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National Duals Tourney for the weekend
January 12, 2004
THIS WEEK: North Dakota State will be after its second dual meet win of the year Tuesday night when Minnesota State-Mankato comes to the Bison Sports Arena...Matches begin at 7:30 p.m...The No. 1-ranked Bison are entered in the NWCA National Duals tournament at Cleveland State University this weekend...Sixteen of Division II's top teams will be there when action begins Saturday at 8 a.m. CT.
THE SERIES: North Dakota State holds a 30-6-1 advantage in the all-time series against Minnesota State-Mankato...The Bison have won seven matches in a row and nine of the last 11 meetings...NDSU was a 31-6 winner last year in Mankato.
THE COACHES: North Dakota State is coached by National Hall of Famer Bucky Maughan, who's in the 40th year of his illustrious Bison coaching career...Maughan needs only five wins to achieve his 400th career victory...He sports a record of 395-112-11...Jim Makovsky is in his 11th year as the head coach at Minnesota State-Mankato...He has a 117-54-2 record at Mankato and a career coaching record of 142-73-4...Makovsky is a graduate of Valley City (ND) State, where he coached for four seasons before joining the Mavericks.
ABOUT MANKATO: Minnesota State-Mankato is winless in its first four dual meets this year, but the 13th-ranked Mavericks haven‚t wrestled any slouches...The Mavs opened the season with back-to-back losses against Boston University and Iowa State...A loss to Iowa followed...MSU-Mankato is coming off a 19-14 loss Friday at Wisconsin-Parkside.
BUSY MONTH: Short rest is the mode for North Dakota State in January...The National Duals tournament offers a chance at about five dual meets in two days...That would make for a total of seven duals in eight days for the Bison this week...NDSU has matches scheduled for the 21st, 23rd, 27th and Feb. 1 before taking a five-day break.
KRAEMER RETURNS: Three-time All-American Brian Kraemer has returned to the Bison lineup at 197 pounds...Kraemer sustained a shoulder injury at the Las Vegas Invite on Dec. 6 but missed only the St. Cloud State Invite thanks to the holiday break.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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 (80-43), Paul Carlson (79-34) and Mike Fiedler (77-32) are the wrestlers in reach of the top 10 at North Dakota State...Tenth place is 97 wins, belonging to Matt Strawser (1999-2003).
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.
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.
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.