Lots O’ Stuff
Updates on area graduates, a fun fact and something different
Jackson County Central graduate Evan Paplow, a freshman at Iowa Central Community College, placed 110th of 191 finishers at the NJCAA Division 1 men's cross country meet in Richmond, Virginia Saturday with a time of 26:40.4.
The Tritons were 19th in the team standings out of 28 teams. Iowa Central will host next year’s national meet.
JCC graduate Alaina Wolff, a 5-9 senior defensive specialist at South Dakota, had five digs in the Coyotes’ 3-1 win at North Dakota State. USD, 18-6 overall and 10-3 in the Summit League, has two road matches in opposite directions this week, playing at St. Thomas Thursday and Omaha on Saturday.
Jackson County Central grad Sadie Voss, a 5-9 junior outside hitter at the University of Sioux Falls, put up some more big numbers last weekend.
On Friday she had 20 kills and nine digs in a 3-2 loss to Northern State. Sadie followed that up on Saturday with 16 kills and 11 digs in a 3-2 win over Minnesota State Moorhead. USF, 13-11 overall and 8-8 in the NSIC, closes out the regular season in North Dakota, playing at Minot State Friday and Mary Saturday.
Martin County West graduate Alyssa (Taylor) Maiers is associate head volleyball coach at Gustavus, which defeated St. Catherine 3-1 Saturday to complete its third consecutive undefeated conference season and win the program's 10th MIAC regular season championship and fourth in a row. The Gusties are the first team in recorded MIAC history to compile three undefeated league records in consecutive years. In that time, the team has conceded only nine sets to conference opponents, collecting 25 3-0 sweeps.
Gustavus, 20-9 overall and 11-0 in the MIAC, has a first-round bye in the conference tournament and will host Tuesday’s Augsburg-Saint Benedict winner in the semifinals on Thursday.
JCC grad Michelle (Van Epps) Aggen is Director of Volleyball Operations at Iowa State. The Cyclones are 9-13 overall and 3-8 in the Big 12. ISU hosts Colorado Wednesday and is at Texas Tech Saturday.
Jackson County Central graduate Megan Bezdicek is an assistant volleyball coach at Minnesota State. The Mavericks are 16-8 overall and 8-8 in the NSIC with road matches at Bemidji State Friday and Minnesota-Crookston on Saturday.
Heron Lake-Okabena-Lakefield grad Lindsay Wilber completed her 11th season as head volleyball coach at Dakota Wesleyan. The Tigers finished 13-16, losing in the GPAC quarterfinals 3-0 to Concordia (Nebraska).
Martin County West graduate Max Olson, a 6-3, 253-pound sophomore defensive lineman for Gustavus, had five solo tackles including two sacks for a total of 15 yards lost in the Gusties loss at Carleton. Gustavus, 5-4 overall and 4-3 in the MIAC, hosts Concordia to close out the season Saturday.
Fairmont grad Sawyer Tordsen, a 6-7, 305-pound redshirt freshman offensive lineman, saw playing time for Augustana its 27-21 Key to the City game victory over Sioux Falls.
The Vikings, 7-3 overall and 6-3 in the NSIC, clinched at least a share of the NSIC title, becoming the first team since 1942 to repeat as conference champions. Augustana can wrap up a second straight championship on Saturday at Bemidji State.
Windom grads Alex, Zach and Brady Espenson combined for six points on Friday and topped that with seven points Saturday as the Dordt University men’s hockey team won big twice in a sweep of East Texas Baptist. The Defenders won by scores of 8-1 and 12-0.
Alex, a senior forward, had two goals and three assists in the two games; junior defenseman Zach had three goals and three assists; and sophomore forward Brady had one goal and one assist.
Dordt, 10-0-1 and 1-0 in the ACHA, is at Nebraska this weekend.
Five area graduates wrestled in the Dakota Wesleyan Open in Mitchell Saturday.
At 165, JCC grad Payton Handevidt placed first and MCW grad Payton Anderson third.
Handevidt went 5-0, winning one match by fall, one by major decision and three by decision including a 1-0 win over Augustana teammate Charlie Petit in the finals. Anderson was 5-1, winning once by fall, three times by decision and once by no contest.
MCW graduate Jaxson Rohman finished fourth at 125, going 5-1 with his loss coming to Carson Dupill of South Dakota State. He won three matches by fall and one by technical fall.
Jackson County Central graduate Nolan Ambrose placed fourth at 149, going 5-1. He won three matches by fall and two by decision including one in sudden victory overtime. Nolan didn’t wrestle the third-place match as he had reached the six match limit for the day.
JCC grad Logan Butzon was 4-2 and placed sixth at 157. He won one match by tech fall, one major and two decisions.
He met a pair of former Big South Conference foes now wrestling for Southwest Minnesota State along the way, winning 2-1 over Marshall grad Tate Condezo and losing on a tiebreaker to Sean Howk of New Ulm. Logan did wrestle his sixth-place match as he had met his match limit.
Jackson County Central grad Pat Garvin started his fifth season as men’s basketball coach at Bethany Lutheran College with two losses in Colorado Springs, falling 99-82 to No. 11 Trinity University of Texas and 86-75 to Colorado College. The Vikings are at Saint Mary’s Thursday.
JCC graduate Brody Anderson is in his first year as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Mayville State.
The Comets are 3-3 after going 1-2 on a trip to northwest Iowa to face some GPAC teams, losing to Dordt and Northwestern before winning over Briar Cliff. Mayville hosts Canadian Mennonite University in a two-game series Friday and Saturday.
Fun fact
The HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm once helped save a man from being falsely accused of murder. Larry David’s acclaimed series happened to be filming at Dodger stadium the night the murder happened. Their cameras miraculously caught Juan Catalan, proving his alibi true as well as his innocence.
Enjoy Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye from the 1959 movie The Five Pennies