Last week three Northern State athletes broke school records.
Jake Adams broke the single season tackles record, Abby Brooks broke the single game blocks record, and Nathan Alto broke the school record at the NSIC Championships in Minot.
The week started off with Wolves volleyball taking on the third ranked team in the country, the St. Cloud State Huskies. The Wolves dropped three tight sets, 25-21, 25-23, and 25-20. In that match, Hanna Thompson led the Wolves with 15 kills. Abby Brooks added 8 kills, and also collected four blocks, alongside Victoria Persha and Morissen Samuels who had four each as well.
On Saturday, the Wolves defeated 25th-ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 23-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22. Three Wolves had double-digit kills in the match: Thompson with 14, Natalia Szybinska with 11, and Samuels with 10. Brooks racked up 14 assisted blocks, a new school record. Victoria Persha had tied the previous school record earlier in the year when she had 10 against Wayne State (Mich.).
The Northern State football team got off to a cold start trailing 17-0 on the road against Concordia-St. Paul. The Golden Bears opened the game with a kickoff return for a touchdown, and after an interception on the following NSU drive, CSP increased its lead on a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Jaylin Richardson. The hosts kicked a field goal with 12:47 remaining in the half to score 17 straight. The Wolves found the endzone when Daniel Britt took the ball in himself on a 14-yard run. On the following drive, Richardson found the end zone for the second time. The Wolves regained possession with 3:05 on the clock at the 25-yard line. Britt found Jacob Van Landingham for a 10-yard touchdown with one second remaining in the half as the Wolves entered halftime down 24-14.
Coming out of halftime, Britt scored his second touchdown on the ground on a 4-yard run. The Wolves gained the lead for the first time in the game with a Wyatt Block 7-yard rushing touchdown. On the following drive, Richardson regained the lead for the Golden Bears with his third touchdown of the day, and a field goal put the Golden Bears up 34-28 with 3:28 remaining in the game. Block secured the win for the Wolves with a 2-yard rushing touchdown with 16 seconds left. The final play for the Golden Bears resulted in a Max Van Landingham sack, his sixth on the year.
The Wolves rushed for 278 yards, led by Block with 102, Hank Kraft with 101, and Britt with 75. Britt also threw for 131 yards. Leading receivers on the day were Tanner Branson and Jacob Van Landingham with 38 yards. On the defensive side, Adams finished with 16 tackles bringing his season total to 116, which broke the single season tackle record previously held by Steve Espinoza in 2004 with 111. Luke Gunderson and Max Van Landigham each had a pair of sacks.
Cross country teams competed in the NSIC Championships in Minot. The men’s team took 9th overall, with Nathan Alto taking 13th overall with a new school record time of 24:25.3. The men’s squad rounded it off with Jacob Angerhofer, Evan Halbe, Bailyn Hayford, and Jonathan Burkhalter. The women’s team took 12th overall led by Abby Hasart and Emaleigh Olesiak finishing in 42nd and 59th, respectively. The final three spots were rounded out with Summer Carlson, Alli Jackson, and Payton Kemnitz.
The swim and dive team dropped its duel against UMary. Jacie Flockhart recorded another first place finish in the 1 meter dive. Emma Moore took home first in the 200 free, and Laila Gordillo followed behind in second place. Abbegael Nynas took second in the 1000 free, Haley Osbourne took second in the 200 IM and the 100 free. Eydie Bruestle took second in the 100 back, and a 200 free relay team consisting of Mazie Finch, Mia Fursedonne, Osbourne and Bruestle took second place.
Wolves Soccer closed out the weekend with a scoreless draw to Minnesota State Mankato, which is first in the conference. The Mavericks outshot the Wolves 4-2, with Alexus Townsend saving all four shots, and Chloe Voss recording the two shots on goal.
NSU basketball teams started off their season at the Aberdeen Civic Arena with two wins on Retro Night, adding another win to the historic arena.
“Neat night with the Civic. The guys were really appreciative of the crowd,” said men’s coach Saul Phillips.
The Women’s squad kicked off the night with an 89-66 win over Dakota State. Madelyn Bragg led the Wolves with 20 points, followed by Rianna Fillipi with 16, in addition to a team-high six steals. Augustana transfer Michaela Jewett put up 15 points in her Northern debut.
The men’s squad closed out the night with a 78-64 win over Dickinson State. The leading scorer for the Wolves was transfer James Glenn with 20. He also had a team-high five steals. Tobi Oriora followed with 17 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
“I thought Tobi was a revelation tonight, he was a dude. He just looks different out there. He’s just physically looks like a grown man. He worked his butt off this summer,” said Phillips. “I do think we can do a better job at finding him at times … and we have a bunch of new guys that have never played with bigs. So, again, understanding that he’s an asset that we can use when things start grinding a little bit to get an easy two, or to put some pressure on the rim.”
Coming up this week, Wolves Swim will compete in the Jamestown Invite today. This evening soccer will host Augustana at 5:30, while volleyball is on the road at Bemidji.
On Saturday, swim will continue to compete at the Jimmie Invite, while wrestling will open up its season at the Jimmie Open in Jamestown as well. Wolves Football will host its last home game against the 22nd ranked Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. for Senior Day.
Volleyball will close out its road weekend at Minnesota Crookston.
On Sunday, Wolves soccer will also host its last home game taking on Southwest Minnesota State at 1 p.m. for Senior Day as well.
