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February 8, 2005
North Dakota State (7-2-0) is scheduled to host Northern Iowa (5-7-0) on Thursday, Feb. 10 at the Bison Sports Arena. The opening dual is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. NDSU has won 20 consecutive duals at home, dating back to the 2000-01 season. UNI is ranked 13th in the latest USA Today/NWCA Division I coaches' poll. The Panthers' seven losses have all come against teams ranked in the top 15 in the country. In their last match, UNI defeated #23 Northern Illinois 23-17 on Feb. 6 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
THE SERIES: This will be the 14th meeting all-time between North Dakota State and Northern Iowa, with the Panthers holding a 10-2-1 advantage in the series, including winning the last four meetings. The last dual between the two schools came in the 2002-03 season, with UNI winning 31-6 in Cedar Falls. The Bison went on a school record 23-match winning streak following the loss. NDSU's last win over UNI came in the 1976-77 season with the Bison winning 17-15 in Fargo.
BISON HOME WINNING STREAKS: The Bison will carry a 20-match home winning streak into the Northern Iowa dual. NDSU is 3-0 at the Bison Sports Arena this season with wins over Princeton, Northern Colorado and Minnesota State-Moorhead. The Bison's string of 20-straight dates back to the 2000-01 season when Division III power Augsburg defeated NDSU 19-12.
PANTHERS IN THE POLLS: UNI has four wrestlers currently ranked in the top 15 of Division I by the USA Today/NWCA coaches' poll. Seniors Jeff Harrison (#6/149 pounds), Sean Stender (#6/197 pounds) and Eric Hauan (#9/174 pounds) lead the way. Sophomore Nick Baima is ranked #13 at 165 pounds. All are returning NCAA qualifiers from a year ago, with Hauan and Stender both capturing All-American honors with sixth-place finishes.
COACH PENRITH AND THE PANTHERS: Fifth-year head coach Brad Penrith (45-35-0) and the Panthers are 5-7 in duals this season, with all seven losses coming to teams ranked in the top 15 of Division I. Last year, he led UNI to a 10-6 dual meet record and a 21st place finish at the NCAA Championships. Having been affiliated with the Panther program since 1997, three of those years as an assistant coach, Penrith has been instrumental in securing six Top 25 recruiting classes. Prior to coming to UNI, he spent five seasons as an assistant at Nebraska, coaching the Huskers' lighter weights. He also served a one-year stint as an assistant at Boise State in 1991-92, spent two seasons at Arizona State from 1989-91 and was a assistant at Iowa.
HAVEN'T WE MET?: NDSU and UNI have crossed paths twice already this season at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 20 and the UNI Open on Dec. 5. There is a possibility of four potential Bison/Panther rematches. NDSU's Zach Stevens lost to UNI's Jeff Harrison 5-1 at the Kaufman-Brand Open at 149 pounds. Andy Pickar lost to Nick Baima 5-0 at the UNI Open in their 165 pound matchup. Adam Dahlstrom was pinned by Eric Hauan (3:44) at the UNI Open at 174 pounds. While NDSU's Matt Hermann was decisioned by Dan Dunning 8-6 at 184 pounds at the Kaufman-Brand Open.
BISON WRESTLERS CHASING 20-WIN SEASONS: NDSU's Collin Kelly, Adam Dahlstrom and Dustin Benz are each one win shy of 20 victories for the season. Dahlstrom (19-9) and Benz (19-7) are looking for their first 20-win seasons as members of the Bison. Kelly (19-9) is looking for his second 20-win season for the Herd. He went 21-18 during the 2002-02 season. Matt Hermann (17-7) is three wins away from 20 and is looking for back-to-back 20-win seasons after finishing 25-13 last year. Andy Pickar (20-7) and Tim Kraemer (26-7) secured their first 20-win seasons for the Bison earlier this season.
PINNING WAYS: In five open tournaments and nine duals this season, NDSU wrestlers have compiled 56 pins. Freshman Skip Johnson is leading the way with 10 of his 11 wins coming by way of pinfall. Heavyweight Tim Kraemer has flattened seven of his opponents. Freshman Andy Pickar has notched five, while Dustin Benz has secured four and Adam Dahlstrom and Mike Quamme each have three pins.
