The Minot State Beavers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of

Minot State University Minot State University (MSU or MiSU) is a public university in Minot, North Dakota, United States. Founded in 1913 as a normal school, MSU evolved into a university in 1987 and is currently the state's third-largest, offering undergraduate and ...

(MSU), located in

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

. The Beavers compete at the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the 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 environment ...

level. The university was previously a member of the NAIA's

Dakota Athletic Conference The Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). As the name implies, member teams were located in the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. T ...

(DAC) and competed as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

as a provisional member for the 2011–12 academic year before joining the

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Nine of ...

(NSIC) in 2012. Minot State Beavers men's and women's ice hockey teams currently play in the

American Collegiate Hockey Association The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes quality in collegi ...

(ACHA), the men's team plays as is an independent team at the ACHA Men's Division I level and women's team at the ACHA Women's Division II level.

History

Minot State University athletics previously competed in the

(DAC) which was a part of the NAIA. The Minot State University Beavers won NAIA national championships in men's cross country in 2002 and 2003, the only team national championships in the school's history. In January 2011, MSU was admitted to the NSIC with the

University of Sioux Falls The University of Sioux Falls (USF) is a private university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. In fall 2014, the university enrolled a total of 1,142 undergraduate students and 311 graduate students. ...

, also transitioning from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. The two schools will join the conference for the 2012–13 academic year creating a 16-member conference split into two 8-member divisions. MSU will compete in the NSIC North Division, consisting of Bemidji State, U-Mary, Minnesota-Crookston, Minnesota-Duluth, MSU-Moorhead, Minot State, Northern State and St. Cloud State. In July 2012, the university became one of six universities to join the NCAA as full members, with official membership commencing on September 1, 2012. As part of the successful transition to the NCAA, Minot State will be eligible for postseason conference and NCAA postseason competition.

National championships

Team

Sports

Men's sports *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

* Cross Country *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

(ACHA) *

Track & Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

Women's sports *

* Cross Country *

(ACHA) *

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Football

Minot State's football team competes in

. The team plays home games at Herb Parker Stadium (capacity 4,300), and has made the NCAA DII National Playoffs 9 times, including an appearance in the playoffs in 1992. The team is currently coached by

Ian Shields Ian Shields (born ) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Minot State University, a position he has held since 2023. Shields served as the head football coach at Eastern Oregon University in L ...

. The Beavers have produced NFL players, including Randy Hedburg, who was an 8th round selection in the 1977 NFL Draft, and Ron Marsh, an undrafted free agent signed by the Denver Broncos.

Ice hockey (M)

Minot State men's ice hockey team competes in the ACHA Division I level as the NAIA discontinued the sponsorship of the sport in the 1980s. The team plays at the All Seasons Arena, with select games at the Maysa Arena. The men's team competes as an ACHA DI independent team and plays a schedule consisting ACHA DI members along with a number of games against local

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

schools, Dakota College at Bottineau Lumberjacks and newly formed Williston State College Tetons, as well as Canadian colleges. The Beavers are coached by Wyatt Waselenchuk The Beavers have won three ACHA Men's Division I national championships (2013, 2019, 2023), and finished as runner-up in 2021.

Ice hockey (W)

Softball

Minot State's softball team appeared in three consecutive

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

in 1970, 1971 and 1972.

References

External links

* {{Dakota Sports