North Dakota

Three Things We Learned: North Dakota

Published

2 years ago

September 4, 2024

Welcome back everyone to Three Things We Learned for the 2024 season. Let’s take a look at the win over North Dakota this past weekend in the season opener.

The Passing Game is as Good as Advertised

The Cyclones started the game last week with a bang, scoring a touchdown in less than a minute with huge catches by Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins, which signaled an explosive start to the career of Taylor Mouser as the offensive coordinator.

We also saw what the passing game can do on long drives, as the Cyclones were able to dink and dunk their way down the field, largely getting whatever they wanted in the passing game. I think that same formula could be a major key to success for Iowa State against Iowa’s very strong defense.

I also think the Cyclones may have found their third wide receiver in Eli Green, which could prove to be a big boost going forward. Given that defenses will need to focus a ton of their attention on Noel and Higgins, having Eli Green as another option will make it near impossible to cover all of Iowa State’s passing options on a well-designed route pattern. Green plays extremely similarly to Noel, so he’s a natural fit in the offense.

Linebacker is Thin

Most Cyclone fans went into the season largely agreeing that linebacker was probably the weakest position group on the defense, and that turned out to be true on Saturday. What we didn’t know was how shaky the situation actually is, as we found out on game day that Will McLaughlin is out for an extended period of time, and Caleb Bacon went down with a significant injury in the first quarter.

Right now Kooper Ebel, Jack Sadowsky, Zach Lovett, and Cael Brezina look to likely be your top four linebackers, with Jacob Ellis and John Klosterman also getting snaps. The loss of Bacon caused a lot of issues and was likely a driving factor in the twelve-minute-long possession North Dakota was able to sustain immediately following the injury.

This week, Jon Heacock and the rest of the defensive staff will be busy getting that linebacker group stabilized and figuring out a plan to deal with Iowa’s running game and tight end Luke Lachey.

Young Talent is Abundant

Even though Iowa State is returning nineteen of twenty-two starters, there is still a significant number of young players expected to get significant snaps this season, and we saw a few of them in action Saturday.

I think Kooper Ebel and Jontez Williams both had their moments of youth, but otherwise had strong showings against North Dakota that illustrate why we’ve heard so much about them in the offseason and through camp. Ebel looked the part of blossoming into another strong player in Iowa State’s lineage of great linebackers, and Jontez Williams nearly cut off a pass to the flat and took it to the house.

Williams did admit in his postgame interview that he was guilty of getting ahead of himself and not watching the ball in before running to the endzone, which shows maturity on his part.

Source link

Click to comment

North Dakota

West Fargo’s efforts fall just short as Bismarck Century returns to ND Division AA boys title game

Published

4 hours ago

March 14, 2026

Press Room

West Fargo’s efforts fall just short as Bismarck Century returns to ND Division AA boys title game

BISMARCK — Down 14 points at halftime, West Fargo didn’t quit.

The Packers made Friday’s North Dakota Division AA boys basketball state tournament semifinal game against Bismarck Century interesting late, but were unable to complete the comeback in a 69-67 loss to the Patriots at the Bismarck Event Center.

“This is a great team over here that we just played,” said Century junior Gibson Kinnebrew, who finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Patriots to the state title game for the second straight year. “We’ve been through this before, we just had to stay aggressive. We knew (West Fargo) was going to keep fighting. We just had to stay gritty, keep the aggressiveness up and play as a team.”

West Fargo’s Stephon Booth defends against Bismarck Century’s Gibson Kinnebrew on Friday, March 13, 2026, during the North Dakota Division AA basketball tournament semifinals at the Bismarck Event Center.

David Samson / The Forum

With the win, West No. 2 Century (22-4) will get a chance to defend its 2025 state title. The Patriots will play West No. 1 Bismarck (25-1) at 8 p.m. Saturday back at the Bismarck Event Center.

Century dealt Bismarck its lone defeat this season, a 73-64 result in January. The Demons won the other regular season contest over the Patriots, as well as last weekend’s West Region championship game.

