MINOT, ND – It’s Friday and that means high school football is on the air. We’ll travel to Tioga where the Pirates will host Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood. The Pirates are 4-1 on the season and coming off their only loss of the season last Saturday to Surrey. The Mavericks are 2-3 on the year and looking to improve on a two game winning streak. Pre-game is set for 6:40 pm on 106.9 K-Heart and online at khrt.com.

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MINOT, ND – Boys soccer finished the regular season on Thursday and Minot High won their second consecutive regular season WDA title.

 

High School Boys Soccer
Minot High 1, Bismarck Legacy 0
Williston 4, Dickinson 1
Bismarck Century 1, Bismarck High 0
Jamestown 2, Mandan 1

 

High School Boys Tennis
Minot High 6, Bismarck Legacy 3    (Minot wins 2nd straight regular season WDA title)
Williston 6, Bismarck High 3
Bismarck Century 8, Jamestown 1

High School Girls Swimming & Diving
Jamestown 108, Mandan 78

 

 

Class A
#2 Bismarck Century def. Dickinson (3-0) 25-14, 25-13, 25-19
#4 Jamestown def. Bismarck High (3-2) 21-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-12
Minot High def. Turtle Mountain (3-0) 25-11, 25-14, 25-15
Bismarck St. Mary’s def. Williston (3-0) 25-17, 25-23, 25-23
Watford City def. Mandan (3-2) 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-5

 

Class B
#2 Kenmare-Bowbells def. Tioga (3-0) 25-12, 25-6, 25-12
Our Redeemer’s def. Bishop Ryan (3-0) 25-18, 25-20, 25-18
Des Lacs-Burlington def. South Prairie-Max (3-1) 19-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-8
Surrey def. Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (3-1) 25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 27-25
Glenburn def. Berthold (3-0) 25-19, 26-24, 25-14
Velva def. TGU (3-0) 27-25, 25-19, 25-18
Newburg-Westhope def. Nedrose (3-1) 19-25, 25-11, 25-13, 25-22
Bottineau def. Drake-Anamoose (3-0) 25-18, 25-23, 25-13
North Prairie def. Nelson County (3-0)
Benson County def. St. John (3-0) 25-17, 25-20, 25-15
New Rockford-Sheyenne def. Harvey-Wells County (3-0) 25-19, 25-9, 25-16
Grant County def. Washburn (3-0) 25-11, 25-14, 25-17
North Shore-Plaza def. White Shield (3-1)
Powers Lake-Burke Central def. Stanley (3-1) 25-15, 19-25, 25-18, 25-10

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UND HOCKEY

 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (UND) – The University of North Dakota hockey program is selected to finish second, as the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) unveiled its 2022-23 Preseason Poll, with Denver being picked by the media to win the Penrose Cup for a second straight year.

The Pioneers collected 19 of 23 first-place votes and 180 points total to finish first in the media poll. North Dakota, which split the Penrose Cup with DU a season ago as co-regular-season champions, placed second in the poll, garnering 160 points and the four remaining first-place votes. Minnesota Duluth (136 points) and St. Cloud State (115) round out the top half of the preseason poll. Western Michigan (86) comes in fifth in the poll, followed by Colorado College (64), Omaha (59) and Miami (28), respectively.

North Dakota won its third straight Penrose Cup in 2021-22, which was the first time the NCHC has seen co-champions. UND has also won Penrose Cups in 2014-15, 2015-16, 2019-20 and 2020-21. The Fighting Hawks bring back 20 letterwinners from last year’s team, including First-Team All-NCHC honoree junior forward Riese Gaber, who was also named Preseason All-NCHC. UND is ranked No. 4 in both national preseason polls released Monday. If UND were to capture the crown once again, it would become the first team in NCHC history to win four straight Penrose Cups and the first in the program’s history to win four consecutive conference titles.

The NCHC officially drops the puck on its 10th season on Saturday, Oct. 1 with four non-conference contests and a quartet of exhibition games, as all eight NCHC teams are in action. UND will play an exhibition game against Manitoba at the Ralph that day.

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NDSU-MUDRA OBIT

 

FARGO, N.D. (NDSU) – Former North Dakota State University head football coach Darrell Mudra passed away Wednesday at the age of 93. Mudra is the man credited with turning the football fortunes around for North Dakota State. Named the head coach in 1963, he quickly guided the Bison to a 10-1 campaign in 1964 — just two years after the program had bottomed out with an 0-10 season — and into their first bowl game. The Bison won that contest, the Mineral Water Bowl, 14-13 over Western State and then captured the 1965 national championship with a perfect 11-0 season including a 20-7 win over Grambling in the Pecan Bowl.

