Bison Illustrated August 2015

AUG 2015

COMPLIMENTARY

CONTENTS

feature

24

THE DRIVE FOR FIVE

The Bison are reloaded for another run at the FCS championship. We break down the pieces to the championship puzzle in our 2015 football season preview.

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THE MOST RESILIENT BISON NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the program’s fifth national championship. Major characters from the 1985 football season give us their insights into one remarkable season.

78 TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH Mitchell Benson was never a big Bison fan until he had his accident. Today, he can’t get enough of NDSU football.

AT A GLANCE 16 Bison Shots

88 Once in a Lifetime Offseason

20 SHAC Update

92 High Hopes

44 Football Schedule

98 Reclaiming the Summit Title

50 Guide to Missoula, Montana

110 Chuck Klabo

70 Spiritually Driven

117 Team Makers

74 Seeds of a Legacy

120 Steve Walker

82 Northwoods Exposure

122 Swany Says

FOLLOW US

2

THE BOSTONIAN BISON

info@spotlightmediafargo.com

@bisonmag

bisonillustrated.com

facebook.com/bisonillustrated

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104 We meet with the new Deputy Director of Athletics Todd Phelps to talk about his past, future and his love for Boston sports.

MEETTHETEAM

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MICHAEL

MIKE

BRENT

BOUGIE

GEORGE

AUBREY

RYAN

ANDREW

JOE

TRACY

PAUL

HEATHER

LINDA

LYDIA

LAURA

TANK

PAUL

TAYLOR

PACE

TAYLOR

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • AUG UST 2 015

JESSE

ERICA

SARAH

CODEY

Spotlightmedia

FROM THE PUBLISHER

MORE BISON PRIDE

COMING SOON!

F

ALL NEW ONEHERD.COM INVENTORY AND HERD & HORN’S SPORTS BAR AND RESTAURANT OPENING SOON.

or all of you that do not know, I played football for NDSU from 2003-07. After my football career, I found my way into running a business that’s dedicated to NDSU and Fargo. I had the opportunity to take over Bison Illustrated four years ago, start One Herd Bison Clothing and now, Herd & Horns Sports Bar & Grill. All three are dedicated to Bison Pride.

I also want to give a special thanks to our staff at Spotlight Media and the people over at NDSU Media Relations that make all this possible.

I can’t tell you how much fun this has been working with Bison-themed products. Let me tell you a little of what to expect in the three that we are involved in.

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BISON ILLUSTRATED This season of Bison Illustrated, we are going to push the limit when it comes to creativity. We want you to read through these issues and truly be blown away with our unique approach to new styles of journalism and photography.

We are also looking at extending our resources into the digital side of Bison Illustrated.

Stay tuned for Bison Illustrated online videos and a new, revamped bisonillustrated.com.

ONE HERD We will have over $100,000 in new NDSU licensed merchandise starting this fall. We will focus on quality and trendiness this year.

At oneherd.com, we will now offer free shipping

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MIKE DRAGOSAVICH

and returns on all clothing and accessories because of all the demand around the country. We sold to all 50 states in the last two years.

two years. It is located on 12th Ave. N., across the street from the NDSU campus and will be able to hold about 150 people. It is a full-service restaurant and will specialize in slider-style burgers and sandwiches.

We built a private room that holds about 12 people for the hopes that it will be used to take recruits and their families to a cool place to meet.

Check out these cool new cowbucker hats now on sale at oneherd.com

HERD & HORNS SPORTS BAR AND GRILL

We also built a broadcast studio where the Bison Information Network and other broadcast companies can produce Bison-themed programs.

Go to herdandhorns.com for more information.

Our restaurant is opening in August and the ownership group (full of Bison sports alumni) is thrilled at how it has turned out.

We have been working on this restaurant for almost

GO BISON!

Mike Dragosavich

SPOT the

5 DIFFERENCES

GOOD LUCK ON THE

DRIVE FOR FIVE

1.Football player is flipped. 2. Trophy text is removed. 3. Trophy base is altered. 4. Trophy year has been changed. 5. NCAA logo is different.

We Have Our on

eyes you!

SEE YOUR BEST BUT ALSO LOOK YOUR BEST

WE NOT ONLY WANT YOU TO

701.356.3937 • eyesonfargo.com 311 Broadway • Downtown Fargo

EDITOR’S NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Joe Kerlin

T

he drive for five; the one for the thumb; from myth to fifth – however you want to label or hashtag the upcoming Bison football season, don’t overlook the process.

No “Code Red” for Code Green

joe@bisonillustrated.com

T

he Bison football team’s run is over.

For four years, their appetite for a national championship has been satisfied. Their luck is tapped out and the massive target on their back will eventually be struck by opposing teams, and if that doesn’t knock them over, the sheer weight of the target will slow the Bison down. Surely, they’ll fall over themselves like a sideline judge with stiff hips and awkward coordination while following a sideline pass.

It’s understandable why the rest of the country outside of Bison Nation is nodding their heads at the paragraph above. But something tells me they’re in for another year of disappointment.

So what’s Bison Nation talking about? I guarantee 14

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the banter about the football team in your tailgating rig, bus or car on the way to Missoula, Mont., at the end of this month will include one of these three buzzword clichés: inexperienced, raw or untested.

And you’re not wrong.

The conversation hasn’t been relevant in three or four years, but fans should be asking if the status of the defense is uncharacteristically going to be the weakness on the team.

The unknown surrounding the handful of first-year starters on the Bison defense is not only nerve-racking and unsettling, it’s exciting, interesting and going to be memorable watching the maturation process of these young men this season.

The anticipation is worrisome due to the little

bisonillustrated

@bisonmag

we know of these new players on the defense much like the feeling toward the seniors that moved on last year. Little was known about them until they arrived on the scene and the defense never missed a beat. Trust in the process and believe the player development will come.

Colten Heagle flashed onto the scene in 2010 with his nose-to-the-grindstone attitude. Travis Beck and Christian Dudzik’s athleticism shined in 2011, while, in 2012, Carlton Littlejohn and Kyle Emanuel became feared tacklers across the Missouri Valley.

Unlike running an offense, defenses don’t need to know every move their teammates make on the same side of the ball. It’s not so much about moving at the same time in the same direction as it is about moving with the same tenacity and thirst for violence. Playing defense

@joebisonmag

comes down to effort, trust and not trying to do more than what is asked of you.

CJ Smith calls it “Code Green” defense. And Brad Ambrosius calls that passion shown the crux of Code Green.

So yes, of course, names like Ambrosius and Greg Menard will be unfamiliar, along with MJ Stumpf and Pierre Gee-Tucker. But so were the likes of Heagle, Dudzik and Emanuel.

Just like Bison sophomore safety Chris Board’s twitter handle, “@GetOn_BoarD.” It’s time to jump aboard Code Green, Bison Nation, and enjoy the plays, mistakes and everything in between on the defensive side of the ball this season.

See you in Missoula!

Go Bison,

Joe Kerlin

FOOTBALL IS BACK,

BABY

FROM paul bougie CONTACT ME 701-478-7768 paulbougie@spotlightmediafargo.com

READING RECOMMENDATION: If you're near an audio-playing device, click play on "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.

W

ith football nearing, there seems to be the same questions asked in our day-to-day conversations this time of year:

1. Do you think there’s going to be some new tailgating rigs in the lot with awesome Bison artwork?

2. What are you going to cook up this year that’s new, fun and tasty?

3. Have you selected your plastic tailgating approved cup/drinking chalice (a la One Herd’s Horn) for the season yet?

But the one that has the most serious tone is: How’s the football team going to be this year?

I have danced around this question time and time again. For the most part, it’s driven by four central components: 1. Is Carson Wentz the real deal and can he do it again?

2. How is the running back situation going to work out with three viable players to choose from?

3. What about the receivers?

4. Will we have a strong defense again this year?

Here are my answers: 1. Yes, to new rigs.

2. Got a couple of recipes in the test phase.

(Editor’s Note: Why haven’t I been asked to be a taste-tester?)

3. I haven’t seen the new One Herd magic chalice yet.

As for the four components to the last question, I only have this to say: We are going to be great, win or lose. There might be a hiccup or two, but we will still be great because we are BISON! There. That’s my answer.

See you all in the west parking lot!

Go Bison,

Paul Bougie

BISON SHOTS

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BISON SHOTS

BISON SHOTS THE BISON GO GLOBAL The Bison volleyball team enjoyed 10 days of fun and relaxation this summer in Nicaragua. The team played multiple exhibitions against the Nicaraguan junior national and national teams. As you can see here, they also enjoyed playing volleyball with the local children. For more on the volleyball team’s trip to Nicaragua, read the story on page 88.

Check out BISONILLUSTRATED.COM 17

SHAC UPDATE

TAKING SHAPE

Lace up your boots, bring your earplugs, grab your Gast Construction hard hat and vest and get ready, because Bison Illustrated took a tour of the Sanford Health Athletic Complex to give our readers an update before the fall sports and semester start at North Dakota State University.

By Pace Maier Photos by Paul Flessland

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Basketball Facility & Locker Rooms This was our third time to the SHAC since January. As school creeps up behind some of us, Gast Construction is making a big push to get the basketball locker rooms and the basketball practice facility completed and turned over to the university by this fall.

Project Manager Darren Kruse said they should meet the deadline this fall, but it’s going to be close.

The Bison men and women basketball locker rooms still need exterior panels to be installed because they are still open to the elements. The support structure is currently being worked on in the showers and bathrooms in the locker rooms. Both need to happen before the sheet rock is placed.

SHAC UPDATE

LOOKING FORWARD

The basketball coaches windows will look over the practice court.

The basketball practice facility is in a similar state from the last time we checked up on the SHAC in June, but this fall the wood flooring will be laid down, basketball hoops will be hung and painting will be finished.

Before these two areas are turned over for coaches and student-athletes, exterior metal panels will be placed to enclose and keep heat in and water out, but first the steel for the support structure will go up so the panels can go over them.

Once that is complete, Gast will have to receive a certificate of occupancy from the City of Fargo. After that has taken place, Gast will put up temporary doors around areas that aren’t complete where athletes, coaches and staff won’t have access to.

21

SHAC UPDATE

Weight Room

Installation is being placed in the walls separating the hallway and locker room.

As Gast focuses on the practice gym and basketball locker rooms, the weight room is on the back burner for the moment, but ceiling rough-ins, electrical and plumbing will take place before the Mondo Ramflex flooring is inserted.

BASKETBALL ARENA The biggest area of the SHAC isn’t finished just yet. The floor has to be excavated out some more, but finishing the concourse will happen before any flooring will be poured.

After a brief break from peeling off the old skin on the walls, Kruse said by the first of August new panels will hopefully be in place to enclose the area from the outside.

EAST SIDE This addition is basically an extension of the main floor concourse and the second-floor concourse. Kruse said the construction crew has been working on building the addition.

There were a few problems with the redesign and support system, but Kruse said the workers will be back soon.

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The biggest difference with the new east side can be seen from the road when it’s complete. There will be a big aluminum glass storefront system facing University Drive, which will be lit up at night, but the glass has not been installed yet.

The entire project is still on the October 2016 deadline, and there hasn’t been any talk of turning any other areas over to the university sooner. The only demolishing left to do is taking out the old wall panel system.

Gast and the sub-contractors have put their working hands towards the practice facility, basketball locker rooms and enclosing as many areas as they can before the cold months start.

STAY TUNED Check out next month’s Bison Illustrated to stay up to date on all things SHAC related, and to see more behind-thescenes photos from the build site.

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FOOTBALL PREVIEW

The NDSU football team returns to the gridiron this month in search of their fifth straight championship. Mirroring the success of the past four years won’t be easy and the road to a title is always filled with obstacles, but Carson Wentz, Joe Haeg, Brad Ambrosius, Zach Vraa and CJ Smith are battle tested. Now it’s time for the rest of the Bison to come together and join the drive for five.

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FOOTBALL OFFENSE

Second-year starting quarterback Carson Wentz has caused quite the stir nationally from NFL writers with his prototypical quarterback frame and tools. But he still has unfinished business to attend to at NDSU.

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OFFENSE OFFENSE

FOOTBALL OFFENSE

CLEAR FOR TAKE OFF

Last year couldn’t have been a better start for Bismarck, N.D. native Carson Wentz. But he’s done talking about that. Wentz is out to prove that this season, the Bison are still the team to beat in the FCS and the mountain of expectations stemming from his national media attention is well worth the time.

ELITE QB

How Carson Wentz Stacks Up Statistically NDSU Sr. Carson Wentz 228-358, 63.7%, 3,111 passing yards, 25 TDs, 10 INTs Penn State Jr. Christian Hackenberg 270-484, 55.8%, 2,977 passing yards, 12 TDs, 15 INTs TCU Sr. Trevone Boykin 301-492, 61.2%, 3,901 passing yards, 33 TDs, 10 INTs USC Sr. Cody Kessler 315-452, 69.7%, 3,826 passing yards, 39 TDs, 5 INTs 27

FOOTBALL OFFENSE

wanting more from “one of their own” North Dakota natives. He was also intercepted 10 times and went the first eight quarters of the season without a touchdown pass.