“We’ve just got to talk on defense and keep our guys in front of us,” Kinnebrew said. “We’ve got to calm down on offense too, but we’ve just got to play solid.”

East No. 1 West Fargo (19-7) will play West No. 3 Dickinson (18-8) in the third-place game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Down 38-24 at half, the Packers clawed away at the deficit over the final 18 minutes. With 1:19 left, an Aiden Samek bucket brought West Fargo as close as it had been all night — bringing the margin to just four at 65-61.

Later, AJ Brackins hit a late jumper to pull the Packers within two points at 69-67 with 0.7 seconds remaining on the clock.

On the ensuing Century inbound, the Patriots heaved the ball to half-court where West Fargo’s Beckett Pfau picked it off. One final desperation shot from Pfau was off the mark and, regardless, didn’t make it out of his hands before the final horn.

West Fargo shot just 27.6% in the first half and were unable to recover from an 11-0 Century run to open the game.

“You’ve got to make your layups, we were a little bit cold from 3, and we shot too many early ones,” West Fargo head coach Adam Palczewski said. “So the shot selection was rough, but sometimes they go in. I have 100% confidence in my guys and I’ll never not believe in those guys.”

031426.S.FF.DivisionAA.BBB.SF2 — West Fargo’s Wyatt Knudsen elbows Bismarck Century’s Joey Kraljic while he watches a missed shot on Friday, March 13, 2026, during the North Dakota Division AA basketball tournament semifinals at the Bismarck Event Center.

Zavion Harildstad opened the scoring for Century with a two-point bucket. He was followed up by three consecutive triples from Braylon Aldinger, Kinnebrew and Aldinger again.

Brackins stopped the early bleeding for the Packers with a pair of free throws, but the Patriots utilized the momentum from the early scoring sequence and never relinquished the lead.

“We had a layup to start the game and we didn’t shoot it,” Palczewski said. “There was no shell shock (to start). We just didn’t make our shots.”

The Packers finished the night 23 of 59 (39%) from the floor including 7 of 23 (30.4%) from range.

Samek paced West Fargo with 18 points. Haakon Seymour had 13 points to go with seven rebounds. Brackins and Wyatt Knudsen each had 11 points and six boards while Stephon Booth led the Packers in rebounds with eight.

West Fargo’s roster consisted of nine seniors this season.

“They’re amazing,” Palczewski said. “They did everything and they expect nothing. I just don’t want to let those guys down. I’m so happy to coach those young men.”

Century finished 25 of 60 (41.7%) shooting including 8 of 25 (32%) from three. Kinnebrew’s double-double was followed up by 12 points from Garrett Nissley. Harildstad collected eight rebounds.

Halftime: Bismarck Century 38, West Fargo 24

BC: Kinnebrew 25, Nissley 12, Aldinger 8, Kraemer 7, Zakai Harildstad 7, Kraljic 6, Zavion Harildstad 2, Spears 2.

WF: Samek 18, Seymour 13, Brackins 11, Knudsen 11, Booth 8, Pfau 3, Glandt 3.

Ryan Spitza joined The Forum in December 2021 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Marquette, Mich., a city of 20,000 on the southern shore of Lake Superior. He majored in multimedia journalism and minored in public relations at Northern Michigan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in May 2019. While attending college, Spitza gained real-world experience covering high school and college athletics for both The Mining Journal and The North Wind.

Spitza can be reached at 701-451-5613 or rspitza@forumcomm.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryspitza.

Source link

North Dakota

Wayne Ostlund

Published

16 hours ago

March 13, 2026

Press Room

Wayne Clarence Ostlund, 80, of East Grand Forks, Minnesota passed away at Luther Memorial Home in Mayville, North Dakota on March 9, 2026.

