Bison Host Utah Valley in Regular Season Finale

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State hosts Western Wrestling Conference foe Utah Valley in the regular season finale Saturday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.  The Bison are coming off a pair of dominant wins over South Dakota State and Dickinson State last weekend.  NDSU and Utah Valley first met in 2005.  The Bison lead the all-time series, 4-1, with Utah Valley winning the last meeting, 18-15, in 2009.

Senior Night

Saturday’s meet will serve as the home finale for four Bison seniors - Geoff Martin, Andrey Patselov, Kenny Moenkedick and Vince Salminen.  They will be recognized for their contributions to the program prior to the first bout on Saturday evening.

About Utah Valley

The Wolverines are 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the WWC.  They wrestle at South Dakota Friday before traveling to Fargo. They have defeated Northern Colorado and Air Force in WWC action.  Two wrestlers are ranked in the InterMat top 20 - No. 13 Ben Kjar at 125 pounds and No. 13 Flint Ray at 133 pounds.  Head coach Greg Williams is in his fifth year with the program.

Sprenkle, Salminen continue stay in InterMat poll

Sophomore Trent Sprenkle and senior Vince Salminen have maintained their places in the latest version of the InterMat rankings released Feb. 15.  Sprenkle is No. 19 at 125 pounds and Salminen is No. 18 at 157 pounds.  Sprenkle is also No. 23 in the WrestlingReport.com rankings and No. 16 in Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine (WIN)’s latest poll.  He is No. 25 in the D1 College Wrestling rankings.  Salminen is also ranked in three additional polls.  He is No. 17 in the WrestlingReport.com poll and No. 16 in WIN’s rankings.  Salminen is No. 17 in the D1 College Wrestling rankings.

Bison rock South Dakota State, Dickinson

NDSU outscored its two opponents last weekend, 87-10.  The Bison defeated South Dakota State, 43-7, on Friday, Feb. 11 and beat Dickinson State, 44-3 on Sunday, Feb. 13.  Senior Geoff Martin notched pins at 141 pounds in both matches.  Junior Drew Ross also picked up two pins to lead the Bison.  NDSU only dropped three of the 20 bouts last weekend.

NCAA West Regional set for March 6

The 2011 NCAA West Regional, featuring all the teams from the WWC, will take place in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Sunday, March 6.  The winners of each weight class will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, Pa.