Wentz is hoping for a better start to this season with a trip to Missoula, Mont.

Carson Wentz showed his toughness last year with 642 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground.

T

he Internet was beside itself when NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. picked North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz as the third best senior quarterback prospect in the 2016 NFL Draft.

“Don’t know him?” Kiper said. “You will.

Wentz doesn’t only offer prototypical pocket-passer size (6-5, 230 pounds) – he can also really move.”

Another Internet explosion came Wentz’s way when Bleacher Report came out with a headline one lazy July afternoon titled, “Can Carson Wentz Become the 2016 NFL Draft’s Top QB Prospect?”

“In terms of a comparison, Wentz’s 2014 tape is reminiscent of Baltimore’s Joe Flacco and Carolina’s Derek Anderson,” concluded featured columnist Ian Wharton. “Each are big, athletic quarterbacks with strong arms.”

The article was published after Wentz was named one of the Elite 11 Camp counselors. He was joined by the top Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks in the nation to help with activities for the top-18 high school quarterbacks in the country.

Wentz roomed with Ohio State

quarterback JT Barrett and made acquaintances with Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg, Arizona State’s Mike Bercovici, Tennessee’s Josh Dobbs and Notre Dame’s Malik Zaire.

“I even got the chance to give a speech to them (campers) and asked them to raise their hand if they knew where North Dakota was,” Wentz said. “About an eighth of them raised their hands, it was interesting. I think I earned a lot of guys’ respect out there and got to know a lot of guys, so it was a lot of fun.”

If there’s one thing Wentz didn’t accomplish last year that’s within grasp this season, it’s building NDSU into a national brand by remaining in the discussion as one of the top quarterbacks entering the draft and ultimately, hearing his name called on draft day.

Last season against Montana, Wentz was 16-of-24 passing with 167 yards and found a wide-open Kevin Vaadeland in the back corner of the end zone in the third quarter for the only Bison touchdown of the game.

Montana will return six starters from a defense that held Wentz’s offense to one touchdown in five red zone trips last season.

ESPN will begin its college football coverage this fall by featuring the NDSU/Montana match as its FCS Kickoff, played the Saturday prior to the first FBS games.

With Wentz in the national spotlight to start the year, beginning the journey back to the top of the FCS is shaping up to be a great test right off the bat in Missoula. It will also guarantee everybody in the college football world will know what Wentz and the NDSU Bison are made of this season as they attempt to finish like they have the last four years – as champions.

But draft projections don’t win you any games and when you have a target on your back from four straight national championships, the season-opener is all that matters for Wentz.

“I feel that there is still a lot to prove,” Wentz said after returning from the Elite 11 Camp. “I’m not satisfied with what happened last year and I want more.”

Wentz threw for 1,675 yards and threw 17 of his 25 touchdowns in the second half of last season, leaving Bison fans

Photo by Darren Gibbins 29

FOOTBALL PLAYMAKERS

Sixth-year senior Zach Vraa is sticking around for another season and will be Carson Wentz’s most dangerous weapon. He’s also climbing the all-time receiving charts at a record-breaking pace.

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FOOTBALL PLAYMAKERS

PLAYMAKERS PLAYMAKERS

HIGHLIGHT REEL TALENT Tremendous hype surrounded the decision by Zach Vraa to return for a sixth year at NDSU, and for good reason, but he isn’t the only weapon Carson Wentz will have at his disposal this season.

PICK YOUR POISON WR, ZACH VRAA – 45 155 receptions, 2,447 yards, 23 TDs WR, RJ URZENDOWSKI 32 receptions, 626 yards, 5 TDs TE, LUKE ALBERS 16 receptions, 220 yards, 4 TDs FB, ANDREW BONNET 45 receptions, 469 yards, 5 TDs RB, KING FRAZIER 657 total yards, 5 TDs, 5.5 yards/carry RB, CHASE MORLOCK 743 total yards, 6 TDs, 6.4 yards/carry 31

FOOTBALL PLAYMAKERS

In King Frazier’s first season at NDSU, he carried the way as John Crockett’s primary backup and is expected to get the majority of the carries this season.

Z

ach Vraa has inherited the “grandpa” title on the team from Kevin Vaadeland when the NCAA granted him a sixth year of eligibility due to a medical hardship earlier in his career. But don’t mistake his title for what he still means for the Bison offense.

“I was ecstatic when I heard he was coming back,” quarterback Carson Wentz said. “I was in his ear quite awhile, then I kind of just let him do his thing and it worked out.”

Even with the starting quarterback lobbying him to come back, it was never a guarantee Vraa would return for another year in a Bison uniform. Wide receivers coach Atif Austin struggled during the course of last season on gathering a sense of where Vraa was with the idea of going through another year of offseason workouts and another fall camp.

“He was really down the middle on whether he wanted to come back or not,” Austin said after Vraa announced he

was returning. “I tell you what though, I’m excited to have him back. He was a great leader for us this year, but he’s always been that leader by example.”

Vraa highlights a long list of skill position players that are returning to the Bison offense. Even with Trevor Gebhart graduating and Carey Woods leaving the team, freshman standout RJ Urzendowski, senior Nate Moody and sophomore Isaiah Frandsen are returning at the wide receiver position.

Redshirt freshmen Darius Shepherd and Khayvon Hawkins attracted a lot of attention this spring with their speed and ability to get open against the Bison secondary in practice. But it’s been a learning experience trying to catch up to the guys that have already amassed playing time.

“When guys get out here, especially for the rookies, they realize that this is a lot harder than anything they’ve done in the past,” Vraa said, explaining what summer conditioning is like for the freshmen. “They can see that this is what we do and this is how we’ve won all these national championships over the years. That’s how they really buy into the program and how we keep it going.”

Wentz will also have targets in the interior that aren’t strangers to the big stage. Preseason all-American fullback Andrew Bonnet and tight end Luke Albers will lead the Crew Chiefs and be key targets for Wentz. Albers is coming off a breakout year in 2014 where he caught 13 passes for four touchdowns while backing up Vaadeland.

The biggest question mark on the offense coming into fall camp will be who’s going to be the man to replace the single season record-holder in rushing yards at NDSU, John Crockett.

The answer won’t be A, B or C. It’s shaping up to be D, all the above, with King Frazier, Chase Morlock and redshirt freshman burner Lance Dunn.

Dunn’s speed was on display in the Spring Game when he ran for 76 yards on six carries and scored two touchdowns.

Wentz, a member of the FCS Offensive Player of the Year Watch List, will have a lot to choose from this season while dropping back to pass. Surrounded with returning talent in Vraa and Urzendoski, 2015 could be a year for the record books for the Bison offense.

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FOOTBALL O-LINE

Joe Haeg will anchor an experienced offensive line looking to free space for multiple playmakers on the Bison offense.

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O LINE LINE O

FOOTBALL O-LINE

STRIVING TOWARD GREATNESS The offensive line is the most experienced position group for the Bison football team this season. With most of the line returning, it’s made one of its All-Americans start to think it could be the strongest group in NDSU history.

CAREER STARTS Entering the 2015 Season JOE HAEG – 45 Senior, Left Tackle ZACK JOHNSON – 16 Junior, Left Guard AUSTIN KUHNERT – 11 Sophomore, Center JEREMY KELLY – 16 Senior, Right Guard LANDON LECHLER – 16 Junior, Right Tackle

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FOOTBALL O-LINE

The “Rams” as they’re known in Bison Nation, will be deeper this season than in the past, which will bode well for quarterback Carson Wentz.

“A lot of it is just learning how they play and when we do double-team, just how they go about it,” Haeg said. “Zack Johnson’s always been great at it and I’m excited about what we can do.”

Wentz said he’s extremely excited about his “Rams” upfront this season, especially after the giant question mark that loomed over the position group during his first year as the starting quarterback.

“We get back Zack Johnson, so we shouldn’t even miss a beat. We should just keep getting better there,” Wentz said. “Not only does that help us physically because of what they can do, but mentally. And everything as far as me being able to communicate at the line with the likes of my receivers, my tight ends, my running backs and then those five upfront got to communicate more than anybody.”

T

he North Dakota State offensive line will be the most experienced it has been in years.

Projected starters Joe Haeg, Zack Johnson, Austin Kuhnert, Jeremy Kelly and Landon Lechler will enter this season with 104 combined starts, the most of any Bison offensive line unit over the past four national championship seasons.

During the championship stretch, the 2013 Bison offense was the best it has ever been. They came into the season returning 100 starts on the offensive line and went on to score 38 points and 450 yards per game, and converted third downs at a 55 percent rate.

The 2015 offensive line is looking to lead the offense to a similar statistical explosion with four starters returning and a former all-conference selection in Zack Johnson coming back from missing last season with a microfracture in his knee.

“He brings a lot of experience and size,” senior left tackle Joe Haeg said.

“It’ll definitely be nice having a guy

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that’s comfortable with the position.

Obviously, I had to deal with some switches last year, but he’s a great player, he’s a great addition to the offensive line and I’m excited to see him play.”

Johnson will play left guard next to Joe Haeg this year and is bookended on the other side by center Austin Kuhnert, who replaced Johnson last season.

NDSU has had four different starting centers over the past four years, and the adjustment is more than sliding down the offensive line for Kuhnert. He will be expected to communicate with quarterback Carson Wentz this season to avoid illegal procedure penalties that plagued the Bison last season. Most notably, the false start penalty that nearly handcuffed the Bison on the first play of the winning drive against Illinois State in the championship game.

The last time Johnson was in the lineup was in 2013 when left tackle Haeg was on the right side of the line. Haeg said there will be an adjustment period, but thinks their skill will override the lack of chemistry on the left side.

Haeg is reluctant to call this the best offensive line he’s been a part of in his three years of starting experience but knows they’re close.

“I definitely think it has the potential to be the best offensive line since I’ve been here,” Haeg said. “I think that’s one of our goals, to not only dominant in general, but to be one of the best offensive lines North Dakota State’s ever had.”

FOOTBALL DEFENSE

Brad Ambrosius may be a firstyear starter, but don’t think he hasn’t picked up a trick or two from guys like Kyle Emanuel and the tradition of excellence on the defensive line.

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DEFENSE DEFENSE

FOOTBALL DEFENSE

RELOADING CODE GREEN The new-look Bison defense doesn’t have its veterans questioning whether or not they can bring the noise this season.

By all accounts, Code Green is ready to make plays and remain a crowd favorite.

RETURNING STARTERS Returning Starters from 2014 DT BRIAN SCHAETZ 51 Tackles, 7 TFL, 2 Sacks DT NATE TANGUAY 38 Tackles, 5 TFL, 3 Sacks DE BRAD AMBROSIUS (5 starts) 27 Tackles, 5.5 TFL, 2.5 Sacks MLB NICK DELUCA (5 starts) 67 Tackles, 2.5 TFL, 3 INTs CB JORDAN CHAMPION 68 Tackles, 3 TFL, 10 Passes Defended CB CJ SMITH 47 Tackles, 1 INT, 18 Passes Defended SAFETY TRE DEMPSEY (1 start) 42 Tackles, 1 INT, 6 Passes Defended 39

FOOTBALL DEFENSE

CJ Smith has been shutting down opposing receivers since 2013 and once healthy, will look to finish off his Bison career as strong as it started.

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DEFENSE DEFENSE

FOOTBALL DEFENSE

T

he Bison defense has been the most proficient piece of the Bison football team over the past four seasons.

They’ve been able to replace senior leadership with young talent by combining inexperience with a ruthless Code Green attitude.

The Bison defense has been on top of the FCS rankings since 2011. They’ve only allowed 12.4 points and 271 yards per game during that 61 game stretch.

But with seven starters gone from last year’s starting lineup and six of its top eight tacklers out of eligibility, the Bison defense will face its greatest turnover in the past four years this season.

Linebacker Nick DeLuca, defensive end Brad Ambrosius and cornerback Tre Dempsey are the only returners with starting experience that are expected to replace three of the seven open spots left by the Bison seniors on defense.

SECO NDA R Y

The secondary is coming into fall camp hobbled with two-year starting cornerback CJ Smith coming off knee surgery this spring.

“I met with the doctor a few days ago and he said it’s looking as good as he possibly could hope for,” Smith said.

“I probably won’t be in fall camp right away, but eventually I’ll get there and start doing some more running and back peddling.”

The senior’s injury means that fellow senior Jordan Champion will be joined by sophomore Tre Dempsey at corner to begin the season, but don’t get too comfortable seeing the Lakeland, Fla. native there too long.

