SMSU Athletics

March 6, 2014 – Hoof Prints Article

Hello Mustang Fans!

Next week, SMSU students will be on Spring Break and that means our spring sports are traveling to warmer climates to compete in non-conference contests. The Mustang Baseball and Tennis teams will be heading to Arizona and Softball and Women’s Golf will be traveling to Florida this year as part of their spring trips.

Save the date! The 29th annual David and Carol Drown SMSU Golf Classic will be held Friday, June 20 at the Marshall Golf Club. The Golf Classic is the next Mustang Booster Club fund raising event, and the Golf Classic Committee will be convening in the next couple of weeks to begin the planning for this great event.

For all your information on NSIC and NCAA Division II post-season competition , the Mustang Booster Club and SMSU Athletics, go to SMSUmustnags.com.

Upcoming SMSU Athletics Events

The SMSU Wrestling team (12-5 overall, 6-2 NSIC) qualified four wrestlers for the NCAA tournament on the second day of the NCAA Central Super Regional hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma. The top five wrestlers at each weight class qualify for the tournament that will be held March 14-15, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kyle Begin became the first wrestler to qualify for the NCAA tournament by winning his first three bouts at the Super Regional. Begin fell in the championship bout to (3) Chris Watson (UCO). Begin won the 174 pound crown last year at the Super Region 3 tournament. Justin Reinsma also qualified at 133 pounds with five wins and two losses to place fourth. It marks the third straight season Reinsma has qualified for the NCAA tournament. Jacob Begin (174) was the third Mustang to qualify as he earned a third place finish by defeated (7) Connor Monk (MSUM) by technical fall-5 at 4:54 15-0. Begin qualified for the NCAA tournament last year at 165 pounds. Cole Wilson avenged an earlier season loss to (3) Logan Hopp (UIU) with a 4-0 decision in the consolation semifinals. The win qualified the 285-pounder for his first NCAA tournament as he went on to place fourth. Congratulations and the best of luck to Coach Nelson and our four wrestlers next week at the NCAA Division II National Championships!

The SMSU Men’s Basketball team (19-12, 14-8 NSIC) suffered a 57-68 loss to #15 MSU Mankato in the semifinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament this past Monday. The Mustangs were not ranked in this week’s NCAA Division II Central Region rankings with the final region rankings schedule for Sunday evening of this week. Monday’s contest was the final game for four Mustang seniors; Vinard Birch, William Giddings, Nick Smith and Matt Zager.

The Mustang Women’s Basketball team (4-23, 2-20 NSIC) lost their opening game of theNSIC/Sanford Health tournament 45-73. SMSU entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed in the south, while the Wolves were the top seed in the north and held the home-court advantage. Last Wednesday’s game was the last for five Mustang seniors -- Bree Holleman, Jessie Watts, Rebekah Rolling, Hannah Beeler and Alison Nagel.

We appreciate all the hard work and dedication of our seniors on the Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams and wish them the best of luck as they graduate from SMSU and move on to the next phases of their lives.

The SMSU Women's and Men's Indoor Track and Field teams concluded the NSIC Indoor Championships last Saturday with a strong performance at the Gillett Recreation/Fitness Center.

On the men's side, SMSU had three individuals advance to the finals following Friday's prelims. Alejandro Sanchez recorded a personal best and NCAA provisional time of 1:53.75 to finish second in the 800-meter, while Jay Schneider earned a fifth place finish in the 60-meter with a time of 7.11. OJ Ojullu also competed on Saturday and finished seventh in the 600-meter with a time of 1:23.40. Alex Weis recorded a personal best in the weight throw finishing in 12th place in the prelims with a toss of 15.35m (50-4.5). SMSU's men's 4x400 relay team of Austin LaFollette, O.J. Ojullu, Alejandro Sanchez and Chris Kveseth had a strong showing taking home fifth place with a time of 3:24.13.

For the SMSU women, Rylee Armstrong advanced to the finals in the triple jump and finished ninth with a jump of 10.83m (35-6.5). The Mustangs' women's 4x400 relay team finished 12th with a time of 4:17. The Mustangs will begin training for their outdoor season which will begin on March 29 at the Dakota State Open in Madison, SD.

The SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team (14-15) competes today at the NWBT Championships in their first round match-up against the University of Alabama at 3:00 p.m. SMSU enters the tournament as the # 6 seed in the seven-team tournament with a 14-15 overall record. The Mustangs will face the # 3 seed University of Alabama at the Mavericks Activities Center on the campus of UT-Arlington. Alabama defeated SMSU 53-37 in the only meeting between the teams this season. If SMSU wins, they'll play the winner of UW-Whitewater or Edinboro University on Friday at 1:00 p.m. If SMSU loses its opening game, they play on Friday at 11:00 a.m.

The NWBA National Championships will have seven teams competing in the tournament, including the University of Alabama, Edinboro University, the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the University of Missouri, the University of Texas at Arlington and Southwest Minnesota State University.

The SMSU Tennis team (2-5, 1-4 NSIC) will travel to Mesa, AZ., for seven non-conference matches starting March 11 against the University of Arizona Christian. On the Mustangs Spring Trip, they will compete against Dallas Baptist, Our Lady of the Lake University, Dixie State (UT), Mesa Community College, University of the Southwest (NM) and Colorado Mesa. SMSU will continue their NSIC schedule on March 22 when they head to Bismarck, ND, to compete against the University of Mary.

The SMSU Baseball team, 1-3 overall, will head to Tucson, AZ, on Thursday opening up on Friday and playing 12 games on the team’s Spring Trip at the Tucson Invitational. SMSU will play Malone College (OH) on Friday at 4:00 p.m. and California State, San Bernardino at 8:00 p.m. on day one of the invitational. The Mustangs will begin NSIC play on March 22 as they head to MSU Mankato for a doubleheader with the Mavericks pending weather and playable field conditions.

The Mustang Softball team, 0-4 overall, had the doubleheader against Missouri-St. Louis cancelled for tomorrow due to field conditions. The Mustangs will continue competition on their spring trip playing North Alabama on Friday before arriving in Winter Haven, FL, to compete in 12 games from March 9-14 in the Rebel Spring Games. The Mustangs will begin NSIC play on March 25 with a doubleheader in Sioux Falls, SD, taking on the University of Sioux Falls pending weather and playable field conditions.

The SMSU Women’s Golf team will travel to Daytona Beach, FL, over spring break hosting the SMSU Spring Invite at LPGA International Golf Club on March 13-14. The Mustangs have four tournaments scheduled for their Spring Season concluding with the NSIC Spring Championship and NCAA Central Region Championship.

Good luck to all of our SMSU Teams competing this weekend!

Go Mustangs!

Congratulation to Cletus Lanners who provided the correct response to last week’s Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: Who is the career leader in field goal percentage for the Mustang women’s basketball team? Amy Boman (1998-02) is the career leader in field goal percentage with .537 (403-751).

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

What was the last year the SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team won the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Championship?

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