Weber’s greatest victory not on football field
By Jeff Kolpack The Forum
Fargo
The question was asked of senior safety Dawson Weber following North Dakota State’s dramatic 35-32 FCS semifinal win over Incarnate Word in mid-December: Was his game-clinching interception comparable to the one teammate Destin Talbert had against James Madison almost exactly one year earlier?
Weber smiled, said he was just excited to head to Frisco, Texas, for the national title game and the emotional nature of it all. He handled five straight questions with maturity and without hesitation, rarely messing up a word, like a seasoned coach who dealt with reporters’ questions for years.
It wasn’t always that way.
Weber has four FCS national title rings, being on Bison championship teams in 2017, 2018, 2019 and last season and has a chance for one more when the Bison play South Dakota State on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Stadium.
His greatest victory, however, was conquering a speech impediment diagnosed at an early age.
“I would say yes, just overcoming something like this,” Weber said. “There have definitely been difficult times with it but for the most part it hasn’t really affected me. And knowing I have people around me to support me is always beneficial.”
Kyle and Jill Weber, his parents, first noticed an issue when Dawson was preschool age, when the youngster would try to speak but would get stuck on certain sounds. If there was a two- or three-syllable word, he would make it through the first syllable but not the second or third.
The parents started researching for help and enrolled Dawson in a speech therapist program before elementary school near their home in Elk Grove, Calif., located just south of Sacramento. It was an initiative that he maintained all through elementary, junior high and high school.
“It was very beneficial seeing the techniques and devices he would use to address things,” Kyle said.
The worry once Dawson got into junior high and high school, Kyle said, was bullying and other kids teasing their son. But Dawson has always carried himself with confidence, was always outgoing with others, and that was a comforting factor for all involved.
Nobody remembers any incident where another kid made fun of Dawson’s speech.
“I wouldn’t say I got teased much,” Dawson said. “I have pretty thick skin so my good friends would mess around here and there but it never affected me.”
Improvement was extremely gradual over a period of his entire childhood, with noticeable improvement
coming when Dawson got to junior high.
Talking to people just became a more ordinary thing. Being involved in sports helped, he said.
Kyle and Jill can still detect the impediment every so often. In Bison post-game press conferences, there were a few occasions where Dawson would take a pause before finishing his answer.
But if you didn’t know his life’s battle, you wouldn’t know.
“Never noticed it and never cared,” said Bison head coach Matt Entz, “because you cared more about the person than you did the other stuff. We all have things we’re trying to battle with. It shows you where he’s come from and the growth that he’s had over time.”
Kyle said he’ll never forget Dawson’s first postgame press conference a few years ago, with him and Jill being nervous for their son. But the young player sailed through it.
Like presenting a speech in a class, it helps when Dawson knows what he’s going to say. And in football, in describing plays or feelings on the field, that generally comes natural. Perhaps the most difficult moments over time were in a class environment when he would be in front of a room of students. His nerves would kick into overdrive.
“In the impromptu, it’s almost like his brain is working faster than his mouth,” Kyle said, “which is hard to believe knowing his mouth, I would say.”
At the beginning of each school year, Kyle and Jill would meet with Dawson’s teacher and explain the situation. They outlined the speech therapist sessions he was to go to
once a week.
They also didn’t want other kids to “get in trouble” if they said anything to Dawson.
They didn’t want Dawson not talking as a crutch to hide the speech issue.
“He’s going to be dealing with this his whole life, he needs to be able to have some thick skin,”
Kyle said. “So if they do say something, we don’t want any special treatment. If he’s going to get teased or bullied or whatever, he’s going to have to deal with it. We didn’t want to sugarcoat it for him, but he’s always been very outgoing and having an older brother who through him there was some exposure to it with his friends. So there was a big support system for sure.”
When Kyle now sees NDSU athletic department video replays of Dawson in post-game press conferences, or interviews on local Fargo television stations, he says “his allergies act up a little bit.” In other words, he gets emotional.
Especially in the win over Incarnate Word, when Dawson’s two interceptions and fumble recovery were a major reason NDSU is continuing its season. The last one, the pick with 1:13 left, clinched the three-point victory.