Dempsey’s lone career start was at corner, but he will be making the Christian Dudzik-like switch to free safety once Smith is back from his 41

FOOTBALL DEFENSE

spectacular career in high school and has been able to find his way onto the field for 28 games at NDSU, but mostly in special teams roles.

DE FENSI V E L INE

Brad Ambrosius filled in for five games last year when defensive end Mike Hardie was out with a groin injury. Like DeLuca, Ambrosius made his presence felt and will be a mainstay in the defensive end rotation this season.

“I’m getting a lot stronger in the weight room,” Ambrosius said. “I’ve also been working on my pass rush, which obviously, we have to replace Kyle Emanuel with almost 20 sacks by himself. So I’ve been working on that and just trying to work on my footwork and technique.”

No. 49 junior Nick DeLuca tallied 64 tackles in five starts last season.

He also showed his athleticism by snagging three interceptions.

injury. In the meantime, there will be a position battle for the strong and free safety positions between four safeties: junior Andrew Smith, sophomore Chris Board and freshmen Isaac Cenescar and Jaylaan Wimbush.

“There’s kind of a big position battle at the other spot,” Smith said about the construction of the secondary once Dempsey makes the move to free safety.

“It’s really who shows that they learned the playbook the fastest and improves during fall camp.”

LIN E B ACK E R S

After Travis Beck fell to an Achilles injury during the regular season finale, DeLuca stepped in at middle linebacker and made four impactful starts in the playoffs. He will return to the middle for his junior season.

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Photo by Darren Gibbins The Bison will need to replace two outside linebackers with position battles that will be fought through the first month of the season. It appears juniors Pierre Gee-Tucker and MJ Stumpf are the early favorites to join the athletic DeLuca in the linebacking core. But Dan Marlette, Levi Jordheim, Bo Liekhus and Matt Plank showed flashes in the Spring Game and they could be the answer at the outside spot.

As a highly touted recruit from Belleville, Ill., Gee-Tucker had his first two seasons at NDSU cut short by injury. He contributed most of his playing time on special teams and was able to haul in his first interception of his career against Incarnate Word.

Stumpf has drawn many comparisons to other North Dakota grown linebackers at NDSU. The Harvey native had a

Replacing 22.5 sacks from Emanuel and Hardie won’t come from just one or two players. Joining Ambrosius at the other defensive end will be Greg Menard, who played as a true freshman last season and gathered three sacks in a backup role. Sophomore Jarrod Tuszka and redshirt freshmen Stanley Jones and Caleb Butler figure to get in the defensive end rotation early in the season, too.

The Bison defense will introduce many new faces to the FargoDome crowd this year, but that’s no excuse for continuing the strong Code Green tradition, said Smith.

“The same thing happened to the class that was before me (2010 Class),” Smith explained. “A lot of those guys played early and they were still good. So I mean, it’s just a matter of these guys having to know that they don’t have time to think, ‘Oh, I have four years. I’ll wait a couple years.’ They have to come and have the mindset that ‘Okay, we have to speed this up. We have to do this right now.’”

Smith, Champion and defensive tackle Brian Schaetz are the only projected starters on the Bison defense that have been here since 2011, when NDSU won its first of four consecutive FCS Championship game. And they don’t plan on being the guys that end the streak of success in Frisco, Texas.

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™

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GUIDE TO MISSOULA

YOUR GUIDE TO:

MISSOULA, MONT. Photo by Todd Goodrich, University of Montana

NIGHTLIFE:

FOOD:

OTHER ENTERTAINMENT:

Tamarack 231 W. Front St., Missoula 406-830-3113 tamarackbrewing.com 1.4 mil. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

Worden's 451 N. Higgins Ave., Missoula 406-549-1293 wordens.com 1.6 mil. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

The Elk Country Visitor Center 5705 Grant Creek Road, Missoula rmef.org/ElkCountryVisitorCenter 1-866-266-7750 5.7 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

Kettle House 602 Myrtle St., Missoula 406-728-1660 kettlehouse.com 1.2 mil. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

Finn & Porter Steak Seafood 100 Madison St., Missoula 406-542-4660 finnandporter.com/missoula 1.2 mil. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

The Historic Wilma Theatre 131 S. Higgins Ave., Missoula thewilma.com 406-728-2521 1.4 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

The Press Box 835 E. Broadway St., Missoula 406-721-1212 1.2 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

Montana Club 2620 Brooks St., Missoula 406-543-3200 montanaclub.com 2.5 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

Canyon River Golf Club 1268 Bandmann Trail 406-721-0222 canyonriverproperty.com/canyon-rivergolf-club 5.6 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

The Top Hat 134 W. Front St., Missoula 406-728-9865 tophatlounge.com 1.4 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium James Bar 127 W. Alder St., Missoula 406-721-8158 jamesbarmontana.com 1.7 mil. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium Iron Horse Brew Pub 501 N. Higgins Ave., Missoula 406-728-8866 ironhorsebrewpub.com 1.6 mil. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium Union Club Bar 208 E. Main St., Missoula 406-728-7980 maggots.org 1.4 mil. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

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Biga Pizza 241 W. Main St., Missoula 406-728-2579 bigapizza.com 1.6 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium Ciao Mambo 541 S. Higgins Ave., Missoula 406-543-0377 ciaomambo.com 1.1 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium The Shack CafĂŠ 222 W. Main St., Missoula 406-549-9903 theshackcafe.com 1.6 from Washington-Grizzly Stadium Big Dipper Ice Cream 631 S. Higgins Ave., Missoula 406 543-5722 bigdippericecream.com 1.1 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

Caras Park Downtown Missoula on Carousel Drive missouladowntown.com/caraspark 1.6 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium Garnet Ghost Town 3255 Fort Missoula Road, Missoula garnetghosttown.net 4.9 mi. from Washington-Grizzly Stadium

1985 CHAMPIONSHIP

Interviews conducted by Joe Kerlin

This season will mark the 30th anniversary of one of the wildest seasons in NDSU football history. The waves of trials and tribulations that started with a new head coach were ultimately defeated and the Bison once again rose as the champions of division II football.

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1985

THE 30 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOST RESILIENT

BISON NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM The following is a compilation of seven individual interviews conducted over the phone and in person. The quotes have been edited for clarity.

STORYTELLERS Earle Solomonson – Earle Solomonson was hired as the NDSU head coach the spring of 1985. The former defensive coordinator spent six years as an assistant under Don Morton at NDSU.

Jeff Bentrim – “Benny” was entering his third year as the starting quarterback for the Bison and had already led the Bison to two national championship games, winning the title in 1983.

Chad Stark – The fullback in the veer option attack was entering his junior year. Known for his power and game-changing blocks, Chad Stark was a key component to the Bison’s offensive machine.

Todd DeBates – The junior safety was entering his third year in the Bison secondary. Although he was often overlooked for many postseason accolades, Todd DeBates always had a knack for the ball in big moments.

Paul Murray – “Murr” was a rotational linebacker for the Bison.

He split starting time at outside linebacker during his junior year in 1985 due to an injury that sidelined him a year prior.

Matt Tracy – Matt Tracy was a backup lineman on the 1985 Bison football team. He played in most of the games, but mainly in a reliever role. He’d eventually be an All-American in 1988.

Dave Kolpack – Dave Kolpack was covering the NDSU football beat for the Bismarck Tribune. His father, Ed, was the sports editor at The Forum and was also on the Bison beat.

1985 CHAMPIONSHIP

MARCH 25, 1985 DON MORTON ABRUPTLY TAKES JOB AT TULSA Jeff Bentrim – I do remember that there were rumors after the season that he was getting interests from other schools and that he was interested in another job.

I really think I heard it on the radio. I can’t remember what station, and then I remember someone calling me from the radio station and they asked me what I thought. It was a weird feeling.

Chad Stark – Honestly, I can’t remember truthfully where I heard it.

That’s a part of the game. At first it was personal, thinking that it was like a divorce, if you will, but after you realize what he’s doing and the nature of the game, then the focus was on making sure that the Bison Tradition and Bison football stayed on its course.

Paul Murray – I think everybody has different emotions when you’re recruited by someone, and you make an investment as a young person. The one thing that it does expose is that there’s a business side to this game called football, even at that level. I think after that, two years of that team being together I think people need to understand that coaches certainly make a difference. It’s the players that play the game and we had an underlining feeling and thought of 58

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emotion that this is a pretty good group of guys.

Matt Tracy –We all got called to the Bison Sports Arena. … Don announced to the team that he and the staff were leaving and it was sad. I can’t remember if Don shed a tear or two, I think he might have. I know that Phil Engle, who was a linebacker coach, recruited Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin and I remember Phil grabbing myself and Daryl Illikainen. … He did have tears in his eyes and he said, ‘I just want you to know, that it’s guys like you that have helped me get this invite from Coach Morton to go to this next level, because you have helped me prove that I can recruit.” Which we’re trying to comprehend this, not only losing Morton, and we didn’t work with Engle, but he was our recruiting coach.

When he told us, I think he told us that Earle (Solomonson) was staying behind to put his name in the hat for the head coaching position.

Stark – Earle, or whoever was staying out of that coaching staff, was going to be the heir apparent; there was no question. With the success that we had, there was no way you’re going to bring in somebody from the outside. You don’t want to fix something that isn’t broken.

Earle Solomonson – I was offered the

coordinator’s job in Tulsa. I told Don that we’re going to stay here and that we’re going to go after the North Dakota State job, and there were certainly some tense moments after that, because they left. He went on to hire his staff and I was technically out of a job for a couple weeks, because they made a national search for the job and I was the one guy sitting down the long hallway, in the Fieldhouse, with the light on still trying to do some recruiting and keep things moving.

Dave Kolpack – When Earle got the job, (Dave) Triplett (South Dakota head coach) had applied and a guy named Ross Fortier who coached at Moorhead State, and they were NAIA for the most part. But he had turned that team into an NAIA powerhouse. There were several Bison boosters, especially friends of his who were pushing him for that job as well. I think that administration had some pressure to look at him a little bit and Triplett was really successful. I think there might have been a few people that liked the fact that he had built such a good program in Vermillion, where it’s a tough place to do that.

Todd DeBates – A good core of the coaches that came in, we knew. It wasn’t like, “Gosh, who are all these guys?” To be honest with you, Rocky (Hager) was one of the guys we didn’t know and he

came in from Augustana, but I think he had GA’d at NDSU before we were there.

I do remember thinking, “Hey, we’re just going to keep this thing running.”

We wished Coach Morton the best and we kept the Bison thing going. … I don’t know if the personnel was a big change because in 1984, we were quite young and in ’85, we had pretty much most everybody coming back.

Bentrim – I remember thinking, “Oh geez, what’s going to happen now.” We lost a few players, but we still had a lot of players coming back from the 1984 team. There were some questions like, “Okay what do we do? How’s it going to be different for sure?” I don’t think there was any trepidation, but certainly natural curiosity like, what’s Earle going to be like running the offense?

SEPTEMBER 7, 1985 @NORTHERN MICHIGAN, 26-10 WON, 1-0 SEPTEMBER 14, 1985 @CAL POLY, 29-35 LOSS, 1-1 Solomonson – We had lots of pressure that Cal Poly game. We scored the winning touchdown in the last second of that game and the film verified that our player caught the ball in the end zone. The official ruled that he was out of the end zone and therefore, the game was over. We lost 35-29, but it probably should’ve been 36-35, but we lost that game.

Murray – Rocky came over to take over the defense. … From a scheme perspective, not a lot changed. It was literally learning how to respond to coaching direction. They all had different styles on how to motivate and hold players accountable to execution.

Coming off that ‘84 season, which was obviously a heartbreak for the team, and you have a whole new staff in whole new positions, and even though you have spring practices and spring ball, it just took players a little bit of time to respond to styles of coaching.

Stark – That was the feeling out process with the new coaching staff. Defensively, my roommate for all my years here, Paul Nielsen, was the all-American nose

guard for us. I was close friends with all of them and they struggled with Rocky and some of the coverages they had during that game. There’s a lot more talk back there than there ever was and it was really a feeling out process for the defense and them getting comfortable with it. Those types of things are an opportunity to get better when crap hit the fan and we were down that much because I don’t think we were ever down by that much at any time. We stormed back and everything seemed to gel a little bit.

DeBates – As players, we knew in that game some of the things in the game needed to be adjusted, to be quite honest with you. We needed to change up schemes. We needed to change up formations. We were playing such a basic defense; it wasn’t too hard for Cal Poly to do really anything they wanted to do with us. Again, I think that’s where my recollection is; Coach Solomonson was very patient and he just said, “Hey Rocky, we’re going to get this thing squared away, but we’re going to have to change things up a little bit defensively.

We can’t just run four, five, six different things. We’re going to have to run a few more coverages, we’re going to have to run a few more schemes, maybe blitz some more.” They did change things up. It was a very basic defense we were running against Cal Poly and they took complete advantage of us that game.

