Michael Nelson, a North Dakota State recruit, was named Wisconsin's Mr. Basketball over the weekend in a state that is considered to have some top-notch talent this year.
The 6-foot-4 guard from Madison Memorial High School was picked by a panel of five coaches from a field that included two University of Wisconsin recruits.
"I can't think of a more deserving young man," NDSU head coach Tim Miles said. "He's the epitome of what you would want in a basketball player. He's really going to be a good one."
Nelson averaged 15.5 points in leading his team to an unbeaten regular season for the first time in school history. Memorial reached the Division I state championship game before losing 75-58 to Milwaukee King.
He's not the only Bison signee to make a statewide impact. Guard Ben Woodside of Albert Lea is a consensus top-five player in Minnesota and Tom Lunde of Ulen-Hitterdal led his team to the Minnesota Class 1A state tournament, which starts Thursday.
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Dickinson High center Lucas Moormann, who has verbally committed to NDSU, was named North Dakota's Mr. Basketball last week.
NDSU is also being mentioned as a final choice for Morris Area forward Brett Winkelman.
-- Jeff Kolpack
Twins tickets available
Minnesota Twins fans can now purchase tickets in Fargo at the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks ticket office.
Through a marketing and ticketing agreement between the Twins and the RedHawks, fans can choose their exact seat locations for Twins home games at the RedHawks ticket office located at Newman Outdoor Field in north Fargo.
The Twins will also have an advertising presence at Newman Outdoor Field during the RedHawks minor-league season this summer.
"This partnership is going to provide a great convenience for all Twins fans, as we will be able to print each ticket as it is sold," said Nicole Ellis, the RedHawks' director of ticket sales.
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Twins tickets are expected to be available at the RedHawks ticket office April 13. Ticket office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 13-16. Starting April 19, the ticket office will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays throughout the baseball season.
-- Forum staff reports
Radke bodybuilding champ
Blaine Radke of Fargo and Dawn Hickman of Elk River, Minn., were the overall men and women champions at last weekend's National Physique Committee Upper Midwest Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships held in Fargo.
Other winners were:
Radke, men's Dakota class; Jessica Forsman, women's Dakota class; Dawn Hickman, women's lightweight; Jessica Forsman, women's middleweight; Traci Karst, women's heavyweight; Dawn Hickman, women's masters; Kelle Lease, women's masters 40-and-over; Joe Ketterling, men's teenage; Scott Anderson, men's masters 35-39; Jim Axtman, men's masters 40-49; Roger Dieterle, men's masters 50-and-over; Rebar Amedi, men's lightweight; Tyler Gylland, men's middleweight; Ryan Schlinger, men's light heavyweight; Radke, men's heavyweight.
-- Forum staff reports
Top Prospects selections
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Five North Dakota high school hockey players have been invited to play in the Top Prospects Tournament April 9-13 in Toronto.
Paul Weisgarber of Fargo South, Nick Klenow and Justin Welk of Fargo North, Trevor Anderson of West Fargo and Mario Lamoureux of Grand Forks Central will play on a team representing the western United States.
All five players were members of the North Dakota 88s hockey team that placed second at the USA Hockey Tier II National Bantam Championships held in Orlando, Fla., last year.
Top Prospects is a college and junior hockey scouting tournament.
-- Forum staff reports
Olson back from NHL stint
Josh Olson, who played the 1999-2000 season with the former Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks of the United States Hockey League, had one goal in five games after being called up by the NHL's Florida Panthers.
The 6-foot-5, 236-pound left wing was re-assigned to the team's affiliate San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League, where he is the team's third-leading scorer with 19 goals and 10 assists in 59 games.
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The 22-year-old Olson averaged eight minutes of playing time with the Panthers, a team that also includes Moorhead product Matt Cullen. Olson was Florida's sixth round draft choice in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.
-- Forum staff reports
Gymnastics champions
Amanda McDonald and Leslie Pladson of Fargo's American Gold Gymnastics placed first at the North Dakota State Championships held in Dickinson last weekend.
McDonald placed first in the all-around competition, the vault, parallel bars, beam and floor exercise of the Level 9, Junior C division.
Pladson placed first in all five events as well in the Level 10, Junior D division.
Allie Kollman placed third in the all-around of the Level 9, Junior A division while Kaitlyn Johnson placed fifth in the all-around of the Level 8, 13-year-old division.
McDonald, Pladson, Kollman and Johnson have qualified for the Region IV Championships to be held in Des Moines, Iowa.
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Olivia Shockman placed fourth in the all-around of the Level 7, 9- to 11-year-old division.
-- Forum staff reports
Inside information
Former Kindred High School head wrestling coach Jeff Weber received a National Wrestling Coaches Association award for being named a 2002-03 region coach of the year at the Division I Championships last weekend in St. Louis. ... NDSU softball coach Darren Mueller picked up his 100th career victory with a 12-4 win over Southern Connecticut. Mueller, in his third season, is 100-24. ... Flint Fleming, a former North Dakota State football standout, has been named an assistant coach for the Indiana Firebirds of the Arena Football League. ... Cindy Schopper of Valley City, N.D., is one of five selected to coach the Special Olympics Team USA snowshoe delegation that will attend the eighth annual Special Olympics World Winter Games in Japan in 2005. ... Indiana University (Pa.) continues to be a potential football opponent for NDSU next season. ... Northern Colorado, which opens its football season at home against the Bison, will also play at the University of Montana and at the University of Maine as part of its recently released 2004 schedule. The Bears have six home games and five road contests. ... Montana, in the midst of an athletic department budget crisis, canceled a game at California Poly in order to play Northern Colorado at home. The Grizzlies have seven home games. ... Tim Driscoll, a former defensive coordinator at Jamestown College and Minnesota-Crookston, and a NDSU graduate, was named defensive coordinator at Michigan Tech. ... Championships in men's and women's indoor track, wrestling and a shared title in women's basketball pushed NDSU atop the North Central Conference all-sports leaderboard. ... Chelsie Haen of East Grand Forks, Minn., has signed a letter of intent to play volleyball at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. ... Laura Watkins, a freshman from Fargo, earned All-American honors for the Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) women's swim team. Watkins placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle at the recent NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. ... The Moorhead boys bantam 'A' team won a Minnesota state championship recently and finished its season with a
33-1-1 record.
-- Forum staff reports
