FARGO, ND – North Dakota’s representative at the American Legion Central Plains Region Tournament in Rapid City, SD earned a victory on day one of the tournament. The West Fargo Patriots were down 5-0 to Sioux Falls, SD after four innings, but exploded for six runs in the fifth inning as they went on to a 10-8 win. The Patriots play Millard South of Nebraska today in the winners bracket.
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MSU FOOTBALL-WATCH LIST

 

MINOT, N.D. (MSU) – Returning to the gridiron after earning First Team All-NSIC honors last fall, it’s no surprise that Ali Mohamed and Knylen Miller-Levi have been named as Players to Watch by the league’s coaches for this season. Mohamed, a junior who led the NSIC in total rushing yards with 1,159 in 2021 and was named a Don Hansen Honorable Mention All-American, was named Minot State’s Player to Watch on offense. Miller-Levi, a redshirt junior defensive back who had two interceptions, 43 tackles, and scored a pair of special-teams touchdowns – including a 63-yard TD reception on a fake punt that was ESPN’s No. 2 Play of the Day – was Minot State’s Player to Watch on defense.

 

They lead the way for a Minot State team tabbed as an underdog by the NSIC’s coaches as the Beavers were picked to finish seventh in the North Division in the 2022 NSIC Football Preseason Coaches poll released today, and 12th overall in the NSIC. Minot State received 8 points in the North Division poll and sits just behind Concordia, St. Paul, which garnered 10 points. Bemidji State was the heavy favorite to win the NSIC North Division with six first-place votes and 36 points. Minnesota Duluth was the No. 2 pick with one first-place vote and 31 total points.

 

In the South Division, Augustana was the favorite in a tight race with Minnesota State, Mankato, and Sioux Falls. Augustana had 32 points and two first-place votes, Minnesota State, Mankato had 31 points and three first-place votes, and Sioux Falls had 27 points and two first-place votes. Overall, Augustana was favored to win the NSIC title with five first-place votes and 153 points, with Bemidji State picked at No. 2 with 4 first-place votes and 145 points. Minnesota Duluth was picked to finish third with 142 points, then Minnesota State, Mankato and Sioux Falls tied for fourth with 136 points, and three and two first-place votes, respectively.

 

Minot State was picked 12th by the coaches with 36 points in the overall NSIC standings, edging out South Division foes Southwest Minnesota State and Upper Iowa, who were picked 13th and 14th with 26 and 25 points, respectively. The Minot State football team kicks off the 2022 season on Saturday, Sept. 3, hosting Winona State at Herb Parker Stadium at 1 p.m. Winona State was picked fourth in the South Division and 6th overall in the NSIC Preseason Poll.
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MSU MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

MINOT, N.D. – The Minot State men’s basketball team is getting the chance to jump-start their 2022-23 season. NCAA schools are allowed to participate in an international competition tour every four years and the Beavers are taking advantage of that fact as they will head north of the border to play a pair of games at the University of Regina, and two more contests at the University of Winnipeg later this month.

 

The international tour begins on Thursday, August 18, with the Beavers tipping off against the University of Regina Cougars in Saskatchewan at 7 p.m. Game two of the trip will be on Friday, August 19, at 6 p.m. against the University of Regina. The Beavers then head East to Manitoba to play the University of Winnipeg Wesmen in two more games with the first contest Saturday, August 20, at 3 p.m. Minot State wraps up the international tour with a final game against the Wesmen on Sunday, August 21, at 1 p.m. The Minot State men’s basketball team then returns to campus to begin class with their next action tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 22, a 3 p.m., an exhibition game against visiting Dickinson State at the MSU Dome.
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MSU SOFTBALL-COACH

 

MINOT, N.D. – Coming off a strong spring season that saw the Beavers rack up 28 wins, the Minot State softball team is reloading its coaching staff with stellar leadership. The first addition on the Beaver bench is new assistant coach Chelsea “Holli” Holliday, who began her duties with the team earlier this month. Holliday joins the Beaver staff after spending the last three years at Grambling University in Louisiana as a graduate assistant for the NCAA Division I Tigers where she earned her Masters in Sports Administration. Prior to Grambling, she was the head coach for five seasons for the Saint Mary’s School high school softball team in Raleigh, N.C.

 

As a collegiate player at Shaw University in North Carolina, Holliday earned All-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) honors and was named to the All-Rookie Team as a freshman. Following her sophomore season, she also earned the chance to compete internationally as a member of Team USA at the 2012 Curacao Friendship Series. At Shaw, Coach “Holli” hit .266 for her career with 14 home runs, 64 RBIs, 78 runs scored, and 60 stolen bases. She also majored in Athletic Training. Holliday graduated from Burlington Township High School in Burlington, New Jersey, where she was a two-time 1st Team All-Conference selection, class Treasurer, a student athletic trainer, and Vice President of the Women’s Club.
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SUMMIT LEAGUE-BASKETBALL SCHEDULES

 

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Summit League released the league slate for the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball seasons on Wednesday The schedules feature a total of 18 conference games, including nine home and nine road games. The men’s schedule includes the in-state rivalry games between North Dakota and North Dakota State on December 30th in Grand Forks and January 27th in Fargo. The game in Grand Forks will be the first home league contest of the season for the Fighting Hawks. The women’s schedule features NDSU hosting UND on New Years Eve, while the Fighting Hawks host the Bison on January 28th.