SEPTEMBER 21, 1985 MINNESOTA STATE-MANKATO, 35-16 WON, 2-1 (1-0) SEPTEMBER 28, 1985 @SOUTH DAKOTA, 14-38 LOSS, 2-2 (1-1) Kolpack – From a media perspective, I don’t think anybody still believed that USD was better than the Bison. I really thought, and most people thought, the Bison were going to go down there and win that game. But again, I think it was USD’s Super Bowl. They had spent the whole offseason trying to figure out a way to stop the veer. I think they were pretty effective at it. I think all the expectations were that the Bison were going to go down there and knock them off their perch.

1985 CHAMPIONSHIP

Stark – We knew they were good. (Chul) Schwenkie was their running back and (Scott) Jones was the quarterback and I’d played against Jones in high school. They had a good team, absolutely. On defense, I played against a lot of those guys in high school so I knew that they were tough. One of the things we had to our detriment was Lew Curry, who was now our offensive line coach for us. He had visited with them at one of the camps and really showed them how to stop the veer. Not all of our secrets, but he wasn’t with us at the time. He was somewhere at the time and he showed them how our veer works and how our reads work, not to do anything bad, but just as a teaching lesson. Well, they obviously ate it up and were able to find ways to stop our veer, to make it tough on us. When we came into that game, we didn’t know what they were going to throw at us.

They threw everything at us that makes it tough for the veer. Inside techniques and those type of things that screwed up Benny’s reads and then defensive ends coming hard in so we had a tough time as backs getting the outside shoulder, 60

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so Bentrim could get the edge. They did a lot of stuff that threw us off and we weren’t consistent. One play might work, and the next play they’d stop us and, really, the veer is three yards and a cloud of dust. We have to consistently get positive yards play after play and when they’re able to have a play where we get negative or zero yardage, it really puts us in a bad situation. Typically, if they’re eliminating that then Benny should be able to get outside, but they were making sure the edge was contained too.

Bentrim – That was the lowest point of our career. With the guys that I played with that was for sure a devastating loss at South Dakota. It was kind of out of the blue and they really manhandled us offensively and we didn’t do a thing.

Their offense did a pretty good job on our defense, too; we had some injuries on the defensive line. Again, the transition to the new coaching staff on the defensive side as well, learning strengths and weaknesses for not only the players but also the coaches. I do recall Earle’s famous speech. He just said, “I love you,

men. It doesn’t matter the score, we’re going to push you, we’re going to keep going and we’re going to right the ship.” I think that was the perfect thing to say to our group of guys. He still believed in us as a coach and had confidence in us, but we’re going to keep working and keep pushing.

Solomonson – We were at 2-2, which put us in a tough spot. One of the losses was to South Dakota, which was ranked number one. We thought that the season, in terms of the playoffs, were over. We really did.

Murray – Being a Bison, you’re never over confident and you don’t talk about what should have been or what could’ve been. Everybody felt that we had a really good football team and I think that there were a lot of internal questions that people didn’t ask, we just got back to work. If that would’ve happened under Morton, Morton would’ve probably chewed us out and been very emotional and very on point about execution and fundamentals. We’re in the locker room

after that loss to USD; Earle gathered us around and told us he loved us. I think that those are the two different styles that you respond to differently. That was a quiet ride home and there was a lot of self-reflection in the same tone that when Earle said he loved us, he’s going to work the crap out of us.

OCTOBER 5, 1985 NORTHERN COLORADO, 40-13 WON, 3-2 (2-1) OCTOBER 12, 1985 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE, 41-7 WON, 4-2 (3-1) OCTOBER 19, 1985 @ST. CLOUD STATE, 35-19 WON, 5-2 (4-1) Bentrim – I separated my shoulder in the first quarter but kept playing, iced it at halftime and kept playing. In the third quarter, I took another hit and it separated even more. It was from an injury I got in ‘84. I slightly separated in the preseason in a practice against Moorhead State. It was lingering, aggravated it in the first quarter against St. Cloud, it was very painful. I remember trying to throw passes and I was throwing side arm. Then I took a big hit in the third quarter and it was a bad play on my part. I should have pitched it to James Molstre. I think Brian (Owen) came in for me against St. Cloud. He got hurt and then (Gary) Barta finished it off.

Kolpack – I think there was optimism that they could step in. Barta didn’t have the athletic talent that Bentrim had, but he was a smart guy, good leader, knew the offense well. They were playing him at some wide receiver I think. Owen was pretty highly touted and Owen was the real deal. It was just a tough position for those guys to be in, Benny going down was definitely a blow. I think most people thought that the backups were capable and you still had Stark and Molstre.

OCTOBER 26, 1985 MORNINGSIDE, 18-18 TIE, 5-2-1 (4-1-1) Solomonson – We’re down by a touchdown later in the ball game and we called a play for Chad Stark who

was going to run an option cut play and Barta was going to hand it off to him. Morningside had the best possible defense setup against it. … I can still remember 30 years later our coordinator saying, “Oh God, Earle, they got us. They got the best defense against this play.”

And yet Chad scored. I laughed at the end when we tied it at the end someone said, “What a great call, Earle, on that play that got the score tied.” I chuckled and said, “Well, great players make great calls (laughs).”

DeBates – The year Morningside tied us, they actually weren’t bad that year.

I think we were on our third string quarterback. I think Owen started and Barta finished. That game was almost a microcosm of that year, too. It was sort of fight through that thing. A tie was no fun and that’s not what we were looking for, but it happened.

Bentrim – Brian played and then got hurt and Barta came in and certainly we weren’t a fine-tuned machine, I guess.

Again, trying to get comfortable with different styles of players, coaching, etcetera. That was pretty close to that South Dakota loss. It was a low point for us because at the time, it just didn’t do anything for us. It was more of a loss than a win for sure, especially at home.

Kolpack – The NCC (North Central Conference), it was a pretty good year for the NCC. Omaha had a good team, USD had a good team, St. Cloud, Morningside was trying to develop a good team. I think they put a little more emphasis into recruiting right about that time.

They were the doormats forever. It wasn’t a bad team that tied the Bison at 18 that year. The quarterbacks were a big factor, no doubt about it. But still, again, it was a brief surge for Morningside and tying the Bison was a big moral victory and Earle basically viewed it as a loss.

It had to be a combo. Looking at the scores before and after that it’s 63-0. I just think it was a rare year all around.

It (the playoffs) was definitely dwindling at that point. The NCC was good and the Bison in the rankings were slipping and I don’t think people had given up at that point. It was at the end of the year that people were thinking that they might be in trouble if things didn’t start happening here.

1985 CHAMPIONSHIP

NOVEMBER 2, 1985 @NEBRASKA-OMAHA, 13-12 WON, 6-2-1 (5-1-1) Stark – We had a night game, so we knew going into that game that if we win, we’re in first place (in the NCC) and we had a smash mouth game.

The defense intercepted I think four passes that day. And offensively we just struggled. I think (Len) Kretchman had a touchdown from either Barta or Owen.

They had a field goal at the end to win it, with no time left. He pulled it left. It was one of those things where we had to be destined to get in (the playoffs).

Bentrim – I dressed actually, but I didn’t play. I was hobbled by not only my shoulder, but a lingering ankle and Achilles injury. I was available for an emergency situation. We talked about overcoming all these hurdles of adversity, and we got lucky that game because their guy missed a field goal to win it at the end of the game. If he makes the field goal, we’re not talking about the 30th anniversary of the ‘85 championship team for sure. There’s no way we would have made the playoffs with that extra loss.

NOVEMBER 9, 1985 @AUGUSTANA, 25-0 WON, 7-2-1 (6-1-1) NOVEMBER 16, 1985 NORTH DAKOTA, 49-0 WON, 8-2-1 (7-1-1) Kolpack – I think everybody was done.

UND was the last game of the year. A lot of media saw that as a great game for the most part for the Bison, great effort, they persevered when their star player got hurt, but it’s probably not going to be enough (to make the playoffs). You have to figure when you’re ranked 18, you’re going nowhere at all.

Tracy – I remember it was probably Monday or Tuesday of the week after the last game, Earle called us together for a meeting. This time we met inside the Bison Sports Arena, right outside where the old weight room used to be and just sat in the stands there and he told us that, listen, we don’t know how things are going to change the ranking. They could, but at this point in time we’re not 62

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expecting to make a move in the ranking and get in the Top 8 so why don’t you get your gear organized and get it set up in the locker room so we can start to shelf it for next year. … So we all took off to head home for our Thanksgiving Break.

Solomonson – There was no talk about making the playoffs or anything.

We said, “Well, we did a good job, we finished the season strong. We defeated our archrival. You guys hung in there hard.” And they went home. There was still one more week in the division II schedule, so the following week, we were way out of the playoffs, but the next Sunday morning when I was reading the paper, I looked at it and saw five or six teams that were ahead of us lost in the ranking. I still remember the day, Ade Sponberg (athletic director) called and said, “Earle do you want to go to the playoffs?” I said, “No, I’m going out recruiting. I’m not going to waste any time. We have to get our club ready for next year and get going.” He said, “Well, how about the fact that you’re in the playoffs?”

Bentrim – I was in my apartment at F court in the University Village and I was watching Jim Adelson, the old

sportscaster, and he just said, “We have unbelievably great news. The Bison have made the playoffs, they’ve jumped to number seven.” And I went, “Holy crap.”

My dad was probably an hour away from Fargo to pick me up to take me home for Thanksgiving and stuff.

Kolpack – I got the press release. I was actually working on the sports desk. We were stunned.

Murray – I was personally at a buddy’s house on the University of Minnesota campus and I got a phone call from my brother who said, “One of your coaches had called, I can’t remember which one, and said that you needed to get back up.”

I thought my brother was pulling my leg because he was a player at Bemidji State and I thought he was just rubbing his little brother, and then, we laughed about it so I hung up the phone. Then a few minutes later, I think it was Rocky who called me at my buddies place (laughed), and he said, “You better get your ass up here.”

Tracy – I came home that week before the Saturday deer-hunting opener. …

It might have been Sunday now that I think about it. But I’m in the woods

1985 CHAMPIONSHIP

hunting and my mother had driven down from Superior, Wis. to the cabin.

It was an old cabin, hunting shack and we didn’t have a phone in the hunting shack and she had driven down there and told my dad, “They made the playoffs. They’re getting called back.” I was in the woods and I remember my dad driving out down the roads and blasting the horn on a consistent basis just honking the horn, honking the horn, and of course anybody in the woods was thinking, “What the hell is going on?” I exit the woods and he sees me starting to exit the woods and he put the truck into park and steps out and says, “You made a move in the rankings; you guys are going to the playoffs. We’ve got to get you home and get you back to Fargo.”

I just remember myself, standing there thinking, “Are you kidding me? Is this real?”

DeBates – I do remember getting the call. Everybody drove back. I was down in Stewartville, (Minn.) about a six and a half hour drive and my buddy Servy (Chris Servais) picked me up from La Crosse, (Wis.) and back we went to NDSU.

Stark – I was at church with my dad and my brother. My mom had stayed home for some reason. I remember driving back from church, and we get out and my mom comes screaming out the door, “You gotta go back! You gotta go back!”

And I’m like, “What?” “You’re in the playoffs,” she said. And I’m thinking this is some kind of joke. We went in and got a call from the coach and he said “Get back, we have a game.” It was incredible from the lows. You’re over it by that time.

It was like, “Crap, we had a chance, but it is what it is.” Then, we got new life.

1985 DIVISION II PLAYOFFS QUARTERFINALS: NOVEMBER 30, 1985 @UC DAVIS, 31-12 WON, 9-2-1 (7-1-1) Solomonson – I still remember on Mondays we’d have a press conference, a telephone press conference with the opponent’s coach. The guy from Cal Davis was on the line with us and he said, “Just so you understand, you guys do not deserve to be in the playoffs.” I can’t even remember his name, but that

was something that was shared with our players and of course, we go to Cal Davis to play them, and we went out and played our best game of the season.

Bentrim – I think they were (the number one seed). We certainly felt rejuvenated and we also knew we had a chance at redemption. We knew that the season was not indicative to how good we were. We felt the last few games of the season were closer to what we really were compared to the first four. I think at that point we had confidence because the previous two years, we had success.

So we knew how to prepare and focus on the task at hand for each playoff game. I don’t know if I would say they didn’t stand a chance against us, but I felt confident that we were going to play well.

Kolpack – The Bison were finally on all cylinders, had Bentrim healthy and I think especially with their past history with these guys and the year before they made the finals, I don’t think the media thought that Cal Davis was that much of a favorite, frankly.

