The North Dakota State Bison wrestling team represents

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo (Help:IPA/English, /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the ...

. The Bison currently compete in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

and play their home duals at the Scheels Center. NDSU is currently coached by

Roger Kish Roger Kish is an American wrestler and the current head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners wrestling team. A native of Lapeer, Michigan, Kish was a four-time Michigan state wrestling champion. Kish is currently tied for ninth all time on the Michiga ...

History

North Dakota State wrestling began in 1957 when head coach Tom Neuberger led the team to victory in their first dual meet against

Valley City State University Valley City State University (VCSU) is a public university in Valley City, North Dakota. It is part of the North Dakota University System. Founded in 1890 as Valley City State Normal School, a two-year teachers' college, it was authorized to con ...

. Neuberger passed the coaching reins to

Bucky Maughan Arthur "Bucky" Maughan is an American wrestler. He is a distinguished member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and former head coach of the wrestling team at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota, where he has been head coac ...

in 1964. Since that time, NDSU has won four

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

wrestling titles, 30 individual national champions, and 159 All-Americans. The first individual National Champions were

Bob Backlund Robert Louis Backlund (born August 14, 1949) is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/ World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, whe ...

and Bill Demaray in 1971. The team has since transitioned to

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

and emerged from reclassification in 2007. The Bison have had only three permanent head wrestling coaches in their history. Tom Nueberger coached the team from 1957-1963. During that time, Don Lemnus served as acting coach in 1961. In 1964

National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

member

took over the program and led the team through four Division II team titles and NDSU's transition to Division I. On May 17, 2011 Bucky Maughan announced his retirement. His replacement would eventually be

, who was a two-time NCAA runner-up at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. In 2013-14, the Bison wrestling team had its best season to date as a Division I school. The team reached its highest ranking of 20th in the USA Today polls and finished 21st in the national championship. Steven Monk finished third at the NCAA championships at 165 pounds. Monk was the eighth Bison wrestler to earn All-American status and the second since the school completed its transition to Division I, after Trent Sprenkle, who finished fifth at the 125 pound weight class in 2013. In 2015, Hayden Zillmer (6th at 184) and Kurtis Julson (8th at 174) were the only two WWC athletes to earn All-America honors. After the season, it was announced that NDSU and other WWC schools would merge with the

. Home meets are currently held at the Scheels Center. The new arena was completed in 2016 after a $50 million renovation of the old Bison Sports Arena. The Bison hosted the Division II wrestling tournament three times in the Bison Sports Arena. Prior to that arena opening in 1970, NDSU competed in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse on campus.

Coaches

Source:

Championships

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

Division II team titles: 1988, 1998, 2000, 2001

North Central Conference The North Central Conference (NCC), also known as North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was a college athletic conference which operated in the north central United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division II. History The NCC ...

Division II team titles: 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004

Western Wrestling Conference The Western Wrestling Conference (WWC) was an NCAA Division I wrestling-only conference that competed from 2006 through 2015. All of its past members are now associate members of the Big 12 Conference; all except Fresno State compete only in Big ...

team titles: (Division I): 2013, 2014, 2015

Individual accomplishments

Mitch Bengtson -WWC 141lb champion: 2015 -Daktronics open 141lb champion: 2014 Cordell eaton -Bison Open 197lb Champion: 2016 Andrew Fogarty -Bison Open 165lb Champion: 2016 Kyle Gliva -Bison Open 149lb Champion: 2016 Kurtis Julson -WWC 174lb champion: 2015 -Daktronics open 174lb champion: 2014 Evan Knutson -Daktroncis Open 285lb champion: 2014 Tyler McNutt - Bison Open 184lb Champion: 2016 -Dragon Open White Division 174lb champion: 2014 -Ridgewater Open 174lb champion: 2015 Steven Monk -Midlands Championships 165lb champion: 2013 Nick O'Brien -Cobber Open Maroon Division 133lb champion: 2014 -Dragon Open White Division 133lb champion: 2014 -Ridgewater Open 133lb champion: 2015 Charley Popp -Ridgewater Open 165lb champion: 2015 Clay Ream -WWC 149lb champion: 2015 - Bison Open 157lb Champion: 2016 Josh Rodriguez -WWC 125lb champion: 2015 -Bison Open 125lb Champion: 2016 Ben Tynan -Bison Open 285lb Champion: 2016 Mark Voss -Ridgewater Open 149lb champion: 2015 Hayden Zillmer -WWC 184lb champion: 2015 -Bison open 184lb champion: 2014

References

External links

North Dakota State Bison Wrestling website
{{Western Wrestling Conference 1957 establishments in North Dakota Sports clubs established in 1957