Northern State football set a new bar for the most points put up in the coach Mike Schmidt era with a 55-23 win over Southwest Minnesota State University last Saturday.
The Wolves’ lone non-conference game of the year was the only action in the NSIC this week. It started quick for the Wolves as they scored less than two minutes into the game when Brock Bagozzi hit Carter Campbell for a 29-yard touchdown. SMSU answered back with a field goal before the Wolves scored four straight times thanks to Mason Stubbe on a 35-yard pass from Bagozzi, Gavin Giesler on a 22-yard pass from Daniel Britt, Blake Clay returning a punt block, and a 10-yard touchdown pass from Zach Jorgensen to Zach Kraft.
The Mustangs scored to make it 34-9 before Cooper Eiensbeisz found the end zone on an 8-yard pass from Bagozzi. The Mustangs scored once more with 20 seconds left in the half to make it 41-16 going into halftime.
It was a quiet third quarter until Stubbe found the end zone for the second time, this time running it in from 5 yards out with 1:17 left in the third. SMSU scored one final time with 10:48 remaining in the game before Kimani Quade scored on an 8-yard run with 7:40 remaining for the final TD of the game.
Wyatt Block led the way rushing with 117 yards on 8 carries, averaging 14.6 yards per carry, making it his fourth straight game with over 100 yards total. Jake Adams put up a team-high 12 tackles, and three Wolves found themselves with an interception: Andrew Ewald, Kyle Thomas, and Cooper Logan. Logan also recorded the lone sack on the night.
Wolves volleyball started their 3 matches in 5 days stretch with a sweep over UMary last Thursday night at home 25-11, 25-19, 25-18. Linnea Nesheim had a team-high 13 kills, while Natalia Szybinska had 10 with a .667 attack percentage. Ava Nilsson added 33 assists.
On Saturday, Northern hit the road to take on Minot State, sweeping the Beavers 25-20, 25-17 and 25-20. This time Szybinska led the way with 13 kills on a .600 attack percentage, followed by Abby Brooks with 12 kills and a .647 attack percentage. Nilsson added 40 assists on the day.
The Wolves concluded their busy stretch on Tuesday with a win over Jamestown in a 3-set sweep 25-16, 25-17, 25-13. Szybinska led with 10 kills, followed by Brooks, Nesheim, and Katelyn Schroeder with nine each. Nesheim also tacked on three aces.
Wolves soccer came away with four points on the weekend as the Wolves tied Minot Friday night, and beat UMary Sunday afternoon. On Friday, Chloe Voss scored early for the Wolves on an assist from Jaylee Hofer six minutes into the game. In the 20th minute, Minot tied the action and that was all the scoring in the game.
On Sunday, the Wolves rallied from down 2-0 to score three straight goals to come away with the 3-2 home win. Olivia Gardner scored both of the Marauders’ goals, one at the 9:53
mark and the other just after the 20-minute mark. Chloe Voss kicked off the NSU scoring spree in the 60th minute, followed by a Lauren Youngquist goal just a couple minutes later on an assist from Ella Blake. Ella Ready closed out the scoring at 68:38 on a penalty kick to give the Wolves their fourth win in NSIC action.
The Wolves Swim and Dive squad traveled to Brookings last Friday to take on South Dakota State, which ended in a loss for the Wolves. Jacie Flockhart was the lone gold medalist as she outscored all three Jackrabbit divers with a score of 200.90. Emma Moore and Laila Gordillo took second and third, respectively, in the 200-yard freestyle.
On Saturday, the Wolves fell to MSU Moorhead. Moore tallied another second-place finish, this time in the 400-yard freestyle. Sydney Rogers took second in the 200-yard backstroke, and Kenna Remily finished in third in the 200-yard butterfly. Ella Wanschura and Emma Beavers took second and third, respectively, in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Coming up this week, Northern State Women’s Basketball will host Valley City State tonight at Wachs Arena in an exhibition contest.
On Friday, the Swim and Dive team will compete at the Knight Invite at Jamestown, N.D. with soccer on the road at Wayne State at 3 p.m., and volleyball at St. Cloud State at 6 p.m.
Also on Friday, the cross country teams will be competing at the NSIC Championships at Wayne, Neb.
Swim and Dive will continue at the Knight Invite on Saturday, and volleyball will take on Minnesota State on the road at 2 p.m.
Northern State football will finish its three-game home stand with MSU Moorhead at 6 p.m. Saturday at Dacotah Bank Stadium for the annual Blackout Cancer game.
On Sunday, Wolves soccer will close out its road weekend at Augustana at 1 p.m., with men’s basketball traveling to take on Murray State in an exhibition contest.