1985 CHAMPIONSHIP

1985 DIVISION II PLAYOFFS SEMIFINALS: DECEMBER 7, 1985 @SOUTH DAKOTA, 16-7 WON, 10-2-1 (7-1-1) Murray – There certainly were references made during the motivational conversations about what had happened (earlier in the year), but the priority was never “let’s beat them” because they beat us earlier. The priority was: Let’s win this game and then win the national championship. I think probably every player had a different thought process on reflecting on how they got handled early in the year. That just fielded the motivation to play better in that game for the ultimate opportunity to win the title. Certainly, on the defensive side, giving up 38 points wasn’t a proud moment in the year. The priority was to win the game, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a little bit of redemption thought on our side of the ball.

Bentrim – It’s hard to remember a lot of the details of the game, but I think we changed a couple blocking schemes and we might have added a few new wrinkles, but I think a lot of it was we

had a young center in Mike Favor. Mike got better and better at learning the calls and playing against higher competition.

By the time we got back to the playoffs, Mike was a much better player and certainly could hold his own against that all-conference nose tackle that they had.

Tracy – I’m giving you my perspective, which is the offensive line perspective.

I don’t recall any of us having a revenge thought process. I do recall all of us having a respect thought process for the University of South Dakota. I know we all thought their defensive line play was pretty strong, no doubt about it. We were excited to get another chance, another opportunity.

Kolpack – “The Pitch,” I think everybody remembers that. I was at the game and I was fooled myself, frankly.

DeBates – I remember it perfectly. I remember like it was yesterday.

Solomonson – I remember it was probably the greatest play that I’ve ever seen. … That was Bentrim at his very best.

Murray – I watch it all the time. I’m the one jumping up and down with one arm in the air just going nuts. I watch that Ed Schultz documentary that shows that play and about three-quarters of the way through the run I was down the far sidelines and just ecstatic and emotion and proud of our team and fans and all the above. It was an unbelievable football play.

Stark – It’s really “The Block That Led to the Pitch” in Bison history. I know how the media like to shorten the names of these things. I’m the guy on the edge that got Bentrim to the outside. Then Benny gets tripped up by inside pressure and pitches the ball to Molstre. The true NDSU Bison Nation knows the name of it is “The Block That Led to the Pitch.” I know how you guys like to keep things short.

Bentrim – Did he say it’s “The Block He Missed” so I had to go around the guy (laughs)? I seem to recall him stutterstepping around that block. If I were fast, that play wouldn’t have happened. I was so slow they could converge on me.

Thank God James knew me and

1985 CHAMPIONSHIP

knew I wasn’t going to give it up until I was down and so he was in the pitch relationship.

Stark – I was just thinking, it’s frickin’ Benny making a play again. It’s just great the referees didn’t blow a whistle.

It’s amazing to me. It looked like he was going to be down, he’s parallel to the ground and has the ball, he flipped it out somehow.

Bentrim – The big mantra for our veer offense was, and especially for the quarterbacks, coming from the head coaches and offensive coaches, to never pitch out of desperation. Well, I don’t know if I ever believed that, I always tried to do something. I mean if it didn’t work, then they would’ve said, “See, you pitch out of desperation look what happened.” I always thought well okay, if it works they couldn’t really say anything. (Laughs). Truthfully, sure there was a little bit of desperation.

We’re trying get out of our own way, we’re trying to get going, we’re stuck in the mud with anything offensively.

And here we go again, just like in the regular season, South Dakota had our number for some reason. And so, I knew there was something and I kept thinking that we had to do something. Well, that opportunity presented itself. You don’t really have time to think and all I remember is seeing, out of the corner of my eye, the South Dakota defensive back, number 21 maybe, peel back to me. In a split second I decided, well, nobody is covering James. There had to be a lot of factors and it was just a

perfect storm I guess. I had a glimpse, he pulled off, I was falling down, still had a moment to get rid of the ball. Again, if it doesn’t work, well, it goes out of bounds, hopefully. I was piled on, I remember my back crank and I’m thinking I could barely move because there were a couple guys on me, but I heard a cheer. And I didn’t think it was South Dakota cheers.

I saw James catch it, but I didn’t see anything after that.

Kolpack – I hate to admit it, but I thought he was down. I didn’t even see him pitch the ball when I was watching it live. You watch it live and you’re almost amazed that the ref didn’t blow it dead.

And it was the right call not to blow it dead. But watching it at that building you look down from where we were, you look at the replay and obviously he’s not.

Hats off to the side judge for not blowing the whistle there. I thought he was down and the next thing I see is Molstre’s back sprinting to the end zone. I don’t think there’s a bigger play in NDSU’s history.

DeBates – To be honest with you, defensively, we just shut them down. I think we had a little chip on our shoulder and we knew we were way better than what we showed earlier in the year down there. I believe the only touchdown they scored, I think Chris Servais, I think it was a long pass route and he just got his feet tangled up with the receiver and that was it. Otherwise, I do remember they drove down the field and they were on the two or three-yard line. … When you get down in that area, you’re basically going to start firing on all cylinders. The

nice thing was we knew what they were running and I think it was just a reverse option, and Murr (Murray) just got in there and their quarterback was carrying it around like a loaf of bread. Murray just made a great play and knocked the ball out of his hands.

Solomonson – We laugh because as we viewed that film later, the offensive running back that should’ve gone in, but he had the ball in the wrong arm and he was not protecting it. It was going to be a touchdown, but boy, that was a great effort to knock the ball loose and prevent the touchdown.

Murray – I was blessed enough to knock the ball loose and Todd DeBates recovered it, which I think, if they would’ve scored there, we would’ve been down 14-0.

Kolpack – “The Pitch” gets all the notoriety just because it’s such a crazy play and it’s something that’s stood the test of time and they’re right. That strip that was a big heartbreaker for South Dakota.

Bentrim – It was THE play of the game, no question.

Murray – Once we beat USD, I don’t think there was a team in the nation that could’ve beat us in the championship game. The two emotional kinds of pressures of getting in the playoffs, beating USD as almost redemption, we just kept the momentum going through to the final game in the Palm Bowl.

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1985 CHAMPIONSHIP

DIVISION II NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: DECEMBER 14, 1985 NORTH ALABAMA, 35-7 WON, 11-2-1 (7-1-1) Solomonson – We talked to the team about the very fact that the South Dakota game was a very big win and we’re excited about it, but the only way we can cap this year off with all the things that have happened is we have to win the championship to make this a great season.

Kolpack – They were supposedly a lot quicker and that’s what the Bison were worried about. But again, that proved to be no contest. Just stopping the veer is easier said than done. I think that’s what ultimately (not seeing the veer often) the coaches were just dumbfounded by and you know what, if you don’t see it you can’t really prepare for it.

Stark – That game was the difference between the Midwest and some of the schools on the Coast. They probably got better athletes position by position for the most part, but the team concept seemed like it gelled more in the Midwest than it does on the Coast. They 68

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had incredible athletes, but they just tried to do too many individual things and the veer, there isn’t any better team concept than the veer because you have to work together. Everybody had to pull their weight and have an assignment and when it’s clicking, especially against teams that one guy tries to make a play and gets out of position, we’ll gap that and touchdown. That was the difference with those schools I think, especially North Alabama because they were awfully confident coming into the game just with the talk.

Bentrim – 1985 is special because of what we had overcome. We stumbled out of the gate, we had all these mistakes, we had this adversity and it took us awhile to wake up. But ‘86 is special because we learned our lesson in ‘85; most of us were coming back. We weren’t going to take anything for granted and we weren’t going to stumble out of the gate, and my goal that year was to be undefeated. … They’re (championships) all special in their own right. I don’t know if I can elevate one over the other.

DeBates – I think the highlight for myself and probably for most of my

teammates was definitely a transition year. Going from Coach Morton to Coach Solomonson and again, we were resilient. I mean, to start 2-2 and we knew we were way better than 2-2. It was just a matter of getting our feet under the ground and getting on track. Once we got rolling, and again so many things played into this, too. One of those first two bad losses was to South Dakota, I think we all knew we wanted to meet them again and we’d play them down there again any day of the week. So when that came to be, I think it was a matter of being exactly what I said, resilient.

Stark – That’s North Dakota State.

Let’s do our jobs and we’ll look at the scoreboard after the game.

“THUS ENDS AN UNBELIEVABLE SAGA OF A TEAM THAT WAS RANKED NO BETTER THAN NO. 18 IN THE NATION WITH ONE WEEK REMAINING IN DIVISION II FOOTBALL. AFTER FOUR GAMES, NDSU HAD A SHAKY 2-2 RECORD. YET, IT FINISHED NO. 1.”

– ED KOLPACK, “BISON FOOTBALL: THREE DECADES OF EXCELLENCE” PAGE 179

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LUKE ALBERS

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MOODY FAMILY

SEEDS OF A LEGACY

By Joe Kerlin | Photo by J. Alan Paul Photography

The sibling love from NDSU football player and volleyball player Nate and Ali Moody have helped them every step of the way in Fargo. The two are now working on cementing their legacy at NDSU.

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MOODY FAMILY

ALI MOODY Year: Junior Height: 5-11 Position: Setter Hometown: Dickinson, N.D. Sets Played – 29 Assists – 81 Assists/Set – 2.79 Digs – 31

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ate Moody wasn’t supposed to play division I football. Sure his stats in high school were glamorous, with 1,189 total yards and 13 touchdowns his senior year to go along with a 3A all-state first team honors, but most of the big schools in the state weren’t looking to give Moody a scholarship.

“UND’s coach, at the time, wanted to make Nate into a tight end,” Nate Moody’s dad, Dave, said. “And said, ‘If you gain 50 pounds we can play you at tight end,’ and we’re just laughing. His bone structure is not going to accommodate that.”

The Dickinson, N.D. native had two preferred walk-on offers from North Dakota State and South Dakota State.

After building a relationship with former offensive line coach Scott Fuchs, Nate

NATE MOODY Year: Senior Height: 6-1 Position: Wide Receiver Hometown: Dickinson, N.D. Games Played – 41 Receptions – 31 Receiving Yards – 284 Receiving Touchdowns – 2

“I CAME OUT MY FRESHMAN YEAR AND WORKED REALLY HARD. I THINK I STOOD OUT THAT YEAR.” – NATE MOODY

Moody knew being a Bison was the right fit and picked to attend NDSU in 2011.

worked really hard,” Nate Moody said. “I think I stood out that year.”

“To be honest with you, I didn’t grow up rooting for them,” Nate Moody admits.

“On Saturdays, NDSU wasn’t on. It was the Auburns, the Alabamas, I mean I sat down on my couch all day and watched football.”

Just as everything was clicking for Nate Moody in Fargo, his younger sister, Ali Moody, discovered her talents as a volleyball player were soaring and she was named a finalist for Dickinson High School Female Athlete of the Year her junior year.

Coming to NDSU was going to be a risk for Nate Moody, especially without a scholarship and any prior knowledge of the school’s deep football tradition.

His hard work in fall camp caused him to stick out, and with a little luck and a couple injuries to the wide receiver group, Nate Moody’s redshirt was stripped away his freshman season. Moody would play in 10 games, including the first FCS National Championship game.

“I came out my freshman year and

“My dad is a volleyball coach, so until I was a junior in high school, I was going to Dickinson State University because my dad was the coach, and why wouldn’t I go there?” Ali Moody said. “I never thought I could be a division I player, that’s why I never really thought about it. Then I was like, ‘I’ll challenge myself and see if I can do it.’”

Dave Moody was the head coach of the Dickinson State volleyball team for 18 75

MOODY FAMILY

“AS A PARENT, WHO COULDN’T BE MORE SATISFIED WITH TWO KIDS AT THE SAME INSTITUTION? BOTH ARE GETTING A GREAT EDUCATION, BOTH ON AND OFF THE FIELD I MIGHT ADD.” – DAVE MOODY years and was assisted by his wife, Kay Moody. They both resigned in 2008 to focus on their three kids’ sports.

But Dave Moody didn’t stop coaching.

Today, he gives volleyball lessons and before Ali Moody went to college, he coached her club team.

Ali Moody realized her full potential at an NDSU volleyball camp. She fell in love with the atmosphere and all that NDSU had to offer. The 2012 DHS Female Athlete of the year is entering her junior year and is seeing her time as setter increase by the season.

Nate Moody has been there every step of the way with his sister, answering all of her questions about what kind of classes 76

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to take and even where to live near campus.

“Nate has definitely helped Ali with the transition for sure, but Ali has really helped herself with that, too,” Dave Moody said. “As a parent, who couldn’t be more satisfied with two kids at the same institution? Both are getting a great education, both on and off the field I might add.”

Nate Moody is finishing up his studies in finance and economics this year and has been a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference Honor Roll for fourstraight years. Ali Moody is studying dietetics. Both also share a birthday, December 17.

The two Moodys have a little brother, Aanen, who will be a junior this year at Dickinson High School and is hoping for a future on the Bison men’s basketball team.

Dave and Kay Moody visit Fargo every weekend in the fall to watch their kids compete.

“Both of those kids are just internally motivated,” Dave Moody said. “As a parent, you never know how a kid is going to turn out, but you have all kinds of hope. They have not disappointed.”

