North Dakota
Don’t blame yourselves, Killdeer … blame Gaylon
Weekends mean nothing to a sportswriter without work. We don’t even technically know what they are, until around the end of May, but sports keep us out of trouble.
Sometimes.
With big Saturday plans — and the kickoff of going up to Killdeer to cover the Class A North Dakota quarterfinals — the game started at a breakfast-ish 12:30 slot and an opportunity to have a little “weekend fun” on the back-end of the game at roughly 4 pm on a Saturday: Ideal timeframe for an early bout of postgame amusement.
Like an idiot I wore cowboy-boots, because I look great in cowboy-boots (they really bring out my eyes), and temporarily forgot how unlucky my totems are. You see, the Cowboys were the only local game left on Saturday’s slate, and I just didn’t plan that well, and my crystal-ball is in storage.
I figured I would fold in a trip to Players Sports Bar & Grill during my travel-back and, perhaps, see by main-man, “Handsome Rob,” as a sidebar, while maybe chatting with an interested female companion who might wanna hear about my (ostensibly) awesome day covering football 30-miles north.
Maaaaan, I actually thought WAAAAY too-far ahead …
I’m Scots-American, and my Grandpa Crabbe was born in Glasgow, so that brings with it a firm belief in jinxes. Yes, I knock 3 times on wood to dispel any potential harbinger and recognize the mystical forces of the universe I have zero control over, in the interest of warding off the metaphysical “demons.”
My Dearly-departed-Dad thought this is all nonsense, but he always was wrong.
I have a propensity to wear RED during My Beloved Liverpool’s games, in only odd-numbers of clothing items … (trust-me, it works) and about 20 months ago I figured I might try it with big Trinity High School games.
Sadly, the precognition fell flat on its face. Three of the 4 times I wore RED to Trinity games, they lost. Not-just a week-2 game against Des Lacs-Burlington, mind-you, but the big-uns. So RED is out, forthwith, because I’m bad-luck (wearing RED) when I go to the BAC or the KofCAC. The same is true of orange, royal-blue, maroon, navy-blue or any of the school colors in our coverage area; the risks are just too-great-to-take.
And I don’t do it because — obviously — I’m a jinx when I pull that stunt.
Fast-forward to my fashion faux-pas on Saturday …
I don’t want a single Cowboys player to blame themselves for their loss to Langdon Area-Munich; it rests squarely upon my bootheels. I forgot how criminally unlucky I am when I try this act (unless you count Saturday morning watching Liverpool, because we won, 2-1, over Brighton & Hove Albion while I was wearing RED … I guess it only works when I’m supporting “the Reds” ((it’s not an exact-science)).
Killdeer came up 3-yards short of tying or winning the game in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter, down 44-41, and it’s all my fault. Doggone boots demolished the home-team’s chances … and I was in the pressbox the whole time, realizing what I had done. A thin-layer of sweat breaking out over my body, despite the chilly weather.
In short, I feel bad for my fashion-choices; I shoulda-known-better. (Or turned around in Manning when it dawned on me, in order to go home and change my shoes … like a responsible person.)
So, forthwith, if you see me walking through the gates wearing your team’s colors and/or any references to your mascots, discuss the matter with a coach or usher and have me impolitely escorted out … because I’ve been here before and I know the damage it does. Just in case I weasel my way through, absentmindedly towards your doom, feel free to tackle me or remind me of my perennial jinx-ish-ness, or punch me squarely in the bridge of my nose (the sports-Moms, not the sports-Dads … I’m scared witless over the size of you-dudes).
In the end, I was an upside-down-horseshoe/bad-penny/unmitigated-jinx and you have nobody to blame but myself.
It won’t happen again, but if it does: You’ve been warned.
Gaylon is a sportswriter who originally is from Jensen Beach, Fla. and his column appears weekly. He can be reached at
gparker@thedickinsonpress.com
and/or 701-456-1213.
Gaylon is a sportswriter from Jensen Beach, Fla., but has lived all over the world. Growing up with an athletic background gave him a love of sports that led to a journalism career in such places as Enid, Okla., Alamogordo, N.M., Pascagoula, Miss. and Viera, Fla. since 1998. His main passion is small-town community sports, particularly baseball and soccer.
North Dakota
Recap: Penn State wrestling sets NCAA history with 77th consecutive dual meet win
Penn State goes two for two and sets a new NCAA record
12/20/2025 07:26:07 PM
Penn State won two matches at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals and has set a new NCAA Division I record with 77 consecutive dual meet victories. The Lions pass Oklahoma State’s previous mark of 76 by beating Stanford 42-0. Earlier in the day, Penn State shut out North Dakota State.
