2005 BISON OPEN: Last year at the Bison Open, 181 wrestlers from 10 different schools wrestled at the tournament.
Eric Sanders (133) and Jacob Bryce (197) led the way for the Bison with second-place finishes. Gabe Mooney (149) and Justin LaGosh (197) also placed at the event, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Wrestling unattached at the tournament last season, first-year wrestlers Zach Molitor (165) took third place and Ryan Adams (141) placed sixth.
The top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers will also start their season this Saturday in Fargo. Gophers Dustin Schlatter (149) and Cole Konrad (Hwt.) began their national championship runs here last year and are looking to defend their Bison Open titles. Including Schlatter and Konrad, nine Gophers took home individual titles at last year's event.
Stanford University will be competing at the event for the first time ever. The Pac-10 school is already 1-2 in three duals this season and features All-American 125-pounder Tanner Gardner.
Other schools scheduled to bring competitors include MSU Moorhead, Concordia, Dickinson State, Jamestown College, Mary, Dakota Technical and Community College and Ridgewater Community College. Mary's Jesse Laber was the only non-Gopher to win a championship at the Bison Open last year. The 2005 NAIA national champion defeated NDSU's Bryce in the 197-pound final with a 3-1 decision.
WE'RE BACK: North Dakota State returns all 10 starters back from its 2005-06 season. They finished with a 6-6 record. They'll be led this year by team captains Matt Hermann and Matt Wetterling.
Hermann, a Burnsville, Minn., native, is a three-year starter that leads the team in career wins with 63. The senior went 8-7 last year overall and 7-5 in dual action. Wetterling, a junior from Willmar, Minn., had a breakout season last year for the Bison, leading the team with a 25-7 record overall, 9-3 in duals.
PIN TO WIN: Matt Wetterling was a pinning machine last year for the Bison, sticking 18 of his opponents. His 18 pins tied for ninth overall and third in Division I according to InterMatWrestle.com, a Web site ran by the National Wrestling Coaches' Association.
WESTERN WRESTLING CONFERENCE: North Dakota State and six other schools formed the Western Wrestling Conference (WWC).
Along with the Bison, charter members of the Western Wrestling Conference will include: the United States Air Force Academy, the University of Northern Colorado, the University of Northern Iowa, South Dakota State University, Utah Valley State College and the University of Wyoming.
Last season the Bison went 4-1 against these schools. Their only loss came to Northern Iowa and their dual with SDSU last year was cancelled due to bad weather. To make up for it, the Bison will face the Jackrabbits twice this year.
NEWCOMERS: North Dakota State welcomes 13 new student-athletes to their roster including a couple of decorated transfers.
Eric Hoffman comes to NDSU via Iowa Central Community College where he was the NJCAA national champion at 125 pounds in 2005. In two years at ICCC, Hoffman compiled a record of 58-12.
Ryan Klinger is a transfer from the University of Illinois where he backed up 133-pound All-American Kyle Ott for two years. In high school, Klinger was Illinois state champion and helped lead his high school team to its first ever state team title in 2003.
The 11 high school wrestlers that joined the Bison this year have combined for eight state championships in their career, led by Casey Buchholz (North Dakota) and Vince Salminen (Montana), who each won two.
POSTSEASON ELIGIBLE: Thanks to an NCAA ruling in September 2004, North Dakota State could reclassify its wrestling team to Division I in three years instead of five, making them eligible for the NCAA West Regional and the Division I Championships this year. NDSU is on track to reclassify in all sports by 2008-09.
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