The Moodys haven’t disappointed fans, either, and have successfully planted their stakes as first generation Bison, waiting to make “Moody” a household Bison name.

The Bison fan base has been recognized as one of the most intense and loyal in the country. They’re also welcoming, and after an accident that restricted Mitchell Benson to a wheelchair, he experienced first-hand the love and support Bison Nation has to provide.

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ine years to the day after his life-changing accident that left him quadriplegic, Mitchell Benson had a sigh of relief. On May 26, he started his internship at Creative Care for Reaching Independence located in Moorhead.

“It was kind of poetic I guess to start having something good on the day that went bad,” Benson said.

The 32-year-old couldn’t handle having all the free time after his accident. He explained it as a kid that has free time and endless possibilities; it gets boring as time passes.

Benson spent 10 months at Courage Center rehab facility in Plymouth, Minn., where learned how to navigate his world from a wheelchair and use his computer with voice recognition. He knew he needed to take a new career path since he wasn’t able to use his automotive technician degree.

MITCH BENSON

A year after his accident that left him unable to move from his shoulders down, Benson moved to CCRI and planned to enroll at North Dakota State University.

“Honestly, I wasn’t the most studious student before,” Benson said with a chuckle. “I had plenty of free time so I had no excuse to not get good grades this time.”

It’s difficult for anyone to bounce back after a life-threating accident, but Benson graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2014 and wants to continue to work at CCRI once his internship is complete.

“It’s crazy to see what Mitch has gone through and hear the stories and how positive he is,” said Dana Bungert, one of his caregivers, who has been with him for a little over three years.

CCRI has Benson attending

administrative meetings, researching fundraising opportunities and developing a couple department projects. Occasionally he participates in a few public speaking engagements.

“I really like what I’m doing,” Benson said. “It gives me the opportunity to help others and you kind of stay humbled by seeing all the different adversities that other people have to go through, so I don’t really have to feel that mine is more or less than someone else’s challenges.”

MITCH BENSON

“It’s crazy to see what Mitch has gone through and hear the stories and how positive he is.”

- Dana Bungert

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But Benson wouldn’t be living and working at CCRI if it wasn’t for a run-in with former Bison football player Matt Gratzek.

Gratzek, who is younger than Benson and knew him from Stephen-Argyle Central High School, was redshirting for the Bison in 2006 while Benson was at the Courage Center. When a family friend of Benson’s offered him tickets to watch the Bison play the Golden Gophers in the Twin Cities, he couldn’t pass it up. After experiencing the electric Bison atmosphere, he was hooked on Bison Pride.

“The funny thing is that I grew up in UND country,” Benson said with his Bison sweatshirt on. “It was my first experience with the Bison and just wearing the green and gold, everybody was coming up to me and telling me that they were glad I could make the trip and everybody was so nice. I was just hooked as soon as I got back, I needed to find a way to go to more games and I moved up to Moorhead and started going to the games and thought, ‘I want to go to (college) here at NDSU.’” Benson has been a season ticket holder since 2008 and made it down to Frisco for the 2015 FCS Championship game.

But without the help Bungert, his

caregiver, and his parents there would be no way the trip could’ve been possible.

Benson believes a fifth straight national championship is within reach for the Bison this season. “With the environment we have and the winning culture, I don’t doubt it. I’d like to see five... definitely be planning a trip to Frisco again.”

Benson doesn’t have definitive plans for his future, but is expecting to make another trip to Frisco. He’s also beginning his motivational speaking gig, but it’s still in its beginning phases.

“I don’t have the biggest or the most defined goals for the future,” Benson said. “Just to not let anything to stop me from trying, and I would say my possibilities are still limitless.”

NORTHWOODS LEAGUE

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NORTHWOODS LEAGUE

NORTHWOODS EXPOSURE

F

By Joe Kerlin | Photos by Paul Flessland or many college baseball players, the season doesn't end after their last written final. Many of these ball players are eager to get their names in scouts' notebooks and face new competition before the beginning of fall practice. To do this, they put on a new uniform in the Northwoods League.

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#29 REED PFANNENSTEIN STARTING PITCHER Throws – Right Hometown – Cold Spring, Minn.

Height – 6-4 High School – Rocori High School Class – Junior As a freshman, Reed Pfannenstein was named the 2014 Summit League tournament MVP after the Bison won their first conference title. He said he entered the 2015 season with high expectations of himself, but didn’t feel like he reached his potential.

At the end of the college season, he signed a temporary contract to play for the St. Cloud Rox hoping to regain the confidence he held after his freshman season.

“I’m learning what hitters are thinking, knowing what pitch to throw when, when to bury a curveball in the dirt or when to throw one for a strike,” Pfannenstein said.

The power-throwing right-hander threw 12.1 innings this summer for the Rox, striking out 13.

“We come out here and just have fun,” Pfannenstein said.

“Anything can happen and you have people watching you at all times so it gets you excited when you see scouts in the stands and you just realize why you’re here and you’re meant to be here.”

#13 SEAN TERRES STARTING PITCHER Throws – Right Hometown – Cold Spring, Minn.

Height – 6-3 High School – Rocori High School Class – Junior Sean Terres entered his redshirt sophomore year with a stress reaction in his elbow, causing him to miss the first two and a half months of the season. Once he got back on the mound, he was lights out throwing 9.1 scoreless innings in his first four appearances. Terres finished the season throwing six scoreless against Omaha.

The success has carried over to the Northwood’s League. Terres has an earned run average of 1.90 over 28.1 innings and has 30 strikeouts.

“The biggest thing I took from this league back to school was that I can play with anybody,” the second-year Alexandria Blue Anchors’ starter said. “I’m playing against guys that are from Florida State, California-Berkley, those are bigger schools, if you can get those guys out, there’s no reason you can’t go up to school and have more success.”

The Blue Anchors’ manager is former Minnesota Twins and World Series Champion Al Newman.

“He knows his stuff,” Terres said. “He treats it like we’re a Minor League team because he knows that’s where we all want to be.”

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NORTHWOODS LEAGUE

#38 BLAKE STOCKERT RELIEF PITCHER Throws – Right Hometown – Alexandria, Minn.

Height – 6-1 High School – Jefferson High School Class – Sophomore Sophomore left-hander Blake Stockert is one of the rising stars on the young Bison pitching staff. In his first season, he saw the majority of his work out of the bullpen making, 16 appearances with a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio.

“Going from high school to college ball is definitely a huge jump,” Stockert said. “I had one or two bad outings but besides that I was happy with it. I was able to adapt to how good everyone was.”

Stockert grew up just three miles east of Knute Nelson Memorial Park, where the Alexandria Blue Anchors play their home games. Now, he’s living out his childhood ambition, playing for his hometown team.

Stockert has recorded four saves for the Blue Anchors this summer but is patiently waiting for his opportunity as a starter. “(I) just keep doing what I do,” Stockert said. “I think I impressed them the first year and if I stay on the right path hopefully I can convince them I can throw.”

#14 DREW FEARING INFIELDER Bat/Throws – Right Height – 5-10 Class – Sophomore

Hometown – Osakis, Minn.

High School – Osakis High School

Drew Fearing was one of the many young Bison baseball players to get an early opportunity to show head coach Tod Brown what they can do on a baseball diamond.

“I think I just played hard every day and I gave it my all and I think he saw that,” Fearing said. “I just showed my talent.”

Fearing cracked the starting lineup for the Bison the third game of the season and spent most of the year splitting his time at shortstop and second base. He ended the year hitting .276 with nine stolen bases and a .937 fielding percentage.

The success sparked the interest of the Alexandria Blue Anchors’ organization, which was only 10 miles away from Fearing’s hometown of Osakis, Minn.

Fearing has been used as an extra middle infielder for the Blue Anchors this season and only saw action in 10 games during the first half of the season.

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VOLLEYBALL TRIP

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

OFFSEASON The trip of a lifetime came true for the North Dakota State University volleyball team this summer.

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By Pace Maier

VOLLEYBALL TRIP

Shopping and the beach were the biggest hits for the ladies.

Every player was able to get up at least once on a surf board. Emily Milligan said that was one of her favorite parts.

“This one beach that we went to that we surfed was probably the coolest thing for me,” the junior said. “They said they filmed “Survivor” there and you could see Costa Rica from there and the beach was beautiful. Learning how to surf, even though I got up once, it was still really fun.”

T

he beginning of the 2015 spring semester, the volleyball team was informed that there was a possibility of them flying to Nicaragua for a trip that happens once every four years.

During the middle of the spring semester, the team received a jolt of energy and excitement through their bodies.

The trip was a go, but it wasn’t just a vacation for the student-athletes. The team competed against the Nicaraguan junior and the national team, which head coach Kari Thompson said was a mix between younger and older players.

“We did a mobile library where we went from different schools and helped them exchange books so that they could read,” the senior said. “The funniest part was most of us don’t speak Spanish and they mostly speak Spanish so trying to communicate with them was super fun just using gestures and pronunciation.”

But luckily Monica Claxton and Mikaela Purnell knew the language, so when the team split into two groups with the kids, Claxton and Purnell were the leaders of the clan.

The coaches and student-athletes even got a little time to relax.

A team bonding experience turned into a trip of a lifetime for the young volleyball squad and Thompson, Milligan and Fassbender believe that the communication between the team became stronger after the trip.

Coach Thompson is excited to see that translate to the court.

“It was awesome, I think we all got a lot closer and kind of saw some faults in our team as far as communication,” Milligan said. “But we also saw some really good things; we all do care for each other and would do anything for each other. It’s going to be great to bring that back in the gym for preseason and incorporate the incoming freshmen into this new vibe we have.”

They also played on different surfaces other than hardwood floor like they are used to in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.

“We played on concrete one of the days, but our defense got better because if you don’t move quickly for a ball you’ll scrape up your knees,” Thompson said with a laugh. “But no, we played very well and we watch that stuff as far as injuries.”

When the team wasn’t hitting the volleyball across the net they were using their helping hands around the community.

Jenni Fassbender said her favorite part was the volunteer work.

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itter-sweet was how last season ended for the Bison volleyball team. After they beat Oral Roberts University in their first Summit League Tournament win since 2011, the young squad was defeated by Denver University and it left an unsettling feeling in Kari Thompson’s student-athletes.

However, the lone senior and leader of the Bison team, Jenni Fassbender, and junior libero Emily Milligan are ready to take the Bison to the next step. For them, that means winning a Summit League Championship after a 15-17 roller coaster season last year.

This is Fassbender’s last chance at a title.

She’s played in 87 out of 91 matches since her freshman year. Last season she was named honorable mention All-Summit League selection. The year before, she was an All-Summit League performer and her name is plastered all over the NDSU record books.

“She’s really been our leader since day one,” Milligan, who ranked third in the Summit League in digs and fourth in digs per set last season, said. “This was her last

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VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW

STATISTICS BREAKDOWN Kari Thompson record 69-68 CAREER ALL-TIME RANKINGS: Monica Claxton Assists: 10th (1689) SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Jenni Fassbender Attack attempts: 10th (1313 in 2014) SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Emily Milligan Digs: 5th (530 in 2014) Digs per set: 10th (4.24 in 2014) SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Emily Miron Block solos: t-7th (38 in 2014)

summer, that was her last spring workout, that was her last spring season. She really emphasizes giving 110 percent every time, obviously, to win. But just for her also because we all love her so much and this is her last chance to win the Summit League.”

But Fassbender and Milligan are going to have a lot of help in trying to achieve that title.

With the twin towers at the middle blocker position, juniors Emily Minnick and Emily Miron are a nightmare for Bison opponents.

As a sophomore, Minnick ranked second on the team with a .293 hitting percentage and 0.72 blocks per set. Her teammate Miron, who was named AllSummit League, ranked first on the team and fourth in the league with an attack percentage of .312 last season.

Junior server Monica Claxton, junior outside hitter Hadley Steffen and sophomore sever/outside hitter Brianna Rasmusson also come back after a season of playing a significant number of sets.

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The Bison also added a junior outside hitter transfer from Lithuania who played the last two years with NCAA Division II school Columbus State University, earning All-Peach Belt Conference second team honors last season.

Head coach Thompson and Fassbender will take the team into battle on August 28, where the Bison will face Missouri at the Tiger Invitational in Columbia, Mo. Thompson is excited to see what Fassbender can bring in her final year wearing the green and gold uniform, as well as the rest of the team.

“Jenni has a lot of respect from her teammates so I think that’s motivating the entire team, because I know that Jenni is looking to have her best year ever as an individual and as a team,” fifth-year Bison volleyball head coach said. “Having that leadership is something huge. I think that’s going to be something different that we haven’t had necessarily just because it’s one. You usually have that one senior that’s different, but yet she’s pretty powerful at that position and I think it’s going to be a good thing for our team.”