Wayne Clarence Ostlund was born on November 28, 1945 in Warren, Minnesota to Clarence and Martha (Jedeke) Ostlund. He was raised in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. During high school, Wayne was an athlete, playing football, hockey, track, and American Legion baseball. In his first year after high school, he played hockey for the Grand Forks Warriors, which consisted of prior Fighting Sioux players and locals. Wayne had considered playing hockey for either the University of Minnesota or the University of North Dakota, but was drafted into the military before he could enroll.

He served in the Navy at Naval Schools Command, Quonset Point, Rhode Island and Carrier Wing 21 at Naval Air Station, Lemoore, California. He was deployed in Vietnam for 10 months. During his tour of duty, Wayne played on the Navy baseball team in Rhode Island, where they competed against college teams from Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Massachusetts. On January 5, 1973, Wayne married Sue Langie in Crookston, Minnesota. After his release from duty, Wayne attended college then accepted a loan officer position at Valley Bank and Trust Co., spending 25 years in banking and retiring as Vice President.

In his free time, Wayne enjoyed hunting, fishing, baseball, golf, hockey, and football. He was also a member of the East Grand Forks American Legion and a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Clarence and Martha Ostlund; his sister, Roselle; and his brothers-in-law, Bryan Milling and James Aamodt.

Wayne is survived by his wife, Susan (Langei) of 53 years; daughters, Lisa Hagen of Troy, OH, Nicole (Josh) Grinde of East Grand Forks, MN; sons Keith (Anne) Ostlund of Grand Forks, ND, Ryan Ostlund of East Grand Forks, MN; grandchildren, Shantay (Lance) Furrow of Troy, OH, Lanie Hagen of Bemidji, MN; great-granddaughter, Ava Furrow of Troy, OH; and sisters, Carol Aamodt of Grand Forks, ND and Barb Milling of East Grand Forks, MN.

MEMORIAL SERVICE: Private family service to be held at a later date

MEMORIALS TO: The American Diabetes Association

Source link

North Dakota

North Dakota Travel Alert: Blizzard, High Winds, and Weekend Storm Threaten Roads Through Sunday

Published

1 day ago

March 13, 2026

Press Room

North Dakota Travel Alert: Blizzard, High Winds, and Weekend Storm Threaten Roads Through Sunday

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A blizzard warning is in effect tonight across northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota, where whiteout conditions and extremely dangerous travel are expected through Friday morning.

Travelers across North Dakota and northwest Minnesota face dangerous and potentially life-threatening road conditions through the weekend,(Map – ND Roads)

No Travel Advised: Effective Now

The following North Dakota counties are currently under a No Travel Advisory:

Pierce, Rolette, Towner, Benson, Ramsey, Cavalier, Pembina, Walsh, Nelson, and Grand Forks counties.

Conditions prompting the advisory include:

Icy and slippery roads
Near-zero visibility

Do not travel in these counties unless it is an emergency.

Travel Alert — Use Caution

A Travel Alert is currently in effect for Steele and Griggs counties, indicating hazardous conditions. Motorists should use extreme caution if travel is necessary.

Tonight into Friday Morning: Avoid Travel If Possible

A Blizzard Warning is in effect until 7 a.m. Friday for portions of northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota, including the northern Red River Valley. Whiteout conditions are expected.

Snow accumulations of 1–6 inches in northeast ND and 5–9 inches in northwest MN are possible.
Wind gusts of 55–60 mph will create blowing and drifting snow, reducing visibility to near zero.
Conditions will be most dangerous Thursday evening through the Friday morning commute.

A Winter Storm Warning is also in effect until 7 a.m. Friday for the Devils Lake Basin. While snow accumulation will be limited to around 1 inch, winds up to 60 mph will cause significant drifting and occasional whiteout conditions.

A High Wind Warning is in effect until 7 a.m. Friday for east-central ND, southeast ND, the southern Red River Valley, and Lakes Country, MN. Northwest winds of 35–45 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are expected. Isolated thunderstorms could produce brief wind gusts up to 80 mph.

Valley News Live has raised a First Alert Weather Day for Thursday night into Friday morning.

More First Alert Weather Days are expected going into the weekend. For a further outlook click here.

Source link