North Dakota
NDSU football commit Coy Okeson honors late brother with repeat North Dakota state wrestling title
FARGO — This fall, Bishop Ryan’s Coy Okeson will be joining the North Dakota State University Bison on the football field at the Fargodome. Friday, he won his second-straight state wrestling title inside the same building.
This one, Okeson said, is more meaningful than the first as he wrestled in memory and honor of his late brother Corbin.
“I got to do it for my brother,” Okeson said. “He passed away less than a week after the state tournament last year. It’s motivated me for the whole season to do it for him, wrestle for him.”
Chris Flynn / The Forum
As far as how often his brother was on his mind during the match, Okeson said, “The whole time.”
“I wish he was here to see it,” he said.
The 285-pound state champion, who will join the Bison next season as an offensive lineman, was also named the North Dakota High School Coaches Association’s Class B Senior Athlete of The Year.
“I don’t even know what to say,” he said of the award. “I never thought I’d get here. I just want to thank my brother and all my coaches. I’m thankful for everyone who helped me get here.”
When it comes to Corbin’s influence on his younger brother, “He helped me become who I am today,” said Coy.
“He helped me every day,” he said. “We’d have our mats out in the summer and we’d wrestle every day year-round almost.”
The first match of the day was a 133-pound bout between Hillsboro-Central Valley’s Sawyer Owens and Northern Lights’ Alvy Henderson.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Henderson entered the match as the No. 1 seed while Owens was No. 3. Once the match started the two went to battle, with multiple stoppages to patch up the wounds of their bout.
When it was over, Owens — with blood on his brow — was the winner, defeating the No. 1 seed.
“In my head, I thought I could win it,” Owens said. “When it comes down to it, seeds don’t matter, we’re both on the same mat. Anybody can win.”
Chirs Flynn / The Forum
Owens credited Henderson for the hard-fought match, looking forward to potential matches in the future.
“Alvy is a great wrestler,” he said. “Any time we wrestle, and I’m sure we’ll wrestle in the future, too, it’s always going to be a battle. Usually, when it’s a battle, blood is shed. That’s usually what happens.”
Chris Flynn / The Forum
The Lisbon Broncos added to their storied wrestling lineage with two more individual champions with Blaze Reinke at 152 pounds and Kashden Wadeson at 127. Both seniors capped off their high school wrestling careers with state titles.
“It’s been a dream since I was three years old to be at the top of the state,” Reinke said. “It just feels surreal.
“Lisbon has been a part of me for a long time and gotten me to where I am today. Just to be on the wall of guys that are all super good is just surreal, again.”
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Wadeson, who attends school in Enderlin but wrestles for Lisbon, said he “couldn’t feel any better.”
Wadeson, who won via decision 9-1, put himself in what he called his comfy spot early, taking the lead over opponent Charlie Irwin of New Salem-Almont.
“I like it when people are trying to come at me,” he said. “It just sets up a lot more of my offense. Having the lead and forcing him to make stuff happen is probably the biggest factor in the win.”
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Other individuals crowned state champions include Northern Lights’ Bode Henderson (107 pounds), Napoleon/G-S’ Dalton Feist (114), Grafton’s Kruiser Burns (121), Kenmare-Bowbells William Cook (139), Carrington’s Corbin Clifton (145), Killdeer’s Gus Bohmback (160), Bishop Ryan’s Drew Zwak (172), Ellendale-Edgeley-Kulm’s Ivan Carruth (189) and South Border’s Shane Nitschke (215).
South Border won the individual team championship with a total of 185 ahead of Lisbon at 150 and New Salem-Almont with 115.5.
Northern Lights’ coach Ryan Mitchell was named the NDHSCA coach of the year in Class B.
