Feb. 7, 2019
February started off with a bang for North Dakota State athletics. This past Friday, Bison wrestling beat Utah Valley in a dominant fashion with a 47-3 victory. The following day NDSU hosted the Bison Open, a men and women’s track meet, where they came away with several event wins to finish the indoor home schedule.
Wrestling
The wrestling match took place at the Scheels Center Feb. 1 as a Big 12 dual. The Bison absolutely dominated that match, winning in every weight class except for 141.
A redshirt freshman from West Fargo, Brandon Metz took on Tate Orndorff, who is ranked 11th nationally for the 285-pound weight class. Orndorff came in with a 19-5 dual record, but Metz came away with an upset over the ranked opponent after registering his sixth fall of the year.
The next match for the Bison (9-5) is a home dual against the SDSU (2-7). The match takes place at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17.
Men’s track and field
On Feb. 2, the Bison Open took place, and the men’s shot put came out firing on all cylinders.
Although world leader Payton Otterdahl did not compete in the shot put, the rest of the team made sure to make up for it.
Sophomore Alex Talley won the shot put with a 63-05.00 throw. This placed him at No. 2 all-time for NDSU and No. 15 nationally for the year.
Freshman Kristoffer Thomsen also impressed with a season best 62-00.05, placing fourth on the NDSU all-time list.
In the heptathlon, the Bison stood on the top two steps of the podium. Senior Ryan Enerson scored 5,111 points to take the victory and was followed by junior Ben Klimpke, who scored 5,034.
In the pole vault, Noah Shafer took the victory with a height of 15-06.50.
In the running events, the Bison had a good set of victories as well. Evan Kottsick won the mile, and Connor Schank took second. In the 200m dash J. T. Butler won with a time of 22.17, and in the 3000m Tim Heikkila took a victory as well.
The team also swept the 800m, taking the first four places with freshman Josh Samyn leading the pack.
Women’s track and field
At the same Bison Open, the women’s track and field team dominated.
In the shot put, the Bison claimed the top nine places. Bailey Retzlaff took first, and her toss of 55-11.25 ranks eighth in the nation this year.
Redshirt freshman Akealy Moton is now No. 2 all-time for NDSU after her 54-05.25 throw in the shot put Saturday.
On the track, NDSU took home a number of events.
In the 60m dash, Daejha Moss won with a time of 7.70. Jodi Lipp and Michaela Baker took second and third, respectively.
Peyton Frolek won the 400m, running an indoor personal best of 57.96.
Katie Bostrom clocked in at 2:15.43, a season-best, to win the 800m.
Kelby Anderson won the 1,600m with a 4:48.06 time, and she now ranks No. 4 all-time for the Bison.
The next track and field meet for both the men’s and women’s teams will be Friday, Feb. 8 in Brookings, South Dakota for the SDSU Indoor Classic.