 

The 2023 Summit League Men’s Basketball Championships will take place on March 4-7 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. The tournament champion will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship.

 

The 2023 Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship returns to its familiar home at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. for the eighth time. For the first time in League history, the 2023 Women’s Basketball Championship will feature all 10 members with St. Thomas competing in its first basketball tournament as a League member. The new format will cover five days on the calendar, starting March 3 and culminating with the title game on Tuesday, March 7. The tournament champion will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Basketball Championships.
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TWINS-TIGERS

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Trade acquisition Jorge López earned his first save with his new team, newcomer Sandy León drove in two runs

and the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 4-1 Wednesday. Carlos Correa and Gio Urshela added RBIs for the Twins, whose lead in the American League Central remains one game over Cleveland. Entering to a nice ovation, López, an All-Star acquired Tuesday from Baltimore, earned his 20th save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He needed just seven pitches, including a three-pitch strikeout of Eric Haase.

 

López’s outing came after Minnesota starter Joe Ryan bounced back from a career-worst outing with five mostly solid innings. Michael Fulmer then pitched a scoreless inning in his Twins debut against the team from which he was traded Tuesday, before Caleb Thielbar and Jhoan Duran each tossed a scoreless frame. Rocked on Saturday in San Diego, allowing 10 earned runs and five home runs in 4 2/3 innings, Ryan (8-4) tied a season high with nine strikeouts — also April 27 vs. Detroit — and allowed three hits as he again dominated the Tigers. In three 2022 starts against Detroit, Ryan is 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings.

 

Acquired Tuesday from Cleveland, León had two hits, including a two-run double in the second for Minnesota. He had two hits in 15 at-bats for the Guardians this season, spending much of the year in the minors.

 

RHP Sonny Gray (6-3, 3.41) is to pitch today when Minnesota starts a four-game home series with Toronto. Alek Manoah (11-5, 2.43) is the Blue Jays scheduled starter.
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VIKINGS-TRAINING CAMP

 

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Kirk Cousins was looking for more variety and more fun in his offseason training a few years ago when he developed a deep appreciation for a different sport. Pickup basketball posed too strong of a sprained-ankle risk, so he turned to the tennis court for inspiration and invigoration. Cousins soon learned that 14-time major singles title winner Pete Sampras once threw a football to warm up for matches, further entrenching his belief he’d found the right activity. Then during a conversation at the Pro Bowl with fellow quarterback Drew Brees, Cousins learned that serving not only accurately mimics passing but — because the racket doesn’t leave the hand, unlike a football — acts as a bonus muscle-strengthener for the back of the shoulder. The two motions are strikingly similar. The hand-eye coordination work can always help. The lateral agility required to go get a ball on the baseline is akin to moving around in the pocket. These are all reasons why Cousins believes his favored summer sport has helped him become more mobile on the field in the fall for Minnesota.

 

“I’ll never be a Lamar Jackson type, but I think playing tennis is just one way to kind train that instinct of moving and running,” Cousins said before practice Wednesday with the Vikings. Fueled by his own interest in history and museums, Cousins visited the International Tennis Hall of Fame last month in Newport, Rhode Island. One of Cousins’ hitting partners from his hometown in Michigan connected him with Andy Murray, John Isner and some other pros who were in town for a tournament. There’s an unpredictability to returning serves and strokes, too, that can stand as a metaphor for the curveballs that routinely come the quarterback’s way.

 

There are the pre-snap disguises Cousins must diagnose, even in practice against defensive coordinator Ed Donatell’s scheme. Then there are the setbacks that arise, such as the thumb injury suffered by top tight end Irv Smith Jr. in practice on Monday. The fourth-year player, who missed the entire 2021 season after tearing the meniscus in his knee, had surgery on Tuesday that went as planned and is on a recovery track to return for the opener on Sept. 11 against Green Bay. Smith’s absence has increased the roles of newcomer Johnny Mundt, returner Ben Ellefson and youngster Zach Davidson, who was drafted in the fifth round last year out of Central Missouri and spent his rookie season on the practice squad. The 6-foot-7, 250-pound Davidson has exceptional speed for his size and position. The bio trackers players wear during practice and games have clocked Davidson as high as 20.9 mph, Cousins said, leaving him a fraction short of the 21 mph mark that comes with an honorary T-shirt from the strength and conditioning staff.

 

“I’m never going to see 21 miles an hour, but obviously the fastest guys on the team are going 21. So it’s an elite group, and Zach’s one of those guys,” Cousins said. “Whenever he gets a vertical route, I know he’s going to be flying because he wants that tracker at the end of practice to say that he went 21. So one of these days we’re going to get him his T-shirt.”
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NFL-BARR

 

OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys and four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Anthony Barr agreed to a one-year deal Wednesday. The 32-year-old Barr was a first-round pick by Minnesota in 2014 and has played his entire eight-year career with the Vikings. He was a Pro Bowler every year from 2015-18 and had a career-high three interceptions along with 2 1/2 sacks and 72 tackles last season. Barr will join a linebacker group led by AP Defensive Rookie of the Year Micah Parsons and 2018 Pro Bowler Leighton Vander Esch. Dallas opened a roster spot by waiving rookie linebacker Aaron Hansford.