But before that, in WDAY’s “Gameday Pregame Show,” Dawson earlier in the week taped an extensive 1-on-1 interview with WDAY’s Logan Campbell. Later, Kyle went on the internet and watched the show that included Kyle Emanuel’s clicker segment where he highlighted Weber and fellow safety Michael Tutsie and then
watched the post-game press conference. He thought about Dawson’s first press
conference and how far the kid came in life.
“It just makes me super proud,” Kyle
said. “He’s come a long way, he’s grown a long way and we have total confidence in him that he’s going to be able to handle anything.”
The growth with Weber at NDSU has had more to do with maturity, anyway, than anything speechrelated. He wasn’t a favorite of Bison coaches his true freshman year but, like his speech progress as a kid, improvement came over time.
“Dawson has done a tremendous job in his six years here,” Entz said. “It’s been awesome to see him develop and grow.”
Dawson thinks back to his first media day during the first week of practice in the fall and how nervous he was.
“I dreaded media day,” he said. “But as time has gone on, I’ve just felt really comfortable. The more you build confidence in a situation, the easier it becomes.”
The next step in confidence after the title game is to prepare for a shot at pro football. He has yet to figure out where he plans to train, but will be participating in NDSU’s annual pro day at the end of March.
There’s no interview test like there can be at the NFL Combine but if there was, that would be no problem, either.
It was Dawson Weber’s biggest victory. Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at jkolpack@ forumcomm.com. Twitter@ KolpackInForum
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Photos by David Samson / The Forum
North Dakota State safety Dawson Weber walks around the field before the NCAA FCS semifinals at the Fargodome on Dec. 16, 2022.
North Dakota State safety Dawson Weber warms up before kickoff of the NCAA FCS semifinals at the Fargodome on Dec. 16, 2022.
North Dakota State safety Dawson Weber heads back to the Bison bench with a fumble recovery on a muffed punt during the NCAA FCS semifinals at the Fargodome on Dec. 16, 2022.
Final chance to play in FCS title game dream come true for Waege
NDSU defensive end didn’t play in last season’s FCS title game due to injury
By Jeff Kolpack and Eric Peterson
The Forum Fargo
North Dakota State
defensive end Spencer Waege was on the field last January when the Bison earned a ninth NCAA Division I FCS national championship, but not under the circumstances he wanted.
The 6-foot-5, 282-pound Waege was sidelined with a season-ending knee injury he suffered three games into the 2021 (fall) regular season. He decided to take advantage of an extra year of eligibility for a chance to play in one more FCS title game.
“These are games you dream of playing in and being sidelined last year and just having to watch your teammates go out there and playing was kind of hard to sit back knowing that you weren’t going to be able to go out there and help them,” said Waege, from South Shore, N.D. “To be back in this position this year, healthy, is a dream come true.”
The Bison (12-2) play South Dakota State (13-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, for the FCS national championship at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. NDSU has won nine of the past 11 national titles. Waege played in the 2018 and 2019 championship games.
Waege said rebounding from last year’s injury has made him appreciate this season and a chance to play in another championship game even more.
“Absolutely, especially with this being my senior season,” Waege said.
Waege has 48 tackles and a team-leading nine sacks heading into the title tilt against the rival Jackrabbits. He relishes the chance to play against SDSU’s stellar
offensive line that features multiple All-Americans.
“You always want to play the best competition out there and that’s what for sure is going on in this championship game,” Waege said. “Their O-line across the board is really talented.”
Waege said playing for a final time in Frisco feels like a full-circle moment.
The Bison have lost multiple key players to season-ending injuries this fall, including starting offensive linemen Jalen Sundell and Mason Miller, fullback Hunter Luepke, tight end Noah Gindorff and defensive end Jake Kava. Waege can empathize.
“It’s something that I didn’t realize how much it can take on you mentally until I got hurt,” Waege said. “I really feel for them and I try to talk to them and give them advice that I can from when I went through it.”
Marshall, Minn., on both sides of rivalry Terry Bahlmann, the veteran head coach at Marshall High School in southwest Minnesota, can be forgiven if he feels conflicted about Sunday’s title game. He’s got connections to both teams with Bison receiver Bryce Lance (and his older brother Trey Lance for that matter) and SDSU defensive lineman Reece Winkelman.
“He’s a great coach, very old-school approach to football,” Winkelman said. “The type of coach who would say, ‘We didn’t get water back in my day.’ That’s his mindset.”
