Minnesota continued to build out it's coaching staff with the acquisition of special teams coordinator Matt Daniels, who had been an assistant on Dallas' staff for the last two years. Beyond him the only "major" development related to the team was when preseason all-star Kyle Sloter was selected in the first round of the Spring League draft by New Orleans.
NDSU's packed weekend was in several ways another statement on which university runs the state. Both the men & women were in Grand Forks for the League championships and the successes continued to come.
In the Southwest ⚾️ & softball continued their journeys. The ladies beat Buffalo but were then undone by New Mexico. The men dropped the first of four to Dixie State Friday. Both teams split their Saturday doubleheaders which set up Sunday. Tartleton spotted NDSU the first seven runs as they finished it out in five innings. ⚾️ struck first but was behind 5 - 2 after 3 innings and never put their offense together enough to dig out of it. Those capped a week which began with League honors for Emilee Buringa & Evan Sankey.
The 🏀 teams closed out their regular seasons against UND with a pair of wins. Having scored at least 20 points in four straight games Sam Griesel came off the bench in the finale. Though he still played 31 minutes, he was not one of the four to score in double figures. Back at home was also a statement against the once red-hot birds with a 24 - 12 fourth quarter that sealed the W. The other outcomes went in the men's favor as they are now slotted in at #2 and will face Denver in the first round Saturday. The women will have a rubber-match with Kansas City next Sunday.
Outside the lines, Darrius Shepherd got a new lease on his professional 🏈 life when New Jersey selected him in the 15th round.
Moorhead State had a tourney sandwich. Despite a 30 point night in Marshall by Peyton Boom the ladies were dispelled from the conference tournament to start the week.
The next day softball faced the #9 team in the country and were shown the disparity with an 11 - 2 outcome. They dropped another Friday to Wayne State and then split Saturday against Hillsdale (W) & (L)ewis.
With the weekend came the chance at conference championship state on the field & track. It was tough going for the women while the men were regulars on the podium.
The tough times extended to 🎾 , losing 5 - 2 to Sioux Falls & 7 - 0 to Augustana.
🤼 was able to resist the trend Saturday and men's 🏀 gave it a forearm shiver in besting St. Cloud to advance at the Pentagon as Gabe Myren lead a group of seven players with at least 8 points. They will face Augustana at 1:30 Monday afternoon. That concluded a week which began with all-conference recognition for Lorenzo McGhee & Gavin Baumgartner. As the cherry on top, third-year freshman Jacob Beeninga was named an Elite-18 recipient by the Conference for his academic achievement.
It was also a big week for the Corn cobs, starting with a date with St. Kate's. Kiana Flaig stopped all 21 shots that she faced and they needed every bit of the defense as her opposite stopped 36 of the 37 shots by Concordia. They were not able to find the magic a second time as Gustavus ended their season in the quarterfinals, 5 - 1. Tyler Bossert became the first 100 point scorer for Concordia since 1998 but it was St. Olaf who would be moving onto the semis.
The quarters were also tough on the court as the Wind blew the women into their offseason 53 - 41.
The "baton" then passed to the men & women of 🏃 at the conference indoor meet. They continued to run & throw well on the second day of events.
On the mat, competition only went moderately better at the Upper Midwest Regional Friday & Saturday.
The transition day of the week brought a pair of losses on the diamond as well as a 7 - 1 win by the ladies in the first of their two games.
It was a two-game week in the wake of the break but the Howl showed once again showed that they have space to improve. The first game back was a step in the right direction but whatever could have been gleaned from it positively was undone & then some in a sorry effort Friday against Philadelphia. There are more should-win games on the horizon, beginning next weekend, but they may get smacked around a couple more times before those lesser teams are on the other bench. The chances to get up to the four spot have faded dramatically but five & six are no further away so how they come out against Cleveland & Golden State won't tell the whole story but could make the hill that much taller.
If this weekend was any indication perhaps Fargo should consider more three-game weekends. They started with a 7 - 6 loss Thursday in overtime to Lincoln only to bounce back with a pair of Ws. In Omaha Friday they came back from a pair of one-score deficits as German Yavash tied it at 2. A scoreless third gave way to the winnter by Ryan Alexander.
Each offense went to another level Saturday as Omaha came back from a 2 - 0 deficit early in the second period with three straight scores. Fargo answered that with four of the final five scores of the contest to win 6 - 4. JP Turner was the only repeat scorer for the Bolts.