Class B
Team results
1. South Border 185; 2. Lisbon 150; 3. New Salem-Almont 115.5; 4. Northern Lights 110.5; 5. Carrington 85.5; 6. Killdeer 84; 7. Velva 81; 8. Williams County 79; 9. Bishop Ryan 77.5; 10. Kenmare-Bowbells 75.5; 11. Stanley 74; 12. Oakes 68; 13. Kindred 57; 14. Hillsboro-Central Valley 54.5; 15. Napoleon Gackle-Streeter 52.5; 16. Ellendale-Edgeley-Kulm 52; 17. Harvey-Wells County 48; 18. Beulah-Hazen 44; 19. Bowman County/Beach 35.5; 20. Des Lacs-Burlington 32; 21. LaMoure-Litchville/Marion 26.5; 22. Grafton and Pembina County North 26; 24. Hettinger/Scranton 21; 25. Mondak Thunder 15; 26. Linton-HMB 6; T27. May-Port-CG and New Town/Parshall 3; 29. Northern Cass 1; 30. Rugby 0
Individual results
107
First place
Bode Henderson (Northern Lights) 48-0 won by decision over Tristian Miller (Williams County) 33-6 (Dec 9-2)
Third place
Hayes Weinberger (New Salem-Almont) 33-10 won in tie breaker – 1 over Rylan Vetter (South Border) 29-10 (TB-1 4-2)
114
First place
Dalton Feist (Napoleon G-S) 45-2 won by major decision over Josh Ternes (Beulah-Hazen) 25-6 (MD 16-2)
Third place
Cole Mogren (Kenmare-Bowbells) 31-4 won by fall over Dru Carr (Carrington) 44-14 (Fall 2:11)
121
First place
Kruiser Burns (Grafton) 38-2 won in sudden victory – 1 over Cohen Bell (Stanley) 37-3 (SV-1 4-2)
Third place
Jack Bohmbach (Killdeer) 40-13 won by decision over Pitch Hager (Velva) 44-9 (Dec 3-1)
127
First place
Kashden Wadeson (Lisbon) 36-3 won by decision over Charlie Irwin (New Salem-Almont) 41-7 (Dec 8-1)
Third place
Kash Brown (Williams County) 24-7 won by decision over Logan Werner (Pembina County North) 24-8 (Dec 3-0)
133
First place
Sawyer Owens (Hillsboro-Central Valley) 49-6 won by decision over Alvy Henderson (Northern Lights) 24-2 (Dec 5-3)
Third place
Noah Anderson (Lisbon) 22-6 won by decision over Tristen Lepp (South Border) 24-9 (Dec 3-1)
139
First place
William Cook (Kenmare-Bowbells) 42-2 won by decision over Ethan Maier (New Salem-Almont) 33-8 (Dec 9-2)
Third place
Justin Hudson (Northern Lights) 22-4 won by decision over Myles Thielges (Kindred) 15-8 (Dec 5-0)
145
First place
Corbin Clifton (Carrington) 48-9 won by decision over Carson Hildre (Velva) 27-3 (Dec 2-1)
Third place
Havlin Delong (Northern Lights) 29-8 won by decision over Carson Glaesman (South Border) 26-18 (Dec 4-2)
152
First place
Blaze Reinke (Lisbon) 41-2 won by decision over Brody Hoffman (South Border) 31-9 (Dec 3-1)
Third place
Rocker Aguilar (Williams County) 44-7 won by decision over Lincoln Spear (Kenmare-Bowbells) 38-10 (Dec 4-3)
160
First place
Gus Bohmbach (Killdeer) 48-1 won by decision over Josh Meehl (Oakes) 21-4 (Dec 6-3)
Third place
Eli Lyons (Lisbon) 41-7 won by decision over Emery Noll (Bowman County/Beach) 39-8 (Dec 8-3)
172
First place
Drew Zwak (Bishop Ryan) 53-6 won in sudden victory – 1 over Jace Nitschke (South Border) 29-10 (SV-1 3-1)
Third place
Mike Nelson (Lisbon) 26-3 won by decision over Brock Norton (New Salem-Almont) 28-9 (Dec 5-4)
189
First place
Ivan Carruth (Ellendale-Edgeley-Kulm) 40-7 won in sudden victory – 1 over Cole Henderson (Northern Lights) 39-2 (SV-1 3-1)
Third place
Trey Bohmbach (Stanley) 37-10 won by decision over Daniel Schumacher (South Border) 29-11 (Dec 1-0)
215
First place
Shane Nitschke (South Border) 35-1 won by fall over Carter Engebretson (Harvey-Wells County) 25-7 (Fall 3:21)
Third place
Cade Okeson (Bishop Ryan) 33-6 won by fall over CL Weinberger (New Salem-Almont) 36-13 (Fall 4:40)
285
First place
Coy Okeson (Bishop Ryan) 52-4 won by major decision over Ben Roundy (Killdeer) 32-5 (MD 12-2)
Third place
Rodney Wolf (Kindred) 29-5 won by fall over Cole Nitschke (South Border) 23-8 (Fall 3:00)
Coming into his sophomore season at the University of North Dakota, Mac Swanson was facing more uncertainty than at any point in his young hockey career.