Here are the full results from both matches:
PSU vs. NDSU
125 pounds: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State d. No. 31 Ezekiel Witt, NDSU, 6-5 (PSU 3-0)
133 pounds: No. 10 Marcus Blaze, PSU md. No. 29 Tristan Daugherty, NDSU, 11-3 (PSU 7-0)
141 pounds: Nate Desmond, Penn State d. Michael Olson, NDSU, 4-1 (PSU 10-0)
149 pounds: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness, PSU TF No. 24 Max Petersen, NDSU, 19-2 (5:16) (PSU 15-0)
157 pounds: No. 8 PJ Duke, Penn State md. No. 21 Gavin Drexler, NDSU, 16-5 (PSU 19-0)
165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU TF Boeden Greenley, NDSU 18-1 (3:45) (PSU 24-0)
174 pounds: No. 1 Levi Haines, Penn State F. Max Magayna, NDSU (1:38) (PSU 30-0)
184 pounds: No. 4 Rocco Welsh, PSU TF Andrew McMcgonagle, NDSU, 19-4 (6:17) (PSU 35-0)
197 pounds: Josh Barr, Penn State TF Devin Wasley, NDSU, 19-3 (3:20) (PSU 40-0)
285 pounds: No. 13 Cole Mirasola, PSU F Drew Blackburn, NDSU (:33) (PSU 46-0)
PSU vs. Stanford
125 pounds: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State d. No. 12 Nicco Provo, Stanford, 4-2 (PSU 3-0)
133 pounds: No. 10 Marcus Blaze, PSU F No. 6 Tyler Knox, Stanford (6:44) (PSU 9-0)
141 pounds: #Nate Desmond Penn State md. Lain Yapoujian, Stanford, 9-0 (PSU 13-0)
149 pounds: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness, PSU d. 14 Aden Valencia, Stanford, 10- 4 (PSU 16-0)
157 pounds: No. 8 PJ Duke, Penn State d. No. 5 Daniel Cardenas, Stanford, 5-2 (PSU 19-0)
165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU F. EJ Parco, Stanford (4:23) (PSU 25-0)
174 pounds: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU md. Lorenzo Norman, Stanford, 14-4 (PSU 29-0)
184 pounds: No. 4 Rocco Welsh, PSU d. Abraham Wojcikiewicz, Stanford, 5-1 (PSU 32-0)
197 pounds: Josh Barr, PSU TF No. 19 Angelo Posada, Stanford, 19-3 (PSU 37-0)
285 pounds: No. 13 Cole Mirasola PSU TF Luke Duthie, Stanford, 21-6 (2:59) (PSU 42-0)
North Dakota
Suffolk prosecutors intercept, return scammed cash to North Dakota grandmother
An 80-year-old North Dakota grandmother scammed out of $8,500 has her money back after Suffolk County prosecutors and postal inspectors traced the package of cash, which was mailed to a Shirley address, and returned it earlier this week, district attorney’s officials said.
Officials said the woman received a call Dec. 12 from someone pretending to be her granddaughter, saying she had been in a traffic accident in Suffolk County and needed bail money.
The caller said she was charged with three crimes and then handed the phone to a man posing as her lawyer, who gave the grandmother instructions on how to send cash through the mail, district attorney’s officials said.
The grandmother mailed the cash, but the man kept calling, pestering her for more money, prosecutors said. The woman, who eventually realized she had been scammed, called police in Devils Lake, North Dakota, and reported the con.
Detectives, who made no arrests, tracked the package to Shirley. The Suffolk County Financial Crimes Bureau then worked with inspectors from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to intercept the package two hours after it arrived on Wednesday and returned the money to the North Dakota woman.
“Our office is dedicated to combating scammers who prey on the senior citizen community, who criminals believe to be easy prey,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement. “Bad actors should know that Suffolk County will not be a haven for mailing scams, and that we will do everything within our power to prevent citizens from being swindled by predatory scammers.”
North Dakota
Bill to improve rural veteran health care sees support from North Dakota providers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — North Dakota organizations have submitted letters of support for a federal bill that would improve veterans’ access to local health care options, which has been examined by the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
The bill – the Critical Access for Veterans Care Act – from Sen. Kevin Cramer and Sen. Tim Sheehy would allow veterans living in the rural United States to seek health care services at their local critical access hospitals or rural health clinics, a press release said.
“The Community Care program literally can be a lifeline,” said Cramer, R-N.D. “(What) prevents it from being a lifeline as often as it ought to be is all of the roadblocks that get put up. After hearing from veterans and rural health care providers and leaders across North Dakota, I proposed a solution with Sen. Sheehy to simplify access to the critical access network, whether it’s a critical access hospital (or) rural health clinic.”
Cramer and Sheehy’s (R-Mont.) bill would amend the VA (Veterans Affairs) MISSION Act of 2018 to make a new category under which “care is required to be furnished through community providers, specifically for care sought by a veteran residing within 35 miles of the critical access hospital or rural health clinic,” the release said.
The release also said a number of veterans live in rural areas and face major challenges to accessing timely and quality health care. In North Dakota, there are 37 critical access hospitals, but only five of those communities housing them also have a VA community-based outpatient clinic. The state has one VA medical center in Fargo and eight community-based outpatient clinics in total.
The bill has received letters of support from the North Dakota Rural Health Association and a coalition of 22 North Dakota rural health care providers, the release said, who wrote that the legislation will offer a streamlined and practical approach building on existing infrastructure and recognized designations in rural health care. The American Hospital Association, America’s Warrior Partnership and the National Rural Health Association have also voiced support for the bill.
Another letter of support for the bill has come from Marcus Lewis, CEO of the North Dakota Veteran and Critical Access Hospital. A veteran himself, he said he lives more than three hours from the nearest VA hospital and works two hours away from it. However, there are three community health care facilities within 50 miles of his home.
“Despite the availability of this high quality local care, I am currently paying out of pocket for needed therapy because accessing services through the Community Care Network has proven prohibitively difficult,” he wrote.
Cramer said the VA system gives veterans less access to care that is readily available, and the goal of the bill is to give rural veterans access to their local critical access hospitals without strings attached.
“I worry if the bill is watered down, quite honestly, that we turn the authority back over to the bureaucracy to decide,” he said.
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.
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