Fargo made another key addition to it's roster as they re-signed 2020 all-star Drew Ward.
Reminder that scores are added daily plus there's a new home for recruiting news, so check back often!
Now for this week's many, many highlights
Before the championship games to commence the fields had to be completed. It took overtime but on the boys 🏒 side Red River edged North despite Ryan Robison collecting 57 saves for the Spartans. And so the state fields were set, but before those pucks could be dropped came the All-Conference recognition
As the state tournaments unfolded both Fargo teams had convincing wins en route to the title match. In a reverse of last year's girls championship, it was the Fargo Co-op that finished a goal ahead of Davies for their first title. The Eagles still added some hardware as Morgan Sauvageau was named Senior Athlete of the Year. The Davies boys also made it to the final game, against Red River - goes to show how balanced the competition is! Possibly galvanized by their near elimination, for the seventh straight year Grand Forks gets to keep the crown. In the third place games South's boys scored a touchdown, sans the PAT against a shutout while West Fargo edged Bismarck 4 - 3 on the girls side.
On the North side of town there would also be a mix of new and familiar as the region 1 girls battled for their tourney title. Over the semi-finals and finals many great actions were captured as Kindred's girls earned their spot at state with a win over Northern Cass. They will face Beulah as the #1 seed. The conclusion came after Central & Northern provided a glimpse into how next season may unfold as the Jaguars got past their highly-regarded neighbors! It was the first championship game for Northern Cass since 2005, but it stands to reason that they likely will not have to wait 17 years for the next one. Along the way came the conclusion of several prolific high school careers. Another Mauch made a lasting impact on the record book for Hankinson as Kya Mauch became the career points leaders while also reaching quadruple digits rebounding before getting rolled by the Squirrels. She was one of the great group to make All-Region with Abby Duchscherer being named Senior Athlete of the Year & Central Cass's Jay Bachman Coach. It's the sad part of this great time of year as prolific players are prevented from reaching certain heights. Such was the case for South's Adie Wagner as North got the better of the Bruins in a conference play-in game Saturday. As the realization was setting in, a moment was captured which to my eyes very accurately encapsulated the situation
There were also several more great moments, one of which came short thereafter as South's boys advanced past Wahpeton to help solidify a VERY Fargo-centric collection of teams left standing for the four spots at State. In the other local play-in North finished off a tough week for Valley City with a 40 point W.
Those outcomes came on the heels of Sheyenne's girls running their season win total to 18, tying the all-time high, in victory over Valley City. The male Mustangs also had a big win over the railroad while West Fargo walloped Wahpeton. The #1 seed Eagle girls closed out the regular season with style points, beating GFC by 69. The two teams on the other side of the top portion of the bracket were not that sharp but both West Fargo & Shanley cruised to 26 point wins over VC & Wahpeton. That was the same margin as Davies overcame Central. The West Fargo boys also finished with a 61 point win on Valley.
In the tune-up to Region 1 tournament action Enderlin hung 92 on Tri-State. Northern Cass also showed they're ready for the next steps with a 26-point win over Hankinson.
Tourney time also continued to apply to Moorhead's 🏒. With a dominating 65 - 8, 7 - 0 win Wednesday they advanced to face St. Michael/Albertville. They dismounted the Knights 4 - 1 Saturday and will now face Elk River Wednesday in St. Cloud. Their good news also came away from the rink as Gavin Lindberg (58 points, 39 assists) was included on the list of 10 Mr. Hockey finalists. The Spuds season also continued in the water as Aiden Carlson & Dresden Adams qualified for the State AA meet.
Moorhead's boys got into the mix with a 26-point victory over Watertown. Fertile/Beltrami's were also again among the best East of the River as they got their 21st victory by 30 over Stephen/Argyle. D/G/F will have to continue their eight-game winning streak to hit 20 wins, with a pivotal game coming Tuesday against Hawley. The Rebel girls concluded the regular season with a 25-point win over Ulen/Hitterdal. Hawley's upstaged that with a 31-point win over Frazee in their second-to-last game of the reg. Same goes for Ada/Borup in their penultimate contest, beating Sacred Heart by 29. Park Christian also beat SH by 32 & then finished with a 33-point win over Ortonville.
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