By his own admission, Swanson, 20, struggled at times on the ice as a freshman. And after the 2024-25 season, the Fighting Hawks had replaced their head coach, introducing another variable.
But first-year coach Dane Jackson has now led UND to a 29-9-1 record, and Swanson has added multiple dimensions to his game in his second year of college hockey.
Now Swanson and UND are among the final quartet of teams playing for a national championship this weekend at the Frozen Four in Las Vegas.
The Hawks take on Wisconsin on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Alaska time with a chance to advance to the championship. That game will be preceded at 1 p.m. by the first semifinal, pitting Michigan against Denver, which is coached by Anchorage’s David Carle. Both games are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2.
A mainstay on UND’s second line, Swanson has added strength, improved his scoring and taken on more responsibility on defense.
“I felt confident throughout the year,” Swanson said. “My goal-scoring has improve and obviously we have a great team this year. It’s easy to play with those guys.”
When UND announced it was replacing longtime coach Brad Berry, Swanson said players were in a holding pattern. But Jackson, who was on the UND staff for nearly two decades before taking the head coaching role, helped maintain continuity for the players after a couple weeks of wondering who would lead the team.
“There was a lot of uncertainty in the program for the first time in a while,” Swanson said. “It was definitely a weird time for all of us that were kind of deciding whether to stay or transfer out. But when coach Jackson got the job, we all felt pretty confident in him and his abilities, so we really did think that we would have a good team this year.”
Swanson described Jackson as a “hard but fair coach” and said the announcement secured his future with UND.
“I love my time here,” he said. “I love playing at The Ralph (Engelstad Arena), and I didn’t really want to leave at all. So I’m happy with where I’m at.”
Swanson’s production this season has been consistent. He’s seventh on the team in scoring, with 11 goals and 17 assists in 39 games. He showed a major uptick in his goal-scoring ability, after notching just two as a freshman.
Swanson believes his progression at UND is similar to what he was able to accomplish with the Fargo Force, where he played before signing with the Fighting Hawks. There he developed into a much more dynamic offensive player in his second season with the USHL team. Swanson has been especially effective the last half of the season with 13 points in his last 15 games.
“I think (my game) has evolved a little bit,” he said. “I’ve really tried to round out my two-way game. I started penalty killing this year too, which just adds another dimension to my game and makes me more valuable to the team.”
Mac’s dad, Brian, had a standout hockey career at Colorado College and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 1999. Having his dad as a sounding board has been invaluable as he’s progressed through his college career.
“He’s always there for me,” Swanson said. “But he never forces anything upon me, which I think is a good thing. He obviously is there for me whenever I need to talk or just a quick text before or after a game. … It’s great to have someone who’s been through everything I’m going through.”
Part of Swanson’s offseason mandate was to add strength. In Alaska over last summer, he worked out independently as well as at Mac’s Strength & Power in Eagle River, operated by his cousin.
“It gave me a good opportunity to grow in some areas I needed to,” he said.
The Frozen Four is shaping up to be one of the most interesting in recent history. The four teams have the four most NCAA championships in history, led by Denver’s 10 and followed by Michigan (9), UND (8) and Wisconsin (6).
“It’s really cool it’s kind of all these blue-blood programs,” he said. “Obviously we’ll try not to focus on too much of the stuff going on in Vegas and just focus on us.”
UND was dominant in reaching the Frozen Four, winning a pair of games by a combined 8-0 score in the Regional at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He had family in attendance for those games and in the week and a half since has received plenty of messages from friends and family.
“Obviously you feel that support being from Alaska,” he said. “When someone is doing well, everyone is happy for them, which I think’s pretty cool about the hockey community back home.”
North Dakota
North Dakota approves certificate of site compatibility for 400MWh BESS from NextEra Energy Resources
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BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Kelly Armstrong today announced the opening of the application period for school, community and church bands, orchestras and choirs across North Dakota to apply to serve as the Governor’s Official State Band/Orchestra Program and Choral Program for the 2026-2027 school year.
The Governor and First Lady will select the two groups from the applications received based on musical talent, achievement and community involvement. The governor may invite the groups to perform at official state functions held throughout the 2026-2027 school year, including the State of the State Address in January 2027 at the Capitol in Bismarck.
Interested groups should submit an application with a musical recording to the Governor’s Office by 5 p.m. Monday, May 4. The Governor’s Band/Orchestra Program and Governor’s Choral Program will be announced in May. Please complete the application and provide materials at https://www.governor.nd.gov/governors-chorus-and-bandorchestra-program-application.
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