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January 5, 2004
THIS WEEK: North Dakota State begins its final North Central Conference wrestling season Sunday afternoon at St. Cloud State...The Bison and Huskies will tangle at 2 p.m. in the South Fieldhouse at Halenbeck Hall...It will be the first dual meet for both squads this season and the first action for either team since Dec. 13 when the Bison won St. Cloud State‚s invitational tournament.
COMING SOON: Call it two matches in three days for the Bison...The home dual meet opener will be Tuesday, Jan. 13, when North Dakota State entertains Minnesota State-Mankato at the Bison Sports Arena...Matches begin at 7:30 p.m...The short-rest action will be a good tune-up for the NWCA National Duals tournament on Jan. 17-18.
YOUNG PUPS: St. Cloud State will offer one of the youngest starting lineups the Bison will probably see all year...Seven of the Huskies‚ probable starters are freshman and there are 13 first-year wrestlers on the 22-man roster...SCSU is coached by Steve Grimit, who‚s in his 11th year with a 62-73 record including a 21-45 mark in the NCC.
KRAEMER PROBABLE: North Dakota State will try to return three-time All-American Brian Kraemer at 197 pounds this week...Kraemer sustained a shoulder injury at the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6 and was not expected back until the National Duals tournament...His progress will be evaluated in this week‚s practices.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
BISON DOMINATE ST. CLOUD: North Dakota State won its fourth straight St. Cloud State Invitational tournament on Dec. 13 and the Bison are returning to the scene where they routed the Huskies 43-0 two seasons ago...NDSU took eight of 10 matches last year against the Huskies in Fargo for a 31-6 triumph that clinched the Bison‚s second consecutive 6-0 conference wrestling slate.
NCC WINNING STREAK: North Dakota State was 6-0 in the North Central Conference last year despite a second-place finish in the league championship tournament...The Bison have won 16 straight matches in the conference dating back to a 22-12 loss at Nebraska-Omaha in 2000-01.
POSTSEASON FORMAT CHANGES: Membership changes in the North Central Conference have sparked changes in the championship criteria for both the NCC and NCAA...The conference tournament, which was for many years a national qualifying tournament, has been eliminated in favor of an NCAA regional...Here are some details...
SIX WINS AWAY: Coaching legend Bucky Maughan is six dual meet wins away from reaching the 400th victory of his illustrious career at North Dakota State...Maughan currently sports a 394-112-11 record over 39-plus years--all with the Bison.
WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State has been recognized this year with two Wrestlers of the Week in the North Central Conference...Mike Fiedler earned the latest distinction with a 3-0 run through the St. Cloud State Invite on Dec. 13...Thad Pike won it the week prior to that with an impressive fourth-place finish at the Las Vegas Invite on Dec. 5-6.
BISON IMPRESSIVE AGAIN AT VEGAS: North Dakota State has finished in the top 20 four straight seasons at the Las Vegas Invitational, and the Bison have been the top Division II team in the final standings each of those four years...NDSU was 13th this year, 18th last season, and 16th each of the two previous years.
FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS: North Dakota State had two placewinners at the Las Vegas Invite this season for the first time in six years...Thad Pike (174) finished fourth and Brian Kraemer (197) placed sixth...It was 1997 when Ryan Wolters was sixth at 190 pounds and Wayne Mooney seventh at 150 in Las Vegas...That duo went on to earn All-American honors as NDSU won its second NCAA championship.
CAREER WIN LIST CHASE: Three senior Bison wrestlers this season will be closing in on NDSU‚s top 10 list for career victories...Brian Kraemer (79-43), Paul Carlson (78-34) and Mike Fiedler (76-32) are the wrestlers in reach of the top 10 at North Dakota State...Tenth place is 97 wins, belonging to Matt Strawser (1999-2003)...
EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE: North Dakota State University was the preseason favorite to win the NCAA and North Central Conference wrestling championships according to preseason polls issued by the Division II Wrestling Coaches Association and NCC coaches...The Bison still hold down the first spot in the latest national poll.
HALL OF FAME COACH: North Dakota State is coached by a National Wrestling Hall of Famer...Bucky Maughan is in his 40th year at the helm of the Bison... Maughan is only the second full-time wrestling coach in the school‚s history...He has a 394-112-11 record to date in duals and has guided the Herd to 16 North Central Conference titles, four NCAA Division II championships, and 26 top-five national finishes...The Bison won nine straight NCC titles from 1982 to 1990 under his direction...He is a member of four halls of fame after his 2003 induction to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame...Here is Maughan‚s NDSU coaching record...
HOME WINNING STREAK: North Dakota State won all five of its home dual meets in 2002-03 and the Bison have won 12 straight duals at the Bison Sports Arena dating back to the 2000-01 season when Division III power Augsburg defeated NDSU 19-12 in Fargo.
DIVISION I TRANSITION: This is North Dakota State‚s final year of eligibility in NCAA Division II after announcing in August 2002 its plans to reclassify...The Bison will leave the North Central Conference in favor of Division I athletics beginning with the 2004-05 season...The reclassification will encompass all sports at NDSU, including a jump to I-AA on the football field.
AROUND THE NORTH CENTRAL CONFERENCE