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CROSS COUNTRY

RECLAIMING

THE SUMMIT TITLE

By Joe Kerlin Photo by J. Alan Paul Photography

The 2014 women’s cross-country season at NDSU was stricken with a magnitude of injuries from top runners like Brecca Wahlund and Abbi Aspengren. So there was no surprise when the journey for four-straight Summit League Triple Crowns began on the wrong foot.

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CROSS COUNTRY

Moorhead native Taylor Janssen knows that 2015 will be the year of the bounceback for the women’s cross country team that was depleted with injuries last season.

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he Bison won the Summit League Championship meet three years in a row until they were dethroned by South Dakota last season and placed second.

“I think if we all just stay healthy that will be a big thing,” Janssen said. “If everybody is training this summer and we train well coming into the season and stay focused, I think we’ll be able to take the championship this year.”

“This year was tough for us because we had a lot of women on the team that weren’t even expected to count for our cross country team and they did a great job of stepping up,” Andrew Carlson, the NDSU distance coach said after last season. “A second place finish at the beginning of the season seemed far-fetched so ending up doing it was awesome.”

Janssen had a career-high four-second place finishes for the Bison last season and the Moorhead native attributes the success to the maturation process of a college athlete.

Erin Teschuk and Taylor Janssen emerged as stars in their sophomore campaigns and are hoping to ride the momentum into the 2015 season that begins with the Bison Open on September 3.

“I just started to take it more serious,” Janssen said. “More summer mileage, trained harder, put more into the season, just took it way more seriously. …

Sleeping, eating well, taking iron pills, I had to get my iron up. My iron was at a three when I first came in as a freshman, which is pretty low. You want to be at a 30, so a three is almost anemic.”

The iron will of Teschuk propelled her to individual success last season when

WHERE ARE THEY RUNNING?

she won the Summit League meet and finished in 116th-place at the NCAA Championships, beating more than half the field.

“You would never know from talking to her that she’s going to Worlds (Championships),” explained Janssen.

“You would just think she’s just your average girl. So it’s been awesome to have her on the team and I feel like she pushes everyone else to feel like, ‘Okay, we can make it to the next level, too.’”

Taking NDSU’s team to the next level has been coach Carlson’s voluntary summer training. The women can run anywhere from 65-70 miles per week with one long run on Saturday. The voluntary mileage will increase to over 75 as the season approaches.

Teschuk, Janssen and Tarin Lachowitzer were the top three finishers for the Bison last season in the Summit League Championship meet, and with the addition of a healthy Wahlund, NDSU will be the clear favorites to return to Summit League cross country glory.

“For the summer, we’re all on our own pretty much, but for the rest of the year we like to come in at 3:30 p.m. unless you have a class conflict.

We come in on Saturdays and run together Saturday mornings at like seven which are rough, but we try to run together.” -Taylor Janssen

CROP LOT “That’s Andrew’s favorite. We start from here (Indoor Track Facility) and then we run out to those gravel roads back there, next to the railroad tracks, and we get all the way out there and we just run through all of those fields.

Depending on how long the

GOIN’ GRAVEL 10 0

run is and then we cross the railroad tracks, over by the bridge and then we run back there through the cornfields.

That’s one of Andrew’s favorites because it’s brutal (laughs), especially when it’s hot. Then we come back the same way.”

HAWLEY “We drive out to Hawley. We get out of the vans and we would run. It’s pretty much a straight shot down the gravel roads and it’s like rolling hills. I think we do 14 miles out there. We get to seven

miles and you turn around and come back. You never stop, so it’s rolling gravel hills pretty early in the morning.

We go out there some times just to switch it up.”

Even though many cross country events take place on golf courses, Andrew Carlson likes training the team on gravel roads because it’s healthier for your body than running on pavement. With the numerous gravel roads in the area, Carlson likes to send the team on their runs in that direction.

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BOSTONIAN BISON

THE BOSTONIAN

BISON Interview by Joe Kerlin Photo by Andrew Jason

Todd Phelps has been hired as the Deputy Director of Athletics at North Dakota State and will lead facilities and capital projects. He’s also a Boston sports fan, former basketball player and a standup guy. Here’s our first sit down with one of Tom Brady’s biggest supporters.

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BOSTONIAN BISON

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BOSTONIAN BISON

THE INTERVIEW Bison Illustrated: You spent the early part of your career in the Ivy League.

What are some differences at that level compared to the one NDSU is at?

Todd Phelps: “If the NCAA manual is two inches thick, the Ivy League manual is four inches thick as far as NCAA regelations and all that stuff.

There are no scholarships. The student athletes are there because they got into the university. ... I have the utmost respect for the Ivy League studentathletes that I encounter because you’re competing at the division I level, you’re at the highest level of athletics, and you are certainly at the highest level of academics. I give them a lot of credit. But there are a lot of regulations on things. Seasons are much shorter.

They’re all dictated by the Ivy League, football plays 10 games and their season is over. You win the Ivy League Championship, that’s your crowning moment; that’s it.”

BI: Is it freeing for you to be at a place where athletics is the front porch of the university?

TP: “It is, in some ways. And again, I understand the Ivy League. I get why they are the way they are and why they do what they do because of who they are, and the history and the tradition and those types of things. You go to Stony Brook, it’s the same thing, we use that term all the time, the front porch. It’s funny because then you go to Oregon State, the same thing.

Athletics can be the front porch to universities and there are a lot of times where they’d bring in a lot of revenue and a lot of times will put your brand out there nationally.”

BI: What did you know about the NDSU brand?

TP: “If you’re in athletics at all, especially college athletics, you have a pretty good grasp of who is out there and obviously the tradition of what’s been going on here for the last bunch of years. … These are conversations that I was having with Matt (Larsen) when he was getting involved in this 10 6

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BOSTONIAN BISON

job. I said, Matt, ‘Look at what they’re doing. Take football out of it. Look at all the other programs and the success they’re having.’ My wife and I drove down and met up with Matt with the softball team in Eugene because they were in the Oregon region and it’s 40 minutes down the road from Oregon State. I met Darren (Mueller) when I came out. My first weekend at Oregon State, North Dakota State and Coach Brown’s got the baseball team in the Corvallis regional. That was my first weekend on the job at Oregon State, dealing with the regional. You take that and you look at all the other programs and obviously we want to support the rest and just rise up to that. You know I’m coming along for the ride.”

BI: What was it like working with Matt Larsen for six years at Stony Brook?

TP: “I told a lot of people when I left Stony Brook and when Matt was getting this job that if you ever have the opportunity to work for Matt Larsen, you have to do it. Matt is the ultimate professional; he is great in this business.

He has a lot of respect across the board.

He does things the right way. There are no short cuts, there’s no cutting corners, he wants to do everything the right way and he just carries himself as the utmost professional and that’s why I enjoy working for him. … He values people’s opinions and he and I, we didn’t have reporting lines to each other at Stony Brook. He was the CFO and handled a lot of that stuff and I was doing a lot of the facilities and operations stuff, but we had a lot of crossover and we just hit it off.

We have a lot of the same philosophies in the way we go about our business.”

BI: What made NDSU so attractive to you?

TP: “For me, it’s a great opportunity and it’s the next great opportunity in my career. I’ve been at every single level of college athletics from Division III, to Ivy League, FCS, to scholarship FCS to the FBS, now coming full circle and coming back. My career path has always been kind of in the facilities and operations world and I will be doing a lot of that here as well, but this was an opportunity for me to A, come to a great university and the opportunity with the job, and also to be able to work with Matt again.”

BI: Have you had a chance to take a tour of the Sanford Health Athletic Complex?

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TP: “I was over there when I came on campus to interview at the end of May. … It’s going to be a tremendous complex.

Again, for this level of college athletics in Division I, it encompasses so many things that are just vital to what we do day in and day out and it’s going to be a great facility for all our student-athletes, coaches and administration. Matt and I have actually spent time mapping out where things should go, who should go where and stuff.”

BI: What’s your overall goal while at NDSU?

TP: “I want to assist Matt and the rest of our administration and the rest of our university on continuing the success that the program has had and the university has and just keep building and growing in a first-class way. Continuing to support our coaches and our studentathletes to give them the best experience.

As an administrator that’s what you’re here to do. Certainly, you can get into the nuts and bolts of wanting to see the SHAC get done and you want to see it done in a great way and people come in and enjoy it from the fans, the community, the alumni and the donors.”

BOSTON SPORTS FAVORITES BOSTON ATHLETES Patriots – Tom Brady “I love Tom.” Red Sox – Jim Rice “It was Roger Clemens. I met him one time in a Seattle Airport by accident. I was 14 years old. … I walked right up to him, got the autograph and all that good stuff. But I have no idea where that autograph is. He was my guy, then he became a Yankee.”

Celtics – Larry Bird “That’s who I grew up with.”

Bruins – Ray Bourque “No doubt, growing up it was Ray Bourque. I loved Cam Neely, Adam Oates and Andy Moog when he was there for a while, too.”

BEST BOSTON SPORTS MOMENT “Attending Game One of the 2004 World Series at Fenway Park.”

WORST BOSTON SPORTS MOMENT “I would say 1986 (Bill Buckner misses a ground ball), but the problem with ‘86 is that I was like 13 or 14 years old so you don’t really understand.

2003 was when you’re up against the Yanks and you have a chance to go to the World Series. Actually, I would

say there was probably one other that I would rank close and that was David Tyree’s catch with the (Patriots) undefeated season (2007) on the line.”

THOUGHTS ON BOSTON’S 2024 OLYMPIC BID. “I think Boston would be a tremendous spot for that, but I would be – knowing the cities as well as I do – I would be concerned. So many places are grids and you can get around and navigate.

But Boston, because of its history, you can get lost in the city of Boston in a heartbeat and never find your way out. It’s also very tightly compact; there are just a lot of people in a small area. I would be concerned with the infrastructure being able to handle all of that in the middle of the Olympics.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHT ON BILL SIMMONS? “I think if I wasn’t a Boston fan, he would annoy me. But I think I’m a Boston fan, it’s all right. When he and Lenny Clark get together, the comedian, they’re hilarious.”

Fenway Park or Boston Garden?

“Fenway.”

CHUCK KLABO

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CHUCK KLABO

WHERE

ARE THEY

NOW?

CHUCK KLABO: ALL-AMERICAN LINEMAN

By Joe Kerlin | Photo by Andrew Jason

TRUNK OF THE KLABO BISON FAMILY TREE Former All-American offensive lineman Chuck Klabo defined what it takes to be a “Ram,” the name given to the monstrous offensive linemen NDSU has had a tradition of producing.

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CHUCK KLABO

C

huck Klabo had his first meeting with NDSU football head coach Rocky Hager when he was in second grade. Okay, maybe they weren’t talking about the Bison offensive line philosophy or what classes he should take his freshman year, but he met the coach that would eventually recruit him in the airport while headed to Florida for a family vacation.

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“My dad, he’s a big NDSU guy and he’s quick to talk to anybody,” Klabo remembers. “After we landed, he (Hager) found my dad and gave him a business card with one free ticket to a game for the next season.”

Fast-forward 10 years and Klabo was taking the FargoDome field for the Bison and Hager’s successor Bob Babich in 1998.

Klabo is from Finley, N.D., a 25-minute

drive from Mayville, N.D., which is traditionally a town split down the middle for its support of NDSU and the University of North Dakota. But the decision to become a Bison was a no-brainer with Klabo’s father being a former basketball player for the Bison in the late 60s and Klabo’s exposure to the support from fans at both basketball and football games he attended as a kid.

“NDSU has a tremendous amount of history and a lot of success,” Klabo

said. “Everybody talks about Bison Pride and it’s just fun to be a part of it. Now, when you see the team doing so well and four straight national championships, it’s just fun to know you were a part of it in our own little way.”

Today, Klabo is an Agency Manager for Choice Financial in Fargo. He’s been in the insurance industry for 10 years after completing a brief stint as a professional football player.

Klabo was a reserve lineman for the Cleveland Browns in 2003 and spent a season overseas in 2004 playing for the Rhine Fire, in Dusseldorf, Germany.

“I think athletics and sports in general teach you so much about responsibility and accountability,” Klabo said when asked about the application of Bison Pride in his professional life. “Those are some of the lifelong lessons that being in athletics bring you and to get to do it with such a great group of guys like I did, I was very lucky and fortunate.”

The Bison went 73-19 during Klabo’s career, including a trip to the 2000 NCAA Division II playoffs when the

team made it to the semifinals.

Leah Klabo, the offensive tackle’s younger sister, played center on the basketball team for the Bison from 2000-05.

When asked about his kids being third generation Bison, Chuck Klabo isn’t sure, but “you never know.” He’s been married to his wife Sally, a pharmacist at Southpointe Pharmacy, for 12 years and they have three children: Josie (8), Maya (4) and Bennett (2).