BISON WIN BORDER BATTLE 24-16 OVER MSU-MOORHEAD: Down 12-7 after five bouts, the North Dakota State wrestling team won four out of the last five matches to secure its 20th straight home victory with a 24-16 win over Minnesota State University-Moorhead. NDSU got early wins from Mike Meger at 125 and Zach Stevens at 149. Freshman Andy Pickar took charge at 165 pounds with a major decision over Rockie Stavn. Pickar's seven-point second period proved to be the difference maker in the 13-5 bout which again cut into the Dragon lead. With 11 seconds remaining in the opening round, 174-pound junior Adam Dahlstrom pinned Eric Roseen to give the Bison the lead for good. Matt Hermann outscored Eric Hagemann 9-3 at 184 pounds, and Dustin Benz received a 14-3 major decision over Dustin Uselman to fortify the Bison lead at 24-12 with one weight remaining. Former NDSU heavyweight Chris Tuchscherer, down 4-1 after the first period, used two three-point nearfalls in the second round to score a major decision over current NDSU heavyweight Tim Kraemer. The 24-16 Bison win is the 32nd straight victory over Minnesota State-Moorhead.
BISON TOPPLE BEARS 31-3: Freshman Andy Pickar picked up his fifth pin of the season at 165 pounds and Matt Hermann notched career win #50 to lead North Dakota State to a 31-3 victory over Northern Colorado on Saturday, Jan. 22, in front of a crowd of 781 at the Bison Sports Arena. NDSU (6-2) won nine of ten matches over UNC (3-4) and extended its home winning streak to 19-consecutive at the Bison Sports Arena. Mike Meger and Nick Magee built the Bison lead to 6-0 after two early decisions and NDSU would win the final seven bouts to put away the Bears.
Pickar extended NDSU's lead to 18-3 with a first period pin over UNC's John White at 165 pounds. Hermann scored seven takedowns in his match with Cole Allison at 184 pounds to score a 15-6 major decision. Hermann's 50th career win as a Bison gave NDSU a 25-3 lead in the dual. At 197, Dustin Benz scored a takedown with four-seconds left to escape with a 4-3 win over UNC's Tanner Linsacum. NDSU's Tim Kraemer picked up his team-leading 26th win of the season after his 10-3 win over UNC's Sam Safken at heavyweight. Kraemer remained undefeated (7-0) in duals this season.
BISON CAPTAINS: NDSU is captained by seniors Nick Magee, Lucas Christianson and Collin Kelly in its first season of Division I wrestling. The trio has combined for 175 career wins on the mat for the Bison.
23-MATCH WINNING STREAK SNAPPED: Rider put an end to NDSU's school record 23-match overall winning streak in the opening round of the Virginia Duals. Previous to the 19-16 setback to Rider, NDSU's last loss came at Northern Iowa on Feb. 2, 2003, when the Panthers defeated the Bison 31-6. NDSU broke the school record of 20-straight dual victories this season that dated from Feb. 2, 1991 to Nov. 21, 1992.
MAKING THE TRANSITION: NDSU is in its first year of a two-year waiting period for the NCAA tournament. Wrestling received notification of acceptance from the NCAA for multidivisional classification that will provide NCAA Division I postseason opportunities in 2006-07. Originally, NDSU was not eligible for the NCAA national tournament until the 2008-09 season.
DIVISION II TITLE YEARS: North Dakota State captured four NCAA titles in its storied history in Division II. The Bison won in 1988, 1998, 2000 and 2001. NDSU's four titles is second most among teams still in Division II. Central Oklahoma has six championships. Cal Poly and Cal State-Bakersfield each won eight crowns before moving to Division I wrestling.
HEAD COACH BUCKY MAUGHAN: North Dakota State is coached by a National Wrestling Hall of Famer. Bucky Maughan is in his 41st year at the helm of the Bison. Maughan is only the second full-time wrestling coach in the school's history. He has a 415-114-11 record to date in dual meets and has guided the Herd to 17 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 five halls of fame after his 2003 induction to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
BISON ASSISTANTS: Beginning his fourth year at NDSU, assistant coach Bret Maughan brings a wealth of experience to the Bison program. The two-time All-American on the mat at NDSU had head coaching stints at Moorhead (Minn.) High School and Bismarck State College before returning to his alma mater. Former three-time All-American and national champion Kris Nelson begins his fifth season as an assistant. Fellow NDSU All-Americans Thad Pike, Joe Bryce and Paul Carlson will serve as student assistants this season.