The Nebraska–Kearney Lopers are the athletic teams that represent the

University of Nebraska at Kearney The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is a campus of the public University of Nebraska system and located in Kearney, Nebraska. It was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. History In March 1903 the Nebraska S ...

, located in Kearney,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen me ...

(MIAA) for most of its sports since the 2012–13 academic year; while its women's swimming and diving team competes in 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). The Lopers previously competed in the D-II

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

(RMAC) from 1994–95 to 2011–12 (which they were a member on a previous stint as a provisional member during the 1989–90 school year); and in the

Central States Intercollegiate Conference The Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) was an American intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1976 to 1989. It was known to be one of the toughest NAIA c ...

(CSIC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) from 1976–77 to 1988–89.

Conference affiliations

* 1916–17 to 1927–28: Nebraska Collegiate Conference * 1928–29 to 1942–43: Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association * 1943–44 to 1975–76: Nebraska Collegiate Conference * 1976–77 to 1988–89:

* 1989–90 to 1993–94: Independent * 1994–95 to 2011–12:

* 2012–13 to present:

Varsity teams

UNK competes in 17 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include basketball, cross country, football, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.

Softball

The Lopers softball team appeared in the first three

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 1969, 1970 and 1971.

Women's swim and dive

The Women's swim and dive team is an affiliate member of the

(RMAC).

National championships

Team

Mascot

The mascot at

is Louie, who has been at the college since the beginning. He is always at every UNK Athletic event cheering on the Lopers with the cheerleaders.

Facilities

* Foster Field at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium – Home of the Loper football and soccer teams * Cushing Pool – Home of the Loper Swim & Dive team * Dryden Park – Home of the UNK Softball team * Harmon Park – Home of the UNK Tennis team * Health and Sports Center – Home of the UNK Basketball, Wrestling, and Volleyball teams * Kearney Memorial Field – Home of the UNK Baseball team (Once home to a

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

minor league team, Nebraska State League)

Notable alumni

Kamaru Usman Kamarudeen Usman (born May 11, 1987) is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler, and graduated folkstyle wrestler. He currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championsh ...

, former

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

Welterweight Champion and 2010 NCAA Division II Wrestling champion * Stephen Goodin, NFL player * Randy Rasmussen, former

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

player *

Joba Chamberlain Justin Louis "Joba" Chamberlain ( ; ; born September 23, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and Cleveland Indians. Cha ...

pitcher * Tervel Dlagnev, Olympic Wrestler * Mason Brodine, tight end for the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

* Arthur Hobbs, defensive back for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

* George Murdoch, Professional Wrestler, currently signed to the Nation Wrestling Alliance under the ring name Tyrus

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nebraska-Kearney Lopers