It’s that type of work ethic that Bahlmann has instilled in Marshall players over the years. In Winkelman’s case, he was encouraged to get into the weight room as soon as fifth grade.
In the case of the title game, Winkelman thinks Marshall is split in the number of Bison and Jackrabbit fans. Marshall is only an hour away from Brookings, S.D., but NDSU is also home to former Marshall standout offensive lineman
Tyler Gimmestad, who was part of three national titles with the Bison. Trey Lance, of course, led NDSU to the 2019 title on his way to becoming the Walter Payton Award winner and a firstround draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers.
Jerseys of Trey Lance and Winkelman hang next to each other in one of the bars in Marshall.
“I always get pictures of it,” Winkelman said, of people sending him photos. “People on both sides of the spectrum of doing either horns down or bashing the Jackrabbits.”
BISON: Page AA5
AA4 | SPORTS | Saturday, January 7, 2023 | the forum inforum.com BISON GAME DAY NORTH DAKOTA STATE VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
GAME DAY NOTEBOOK
Photos by David Samson / The Forum
North Dakota State defensive end Spencer Waege is getting one final chance to play in the NCAA Division I FCS championship game Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, after not being able to play in the national title game last season due to a knee injury
North Dakota State’s Spencer Waege (99) celebrates a sack on Montana quarterback Lucas Johnson with teammates Javier Derritt and Tony Pierce during the NCAA FCS playoffs at the Fargodome on Dec. 3, 2022.
Stiegelmeier ‘disappointed’
Luepke can’t play
When NDSU and SDSU played during the regular season, Luepke was in the lineup and rushed for 58 yards on 15 carries and added a 30-yard touchdown catch. The Jackrabbits rallied for a 23-21 victory in mid-October at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. The 6-foot-1, 236pound Luepke is out for the championship game with a shoulder injury.
“I’m honestly disappointed for him,” said SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier. “I think he’s a great competitor. I know he’s a great student-athlete.”
Stiegelmeier said NDSU may look to change up some play calling with Luepke — an NFL prospect — unable to play. The Bison may have to lean more on quarterback Cam Miller and their offensive line in the rematch. Miller completed 17 of 22 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns during the regular-season meeting.
“I think there were some plays that were Hunter’s forte,” Stiegelmeier said, “but they’ve got good backs. They’ve got an unbelievable offensive line and tight ends and Cam’s a really good football player.”
Etc. etc. etc.
► NDSU is playing in its 10th FCS national championship game in the
are 9-0 in their previous nine title game appearances in Frisco, Texas. NDSU has a 4-0 record against the Jackrabbits in the FCS playoffs. SDSU has won the past three meetings between the teams.
► It will be the 114th meeting between the teams with NDSU leading the series 63-45-5. The Jackrabbits
have beaten NDSU five times since 2011 while no other team has beaten the Bison twice.
► The game will not be played for the Dakota Marker, the trophy that was established in 2004. Only regular-season games count toward the Marker.
► SDSU defensive coordinator Jimmy Rogers
2022 FootballScoop FCS Coordinator of the Year. SDSU is first in the FCS in rushing defense allowing 83 yards a game and third in scoring defense at 15.4 points per game.
► Since its first bowl game in 1964, NDSU has won a national championship in 31% of its 54 years of postseason eligibility.
13th straight FCS playoff appearance and SDSU its 11th in a row. Montana has the FCS record with 17 consecutive from 1993-2009. New Hampshire made 14 in a row from 2004-17.
► NDSU is 44-3 in the FCS playoffs and one victory behind Georgia Southern — which has 45 and is now in the FBS — for most playoff wins in the subdivision.
BISON GAME DAY NORTH DAKOTA STATE VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE inforum.com the forum | Saturday, January 7, 2023 | SPORTS | AA5 BISON From Page AA4
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
North Dakota State’s Hunter Luepke heads onto the field on senior night ahead of their football game against North Dakota on Nov. 19, 2022, at the Fargodome.
“I’M HONESTLY DISAPPOINTED FOR (LUEPKE). I THINK HE’S A GREAT COMPETITOR. I KNOW HE’S A GREAT STUDENT-ATHLETE.”
SDSU HEAD COACH JOHN STIEGELMEIER
AA6 | Saturday, January 7, 2023 | the forum inforum.com