“It’s fun to bring them to games and to get them exposed to what NDSU Athletics and sports is all about,” Chuck Klabo said. “So it’s been a lot of fun to watch the team with them and see the excitement in their eyes.”

Chuck Klabo has been a Team Maker since graduating and continues the tradition of going to Bison games with his own kids and wife, just like his father.

But he’s still waiting on the moment to run into Chris Klieman at the airport to fully submerge the next generation of Klabo’s in Bison Pride.

TEAM MAKERS

•TEAM MAKERS•

BRING ON THE GRIZ!

What better way to kick-off the 2015 Bison football season than with a trip to see our friends in the beautiful and forever-scenic state of Montana? It’s been awhile since our last trip and we can’t wait to bring the thousands of Team Makers that have joined since 2003 with us to Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Before we tailgate outside the stadium, I hope to see all of you at the Alumni Association Pregame Party. Check out what we have on tap.

STADIUM INFORMATION

WHEN - Friday Night, August 28, 2015 WHERE - DoubleTree by Hilton MissoulaEdgewater 100 Madison St, Missoula, Mont. 59802 COST - $10/person in advance ($15/person at the door) *Free for ages six and under TICKET PURCHASE INCLUDES - Bison copper cup and one free drink token DOORS - 6:30 p.m. MT SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS - President Dean L. Bresciani and Director of Athletics Matt Larsen

BISON TAILGATE TIMELINE 9 a.m. MT – Parking Lot G opens •NDSU Development Foundation and Alumni Association tent in Lot G •Free Parking (Cars - maximum 2 spots, RVs maximum 4 spots •Features “Lil’ Bison Kids Korner” 11:30 a.m. MT – Tailgate begins • Let’s show them how Bison tailgate!

• Fun, fun, fun, fun, but please be responsible 12:30 p.m. MT – Fan Walk • Walk as a group from Lot G to Washington-Grizzly Stadium (0.6 miles, oofta.)

1:30 p.m. MT – Kickoff • University of Montana Campus 32 Campus Dr. Missoula, Mont. 59812

By Paul Bougie

PARKING MAP

• Opened in 1986.

• Named after Montana donor who gave $1 million for project • Capacity is 25,217 • Field surface is Infilled SprinTurf (artificial turf, like the FargoDome) • November 22, 2014, the attendance record was set at 26,352, for a game against Montana State • Griz’s home record since moving to stadium is 179-23 • GrizVision is a 936 square-foot video screen located in the south end zone • Paul McCartney (2014), The Rolling Stones (2006), Pearl Jam (1998) have all played concerts there

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PREGAME PARTY FAQ

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NATE SAFE

WALKER’S WORD

WALKER’S WORD

The spotlight will be following Carson Wentz all season and he’s more than capable of withstanding the heat.

BY STEVE WALKER

Bismarck native, Mr. Wentz.

ATTAINING EXCELLENCE

V

ince Lombardi famously said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”

This quote is applicable to many members of the 2015 Bison Football team, but possibly no one more than senior quarterback Carson Wentz.

Wentz came into an extremely difficult situation last season. The then the junior, and the rest of the Bison chased perfection and caught excellence by making it four championships in a row in Frisco, Texas. How do you follow that up as a first-year starter?

One of the great things about Bison football is that the team comes before everything, no matter who you ask.

Hence, Bison Pride. The only statistic that matters is wins and losses. But, being that this is a magazine article getting us fans ready for another great season of Bison football, let’s have some fun and talk a little bit about the preseason hype that is surrounding 120

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The list of honors and accolades goes on and on for Wentz, and he definitely has the measurables that NFL scouts are looking for to go along with his physical abilities on the football field.

When you get mentioned in the spotlight of ESPN’s Mel Kiper, it is easy to see that football in Fargo continues to take giant strides forward.

Wentz is a clear leader for the Thundering Herd, being elected captain by his teammates as a junior and displaying that leadership day in and day out both on the field and off. I would have to imagine that all the accolades and praise are great in Wentz’s mind, but having the respect and trust of his teammates is probably the biggest compliment he’s received.

One of the big questions on Bison Nation’s mind is: How can Wentz improve from last year?

line of scrimmage since he has an uncanny ability to understand what the defense is doing. His preparation and experience has composed him to take this responsibility and run with it.

Opening the season with Montana is no easy task, but it will set the tone for the entire year. Follow that up with big time games against Northern Iowa, the Dakota Marker game against South Dakota State, and the rest of the daunting schedule that the Bison face each week in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, there will be plenty of chances for Wentz and the rest of the Bison to answer the bell.

Having an experienced wide receiver in Zach Vraa coming back for a sixth year will definitely help Wentz and the entire offense be explosive. Then having sophomore RJ Urzendowski playing opposite of Vraa will bring nightmares for defenses in the passing game.

It is not easy to set records and win a national championship one year and then duplicate it the next …let alone improve on it. One thing that is easy to see, as an avid Bison fan, is that Wentz is preparing himself to get better for this coming year and will take it day by day. He is not a guy that is going to get flustered, but rather takes things as they come.

Like Lombardi said, the 2015 Bison will chase perfection, and No. 11 Wentz will help the entire team catch excellence.

Wentz is a student of the game, and will have a lot of flexibility at the

Go Bison!

Take a minute to reflect and be thankful to have not only a great player to watch at quarterback, but an entire program filled with guys that deserve as much recognition for playing as a team as any school in the nation.

SWANY SAYS

swany says THE NEXT MOON SHOT

SEPTEMBER 2003 MISSOULA, MONT.

VS.

NDSU 25 MONTANA 24

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The last time North Dakota State played at Montana in September 2003, the conventional wisdom was that the Bison would do well for themselves if we could somehow hang with the powerhouse Grizzlies and not get blown out. Montana was a year removed from a national championship in 2001 and entered the game against NDSU as one of the favorites to contend for another championship. In the ten seasons between 1995 and 2004, the Grizzlies played in five national championship games, winning two. They were the giants of the Football Championship Subdivision, then known as I-AA. The Bison, on the other hand, were making their first baby steps into division I waters, still members of division II. Skeptics pounced on NDSU for their decision in the summer of 2002 to move up to division I athletics. The Bison began division I play in 2004. The first five years of the division I move, NDSU was classified as a transitioning program, and, as a result, were ineligible for postseason play. The Bison became playoff eligible in 2008.

Here’s some perspective. In those seven years since becoming playoff eligible, NDSU has won four national championships – two more than Montana has in the last 33 years.

Going one step further, the FCS level was formed in 1978. Only one school, Georgia Southern, has more national championships than NDSU at the FCS level. The team NDSU beat twice to reach

BY JOSHUA A. SWANSON *Swanson is a native of Maddock, N.D., a proud NDSU alum and a life-long Bison fan.

the national championship has six titles.

But they had several more decades to do it. In all fairness, though, GSU moved up to the FBS level in 2014, where, in their first year of play, they finished 9-3 and 8-0 in the Sun Belt Conference, winning the Sun Belt Conference championship.

As they say, oh what a difference a few years makes. In the 12 years that have lapsed from when the Bison last played at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, NDSU has eclipsed Montana, Georgia Southern, and everybody else by a moon shot as the undisputed heavyweights of the FCS. Perspective on that 2003 game versus this 2015 matchup shows how expectations have changed for NDSU and a growing fan base that – thanks in large part to athletics – has methodically transformed the university into a nationally recognized brand.

The expectations and perspective then?

I will always remember the sunny afternoon when the Bison upset the Grizzlies. I just got back to Fargo from a Bison Ambassadors retreat in lakes country. We arrived home at 901 College Street – yes, the same 901 College Street where Adam Jones invented the Dakota Marker later that same school year – with the Bison trailing at the half 24–2. That would soon change. A full living room watched as the Bison took one giant leap for our university in what would prove to be first pages of a historic run unlike any other in college athletics history.

SWANY SAYS

follow

The Grizzlies didn’t score the rest of the game. The Bison’s newly arrived West Coast offense and power run game chipped away at the deficit. Kyle Steffes notched NDSU’s first touchdown on a 2-yard plunge, culminating what would become the norm in the next decade – a 13 play, 82-yard drive and pay dirt.

A Cory Vartanian field goal and Allen Burrell touchdown brought the Bison to within 24–19 with six minutes and change left on the clock. After Burrell’s touchdown, the Bison defense forced a stop. The Bison then marched to the Grizzlies 20-yard line where they lined up for a field goal. There would be no kick. Rod Malone peeled around the left edge, sprinting to his right, taking a pitch from the holder. On the run, Malone lofted a pass that, at first, looked like it was overthrown. But somehow, Mike Weiser managed to use every inch of his frame to stretch out and corral the ball, sliding on his back in the corner of the Grizzlies’ end zone, ball secured, to give the Bison a 25–24 lead. Minutes later, Montana missed a field goal as time expired and NDSU had not only stayed with the Grizzlies but beat them.

In the 901 College Street living room that day, we were awestruck. We beat Montana! Holy (insert non-printable words here), we beat Montana! It was monumental. It was the first of the “Is this the biggest win in program history?” questions that would be asked in the coming years. For all the big wins in the last decade, the FBS wins, the national championships, the College GameDay appearances, dancing in the NCAA Tournament – before all of that, there was holy $%*&!, we beat Montana! That win was, at the time, the equivalent of our moon shot.

As times change, so do our expectations.

The discussion then was, can we somehow keep it close with Montana.

The discussion now is if we win at Montana, where we’ll be favored, will ESPN come back to Downtown Fargo for a third consecutive year this fall? And, of course, will the Bison win our fifth straight national championship in 2015.

Who could have possibly imagined that in September 2003?

The question is no longer whether we can eke out a living in Division I, we’ve emphatically answered that. The question, front and center, is when are

@swany8

we going to follow Georgia Southern and Appalachian State in making the move to the FBS. Beating Montana, however satisfying, is no longer the top goal we should aspire to.

We should be eyeing the next moon shot for NDSU. To borrow a few words on the topic: “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

As history has showed us, if this university decides that we’re going to the moon, you can bet we’ll be planting a big yellow Bison flag on it sooner rather than later. That is a challenge we should be willing to accept, one that we should be unwilling to postpone, and one, which we fully intend to win.

Everyone up for the kickoff, the march is on!

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POP QUIZ

What’s the best way you keep cool during the summer?

What’s your favorite music album of all time?

Most painful injury non-sports related?

Life at the lake!

90’s summer hits

That time I tried a backflip on the wakeboard...

Eating ice cream and waiting for other people’s sprinklers to hit the sidewalk so I can run through them.

“Famous Last Words” by Hedley (Canadian band)

Considering I’m the most clumsy person I know (no exaggeration) I’m both shocked and ashamed to say I’ve never had a nonsports related injury.

Turn on the AC

“Come On Over” by Shania Twain

I stepped on a Lego one time

Find a Lake in Minny or get a smoothie.

“Let’s Be Still” by The Head and The Heart

Broke my pinky finger in a PeeWee hockey game

I never mind a couple days out at the lakes.

Probably a Kenny Chesney album back in the day

Cut the tip of my ring finger pretty bad. I had to have a couple surgeries.

Jedre Cyr The senior fullback played in every game last season for the Bison. Majoring in business administration, the Glyndon, Minn. native was named to the MVFC Honor Roll last year for the Bison.

FOOTBALL Meghan Johnston

SOCCER

The senior from Winnipeg, Manitoba was named AllSummit League second team as a defender last season.

Johnston has played in every match since her freshman year. She was also named to the Summit League Academic Honor Roll as a Distinguished Scholar her junior year.

Emily Miron

VOLLEYBALL

As a sophomore, Miron was named All-Summit League.

The Wadena, Minn., native only missed one set last season, and recorded the second most blocks in the league with 67 last year. The junior middle blocker became an impact player right when she stepped on campus.

Brendan Skime

CROSS COUNTRY

Skime was a top five finisher for the Bison at every meet last season. The senior distance runner from Thief River Falls, Minn., finished in 20th place at the Summit League Championships last November.

Skime has ran and places in significant events for the Bison since his freshman year.

CONNOR HOLLAND

GOLF 124

Holland tied for 19th place at the Summit League Championship in California this past May. The senior played in 30 rounds and had a top 10 finish. His scoring average was the second lowest out of golfers who played more than 15 rounds last season.

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D AU G U S T 2 015

What kind of condiments are you putting in your ice cream sundae?

What’s going to be your hardest course this semester?

Anything and everything

Athletics 323

My ice cream sundae is made with chocolate ice cream, caramel sauce, chocolate chips and crumbled chocolate cookies. Maybe some raspberries if I’m feeling healthy and adventurous but probably not.

Probably exercise assessment and prescription with Doc T.

Chocolate cookies, brownie bits, hot fudge, cheesecake bites, cookie dough, whipped cream and pretty much everything else that’s available.

Probably one of my Exercise Science courses

Chocolate cookie and brownie chunks

Entrepreneurship/small business management

Chocolate only!

Statistics 331