 

His coaching career is legend across the American landscape. Nicknamed “Dr. Victory,” Mudra coached for 27 years at eight different universities or professional teams in the capacity of head coach, winning 207 games against 88 losses and four ties. Mudra went 24-6 in three years at North Dakota State after coaching four seasons at Adams State (1959-62) and before going on to coach the Montreal Alouettes (1966). He returned to the college ranks at Arizona (1967-68), Western Illinois (1969-73), Florida State (1974-75), Eastern Illinois (1978-82) and Northern Iowa (1983-87). He won another national championship with Eastern Illinois in 1978. Mudra was inducted into the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.

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TWINS-ROYALS

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jonathan Heasley pitched six innings of two-hit ball, Edward Oliveras and Drew Waters homered, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 on Thursday to complete their three-game series sweep. Salvador Perez also drove in a run for Kansas City, extending his streak to seven straight games with an RBI, and Brad Keller finished off three innings of no-hit ball by the bullpen for his first career save. The first home sweep of at least three games by the Royals since July 2021 also probably ended the fading playoff hopes of the Twins, who two weeks ago were in the midst of an AL Central race but lost eight of nine on their road trip. Minnesota rookie Josh Winder (4-5) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings. Caleb Hamilton drove in the only run for the Twins, who limp home to wrap up the season having lost 17 of their last 20 road games.

 

UP NEXT
After their disastrous trip, the Twins are headed home for three games against Angels and three against the White Sox to wrap up the regular season home schedule. They have not announced a starter for the opener against Los Angeles tonight. The Angels will start Shohei Ohtani (13-8, 2.43 ERA).

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WILD-KAPRIZOV

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Last summer, a long contract negotiation between Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild — plus the complication of international travel and COVID-19 protocols — put the star left wing’s arrival for the start of training camp in question. That process turned out to be a snap compared to this year. Kaprizov’s return to his native Russia after the Wild were ousted from the playoffs last spring led to a stressful offseason for the entire organization, as the franchise player ran into several roadblocks in his attempt to travel back to the U.S. The war in Ukraine and American-Russian political relations have made a trip home to visit family and friends not so simple anymore.

 

“At least I could do something last year, or not do something,” said general manager Bill Guerin, who gave Kaprizov a five-year, $45 million contract prior to last season. “At least we knew where he was and he was safe, and all that stuff. It was just a simple contract negotiation. This was a lot more serious, and when you can’t help it’s a little different.” The Wild did help as much as they could, with assistant general manager Chris O’Hearn and Kaprizov’s agent, Paul Theofanous, spearheading the behind-the-scenes paperwork.

 

While rumors about the status of Kaprizov’s military exemption spun through Russian media, the gist of the issue, according to Guerin, was the expiration of Kaprizov’s work visa. Pandemic-related backlogs have made appointments at foreign consulates much harder to obtain. “I’m sure it wasn’t a great part of his life, but it was more difficult than we thought it was going to be,” said Guerin, who alluded to help from “special friends” in Washington. “Kirill was really patient. He did exactly what he had to do. It was just a really tough time for him. We’re just glad that he’s here. We’re glad that he’s safe and healthy and ready to go, and he’s excited. That’s behind us.”

 

After taking the ice for the team’s first practice on Thursday, Kaprizov met with reporters but politely declined to answer questions about his off-the-ice ordeal out of preference to focus on hockey. The hockey part? Yeah, that ought to be a lot smoother. He had seven goals and one assist in Minnesota’s six-game loss to St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs last spring after 47 goals and 61 assists in 81 games during the regular season. The Wild had Kaprizov’s translator on the phone while he stood at a podium at the rink, but the easy-smiling, soft-spoken 25-year-old only needed his service for about half of the time. Kaprizov was comfortable enough to speak in English for the rest of it. “I do what I do every summer. I don’t think about 100 points. I just practice,” Kaprizov said when asked how he can top his 2021-22 season. “Have fun a little bit sometimes.” Maybe not as much as in summers past.

 

Since the war ramped up in February, Russian NHL players have found themselves in quite a predicament, trying to lay as low as possible on these geopolitical issues. Philadelphia Flyers goalie prospect Ivan Fedotov was sent to a remote military base in his homeland this summer. Just this week, the Czech Foreign Ministry told the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks that Russian players would not be welcome because of the war in Ukraine when the two teams play in Prague on Oct. 7-8.

 

For now, the Wild are more than thrilled to have “Kirill The Thrill” with them in Minnesota. “Obviously, you’re always thinking about your family and things like that. He’s not the only person to go through a tough time or a tough situation. That happens every single day of every year on every team. It’s not an easy life. Players always have a lot on their minds,” Guerin said. “The great thing about the game is when you come to the rink, it’s kind of like your safe haven and you can get away from all that and just be a hockey player and focus on the game.”