SMSU Athletics

November 21, 2013 – Hoof Prints Article

Hello Mustang Fans!

It has been an exciting week for SMSU Athletics. Mustang Football, Soccer and Volleyball have all qualified for fall post-season play. SMSU Football received an invitation to the Mineral Water Bowl Sunday evening and will be representing the NSIC. The Mustangs will play Pittsburg State University, of the MIAA, in Excelsior Springs, MO, on Saturday, December 7 at 12:00 p.m. It is the first time SMSU has been invited to a bowl game and the third ever appearance in post-season play for the university.

SMSU Soccer will head to Duluth, MN, today to compete against the host school, the University of Minnesota, Duluth, on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The Mustangs are in unchartered waters with this being Southwest’s first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance. SMSU is now one of sixteen teams in left Division II, and a win versus UMD would bring SMSU its first NCAA Central Region Championship. With the Mustangs win versus MSU in Mankato last Sunday, SMSU put a halt to their season and the Mavericks 36-game home winning streak

If the Mustangs win on Friday, they will advance to the round of eight on Sunday where they would play the winner of Grand Valley State and Quincy College. The winner of Sunday’s contest will compete in the semi-finals in Evans, GA on December 5 with the Championship game being on December 7.

#7 Mustang Volleyball competed in the first round of the NSIC Tournament yesterday as they welcomed Wayne State College to the PE Gym. The tournament is single elimination with the final two rounds being played at the highest seed. On Sunday, SMSU will watch the NCAA Division II Volleyball Selection Show to see if they will make their tenth straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament.

For all the latest signings and information on the SMSU Department of Athletics go to SMSUmustangs.com.

This Week in SMSU Athletics

Congratulations are in order for 14 of our SMSU Football players as the NSIC announced on Tuesday its postseason awards. The 16 head coaches in the NSIC select the all-conference teams.

Senior wide receiver Anthony Dean, senior offensive linemen Kyle Johnson and Brandon Puffer and junior running back Tyler Tonderum were all named first team All-NSIC South Division, while senior safety Tate Bunkers, junior quarterback Charlie Kern, junior defensive end AJ Page and junior punter Mike Wenk were named second team All-NSIC South. Senior linebacker JJ Bobrowicz, senior tight end Cody Condon, sophomore cornerback Andrew McReynolds, senior linebacker Dashawn Miller, senior offensive lineman Jake Thiel and sophomore cornerback Donovan Woods were named to the honorable mention All-NSIC South Division squad. The Mustangs will take the next three weeks to practice and prepare for Pitt State.

The SMSU Men’s Basketball team (1-2) will continue their non-conference schedule this week with a pair of games versus teams from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The Mustangs headed to Northern Michigan University (2-1) today with the tip-off slated for 6:30 p.m. On Friday, SMSU will travel to Houghton, MI, to face Michigan Tech University (1-0) with the contest scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

Southwest will begin NSIC competition at the University of Sioux Falls on November 30. The Mustangs will return home on December 6 as they welcome Augustana College to Marshall for the first NSIC home basketball contest of the winter season.

The SMSU Wrestling team placed nine individuals on the podium at the Finn Grinaker Open hosted by Concordia College last Saturday. The Mustang’s overall performance was highlighted by Travis Peralta's second place finish at 184 pounds. Peralta went 2-1 and fell 9-4 to Christian Harrison (Concordia) in the championship match.

Other wrestlers that placed for SMSU were Antonio Meikel (4th, 125), Justin Reinsma (6th, 133), Ethan Hildebrandt (6th, 141), Kyle Begin (5th, 165), Jacob Begin (6th, 174), Terrance Maier (4th, 197), Jon Gorter (6th, 197), Cole Wilson (4th, 285). Southwest will be back in action on Saturday at the Jimmie Open in Jamestown, ND, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

The SMSU Women’s Basketball team suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday when the Mustangs fell to California State Monterey Bay 57-45. Southwest started the season 2-0 for the first time since the 2008-09season.The Mustangs began the trip to California beating Notre Dame Da Namur 80-51. SMSU will be back in action on Friday when they travel to South Dakota Tech in Rapid City, SD, with the contest starting at 6:30 p.m.

The SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team will open up the 2013-14 season heading to Whitewater, WI, to compete this Friday and Saturday. The Mustang will play Edinboro (PA) at noon on Friday before taking on Texas Arlington at 8:00 p.m. On Saturday, Southwest will battle Wisconsin Whitewater at noon and conclude the weekend’s competition with a game with the University of Missouri at 4:00 p.m.

I would like to wish all of our teams the best of luck this weekend!

Go Mustangs!

Congratulations to Jared Baartman, who provided the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: The SMSU Women’s Basketball team scored 101 points against Crown College on Monday night. In 2008, the Mustangs scored 100+ points in four games that season. Can you name the four teams? SMSU beat North Central (Minn.), W 116-42, Chadron State (Neb.), W 111-75, Mayville State (N.D.), W 107-45 and Minnesota-Morris, W 105-64 all in 2008.

Hoofprints Trivia Question (please put this in a box with the title on top)

Who is the last starting quarterback for the Mustang Football team to be a native of Minnesota?

The first person to email me at MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU t-shirt.