North Dakota

NDSU football commit Coy Okeson honors late brother with repeat North Dakota state wrestling title

Published

2 years ago

February 16, 2024

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.”

Bishop Ryan wrestler Coy Okeson faces Ben Roundy of Killdeer during the 285-pound championship match in the North Dakota Class B individual state wrestling tournament at the Fargodome on Feb. 16, 2024.

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.

ND-classB.2.133.jpg — Hillsboro-Central Valley wrestler Sawyer Owens celebrates after winning the 133-pound championship at the North Dakota Class B individual state wrestling tournament at the Fargodome on Feb. 16, 2024.

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.”

ND-classB.1.133.jpg — Hillsboro-Central Valley wrestler Sawyer Owens, left, defeated no. 1 ranked 133-pound wrestler Alvy Henderson of Northern Lights 5-3 in the North Dakota Class B individual state wrestling tournament at the Fargodome on Feb. 16, 2024.

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.”

ND-classB.1.152.jpg — Lisbon wrestler Blaze Reinke right after winning his 152-pound championship match 3-1 against Brody Hoffman of South Border in the North Dakota Class B individual state wrestling tournament at the Fargodome on Feb. 16, 2024.

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.”

ND-classB.2.152.jpg — Lisbon wrestler Blaze Reinke faces Brody Hoffman of Killdeer during the 152-pound championship match in the North Dakota Class B individual state wrestling championship match at the Fargodome on Feb. 16, 2024. Reinke defeated Hoffman 3-1

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.”

ND-classB.1.127.jpg — Lisbon 127-pound wrestler Kashden Wadeson defeated Charlie Irwin of New Salem-Almont 8-1 in the North Dakota Class B individual state wrestling tournament at the Fargodome on Feb. 16, 2024.

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)

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North Dakota

Wheeler-Thomas scores 21 as North Dakota State knocks off Cal State Bakersfield 80-69

Published

13 minutes ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Wheeler-Thomas scores 21 as North Dakota State knocks off Cal State Bakersfield 80-69

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — Damari Wheeler-Thomas’ 21 points helped North Dakota State defeat Cal State Bakersfield 80-69 on Thursday.

Wheeler-Thomas had three steals for the Bison (8-3). Markhi Strickland scored 15 points while shooting 6 of 11 from the field and 3 for 6 from the free-throw line and grabbed five rebounds. Andy Stefonowicz went 4 of 7 from the field (3 for 4 from 3-point range) to finish with 13 points.

Ron Jessamy led the way for the Roadrunners (4-7) with 18 points, six rebounds, two steals and four blocks. CJ Hardy added 13 points. Jaden Alexander also recorded eight points and two steals.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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North Dakota

Scientists discover ancient river-dwelling mosasaur in North Dakota

Published

12 hours ago

December 11, 2025

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Scientists discover ancient river-dwelling mosasaur in North Dakota

Some 66 million years ago, a city bus-sized terrifying predator prowled a prehistoric river in what is now North Dakota.

This finding is based on the analysis of a single mosasaur tooth conducted by an international team of researchers from the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

The tooth came from a prognathodontine mosasaur — a reptile reaching up to 11 meters long. This makes it an apex predator on par with the largest killer whales.

It shows that massive mosasaurs successfully adapted to life in rivers right up until their extinction.

The mosasaur tooth was found in 2022 in the Bismarck Area, North Dakota. Credit: Melanie During

Isotope analysis

Dating from 98 to 66 million years ago, abundant mosasaur fossils have been uncovered in marine deposits across North America, Europe, and Africa.

However, these marine reptile fossils have been rarely found in North Dakota before.

In this new study, the large mosasaur tooth was unearthed in a fluvial deposit (river sediment) in North Dakota.

Its neighbors in the dirt were just as compelling: a tooth from a Tyrannosaurus rex and a crocodylian jawbone. Interestingly, all these fossilized remains came from a similar age, around 66 million years old.

This unusual gathering — sea monster, land dinosaur, and river croc — raised an intriguing question: If the mosasaur was a sea creature, how did its remains end up in an inland river?

The answer lay in the chemistry of the tooth enamel. Using advanced isotope analysis at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the team compared the chemical composition of the mosasaur tooth with its neighbors.

The key was the ratio of oxygen isotopes.

The mosasaur teeth contained a higher proportion of the lighter oxygen isotope than is typical for mosasaurs living in saltwater. This specific isotopic signature, along with the strontium isotope ratio, strongly suggests that the mosasaur lived in a freshwater habitat.

Analysis also revealed that the mosasaur did not dive as deep as many of its marine relatives and may have fed on unusual prey, such as drowned dinosaurs.

The isotope signatures indicated that this mosasaur had inhabited this freshwater riverine environment. When we looked at two additional mosasaur teeth found nearby, slightly older sites in North Dakota, we saw similar freshwater signatures. These analyses show that mosasaurs lived in riverine environments in the final million years before going extinct,” explained Melanie During, the study author.

Transformation of the Seaway

The adaptation occurred during the final million years of the Cretaceous period.

It is hypothesized that the mosasaurs were adapting to an enormous environmental shift in the Western Interior Seaway, the vast inland sea that once divided North America.

Increased freshwater influx gradually transformed the ancient sea from saltwater to brackish water, and finally to mostly freshwater, similar to the modern Gulf of Bothnia.

The researchers hypothesize that this change led to the formation of a halocline: a structure where a lighter layer of freshwater rested atop heavier saltwater. The findings of the isotope analyses directly support this theory.

The analyzed mosasaur teeth belong to individuals who successfully adapted to the shifting environments.

This transition from marine to freshwater habitats (reverse adaptation) is considered less complex than the opposite shift and is not unique among large predators.

Modern parallels include river dolphins, which evolved from marine ancestors but now thrive in freshwater, and the estuarine crocodile, which moves freely between freshwater rivers and the open sea for hunting.

Findings were published in the journal BMC Zoology on December 11.

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