeed just a knee contusion then that may be enough time for him to be ready for the big moments that follow. Before going out he set a League record with his 300th made 3-point shot.
A week that ended on a sour note, despite new threads Saturday night, began well as Cole Knuble competed and scored in one of the top amateur All-American games Monday. They will close out the month at home against Des Moines.
The training roster continues to take shape with the latest additions being a couple of guys that will hit the grass with regularity. Righty Ryan Flores will begin in third season with the Birds while Eliezer Alvarez will be playing his tenth professional season but first in the Association as a utility man.
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 and there are a lot of them!
Northern Cass's girls 🏀 low-key set the tone for much of what happened with a 33-point double-up on Enderlin. Halle Crocket moved into the top spot for scoring in the school's history while Emma Lucas became the career blocks leader, It took all of one night for the next achievement to occur.
In a 20-point win for South over North Adie Wagner became the sixth player in Class A history to surpass 2,000 points. She crossed the threshold two rebounds and three assists shy of a triple double. The next time out she moved into fifth place on the Class A all-time scoring list! She's been a player for as long as this site has existed so the accomplishment had a special meaning for the Purple Bizon crew. Thursday night, just down the highway, Ellie Colbeck became the third 2,000 point scorer for Fergus Falls while finishing two assists shy of a triple-double, remarkably similar.
The game highlights continued Tuesday as the Fargo co-op netted a quartet against West Fargo while holding a shutout on the other end. North's boys doubled-up Sheyenne with six scores, finishing with the first varsity score by Marcus Ellingson. On the court Jeremiah Sem had a season-high 32 points but South was collectively able to exceed him. The evening was even tougher for the Spartans on the mat as Moorhead finished 36 points clear of them. The Spuds also found success on the snow with top-three finished by both ski teams in Alexandria.
Hot scoring Thursday must have been contagious as the boys of Davies, Sheyenne & West Fargo all surpassed 80 points, lead by 102 from the Eagles in a 56-point win over Devils Lake. None of them hit triple-digits but West Fargo was a point shy as they lead the three teams of girls in dominating wins as well. In WF's 54-point win over Valley City Solveig Seymour made a school-record eight 3's to tie with Miriley Simon for the high score.
Out of town Central Cass cruised past Hankinson with 33 (boys) & 44 (girls) point wins. Fertile/Beltrami's teams also had some great success over the last seven days. The boys' week ended with their second loss but prior to it they finished 28 & 33 point wins over Ulen/Hitterdal & Win/E/Mac while the girls put a 55-point hurt on W/E/M in their lone contest of the week. It was a 28 point win in Moorhead for Davies as part of a doubleheader Friday, with the second game finishing much closer. The best of the week on the court concluded where it started, with a 45-point win by the Jaguars over North Border.
The good times did not stop their though. With a 5 - 1 final South got Central on the ice. Sheyenne did even better with a score for every day of the week against Grafton. It got even more spoiled when they skated out against Davies as the Eagles put 12 months of pain on them. The Davies girls had their own one-sided shutout against Thief River Falls. The Fargo co-op had a much tighter one against EGF despite outshooting them 52-24. The game winner came off the stick of Rylee Bartz, her 100th score. The Bruin Boys finished their week with a 4 - 0 win over West Fargo as the last noteworthy development on the ice to come across.
But wait, there's more!
At the pool, Davies outperformed Moorhead 111 - 73.
Then, on the mat, a dozen teams came together in Fargo Friday/Saturday and the West won overwhelmingly. Davies & Sheyenne did manage champions on the girls side of the event. Central Cass's Jordan Flynn followed suit by taking the top spot in Lisbon.
Outside the lines, Enderlin's Brian Midthun was among the 2022 Coaches Hall of Fame class. The week also included some adjustments to how the 🏈 playoff field will be devised. It's already too late of a fix since Davies should have made it this year but at least the Activities Association is continuing to make moves in pursuit of improvement. And last but not least, Shanley tabbed NDSU alum Alexis Bachmeier to be their next 🏐 coach.
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