North Dakota
Today in History: December 29, 1959 – Sioux ice champs North Dakota team of the year
Today in History revisits the Tuesday, December 29. 1959 edition of the Grand Forks Herald and highlights a story on the UND Hockey team being names North Dakota team of the year.
The University of North Dakota hockey team was named “Team of the Year” after winning the NCAA Championship in a 4-3 overtime victory over Michigan State. Forward Reg Morelli was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Runner-up honors went to the Bismarck High basketball team for winning its third straight Class A title.
Sioux Ice Champs N. D. Team Of Year
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (as published by the Grand Forks Herald on Dec. 29, 1959)
North Dakota hockey stock reached a peak early in 1959 when the University sextet captured the NCAA championship with a 4-3 overtime victory over Michigan State.
The feat earned the Sioux icemen the accolade of “team of the year” in the annual Associated Press poll of sports editors and sports directors.
Runner-up honors in the balloting went to the Bismarck high school basketball team, which won its third straight Class A high school title.
The St. Mary’s high school football team, which came from no- where to win the Class A grid crown, won third place.
The University hockey team had taken western championship for the first time the year before, and finished second to Denver in the 1957-58 NCAA tournament.
As the 1958-59 campaign rolled around there were many problems to be solved if the Sioux were to maintain their position atop the college hockey world.
One by one the questions were resolved, and on March 14, at Troy, N. Y., North Dakota went into overtime to cop the coveted NCAA title.
Tremendous spirit marked the Sioux climb to the top. The North Dakota team won four games during the season in overtime, including two in the NCAA meet.
Members of the championship team included George Gratton and Bob Peabody, goalies; Ralph Lyndon, Julian Butherta, Pete Gaze- ly and Bob Began on defense; and Jerry Walford, Stan Paschke, Guy LaFrance, Art Miller, Ed Thomlinson, Joe Poole, Les Merrifield, Ron King, Bart Larson, Bernie Haley, Garth Perry and Reg Morelli, forwards.
Morelli Voted Most Valuable
Morelli was voted most valuable player in the NCAA tourney. Morelli and Thomlinson were on the first team and Lyndon and Poole on the tournament’s second team.
The Bismarck basketball feat of three straight state championships tied a record set by Fargo in 1922- 23-24. The Demons had an overall 21-3 record, averaged 61.6 points per game and held opponents to 49.3 per tilt on the season.
Starters were Ron Carlson and Bob Smith at forward, Rod Tjaden at center and Art Winter and Rich Olthoff at guards.
Carlson and Winter were all-west choices.
Here are “team of the year” choices, points in parenthesis:
- UND hockey (37)
- Bismarck high basketball (24)
- St. Mary’s high football (16)
- Bottineau high basketball (11)
- Valley City Teachers basket- ball (10)
- Williston high wrestling (5)
- Grand Forks Legion baseball (2)
- Shanley high football (1)
- NDAC football (1).
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
FARGO, N.D. (KMOT) – Kathy Hogan, one of the leading Democratic voices in the North Dakota legislature and current Senate Minority Leader, will retire at the end of her term.
The North Dakota Democratic-NPL party announced in a release Thursday that Hogan would retire at the end of November.
Hogan was first appointed to the House for District 21 in 2009 and elected in 2010, serving through 2018.
Voters elected her to the state Senate in 2018, and she served as Minority Leader from 2023-26. Hogan served on the Senate Human Services Committee as well as Agriculture, Transportation and other interim committees.
The Dem-NPL called Hogan “a fierce advocate for the most vulnerable in our state, accountability and transparency in government, and support for local governments.”
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
FARGO, ND (Dakota News Now) -North Dakota State held South Dakota State to 35.7% shooting in the first half, and kept the Jackrabbits at bay in the second half, en route to a 76-65 victory for the Bison in the Scheels Center on Wednesday in Summit League men’s basketball.
SDSU missed its first eight field goal attempts of the contest but found itself down just 6-0 in the opening minutes. The Jackrabbits trailed 15-6 before getting on their best run of the night. An 11-0 scoring stretch over a roughly two-minute span gave SDSU a 17-15 edge. The Jacks led for 23 seconds before NDSU struck back. The Bison responded with a 13-0 run to give the Bison a 28-17 advantage with 5:22 remaining in the opening half. North Dakota State eventually took a 35-23 lead into the halftime break. The Bison shot 48.3% from the field, while hitting five 3-pointers, and the Jacks were held to 2 of 13 from deep.
SDSU and NDSU traded baskets through a majority of the second half. The Jackrabbits whittled the deficit into single digits for a large portion of the period. Matthew Mors drained back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the margin to 63-58 as the clock dipped to five minutes remaining. Consecutive treys made by NDSU’s Treyson Anderson and Damari Wheeler-Thomas pushed the lead to double digits for good.
South Dakota State outshot North Dakota State 52-44% from the floor, but the Bison were 9-for-18 from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes of action.
NOTES
- North Dakota State improved to 15-5 overall and 5-0 in Summit League play. South Dakota State fell to 9-10 (2-2).
- Anderson led all scorers in the game with 20 points. The Bison sophomore went 7-for-12 shooting and 5 of 9 from deep. Five Bison scored in double digits including Trevian Carson (14), Markhi Strickland (12), Wheeler-Thomas (11) and Andy Stefonowicz (10). Wheeler-Thomas had eight rebounds and Carson dished out four assists, while the duo had three steals apiece.
- Four Jackrabbits scored in double digits led by Jaden Jackson’s 16 points. He was followed by Joe Sayler (12), Damon Wilkinson (10) and Mors (10). Jackson had team highs in rebounds (8) and assists (4).
- NDSU narrowly outshot SDSU 46-44% but had an edge from deep. The Bison connected on 14 3-pointers (45.2%) while the Jacks knocked down nine on 26 attempts (34.6%).
UP NEXT
South Dakota State returns home for its next contest on Saturday. The Jackrabbits host Kansas City at 4:15 p.m. in First Bank & Trust Arena as part of a doubleheader with the SDSU women’s basketball team.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
North Dakota troopers escort semi truck hauling 81 foot wide building on five mile journey
The North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP) was on scene to assist with the move of a large building in Cass County on Wednesday.
On January 14, 2026, NDHP troopers were on hand to assist a heavy haul team with moving a building on a five mile journey along Highway 46 from Co. Rd. 17 in Cass County to west of Kindred.
Troopers say that the building is 81 feet wide, 81 feet long and 35 feet high.
NDHP warned motorists that the building’s track would be “slow moving” and would take up the entire roadway. Troopers advised alternate routes.
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