With the winter sports nearing the end of their season, the first spring sport will see action with Northern State Softball opening its season this weekend.

Wolves wrestling split conference action this past week with a 23-9 loss to 11th-ranked UMary, and a 39-3 win over Southwest Minnesota State. The three match wins against Mary last Thursday night came from Wyatt Turnquist at 149 pounds, freshman Griffin Lundeen at 157, and Damen Pape at 184.

Against the Mustangs on Sunday, the Wolves won 9 out of the 10 matches on the mat. Extra point wins came from Sloan Johannsen at 125 by technical fall, Braydon Mogle at 141 by major decision, Turnquist by technical fall, Pape by pin, and Tyson Lien by major decision.

The women’s basketball squad also split conference action last week starting off with a home 69-60 win over MSU Moorhead last Thursday night. Madelyn Bragg was the leading scorer on the night with 20 points, shooting 9 of 12. Michaela Jewett collected her sixth double-double of the year with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Last Saturday against Minot State, the Wolves dropped a 73-64 decision despite leading at halftime 35-28. A 45-point second half from the Beavers gave them what they needed to upset the Wolves. Jewett tacked on her seventh double-double of the year with 16 points and 13 rebounds, her fourth game in a row with a double-double. Rianna Filipi was behind Jewett in points with 15, also adding 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

The men’s squad dropped both games against MSU Moorhead and 20th-ranked Minot State. Against the Dragons, the Wolves lost 77-62 with Marcus Burks putting up a career-high 28 points, followed by James Glenn with 12, and Caleb Mitchell with 11.

The Wolves lost 101-65 to the Beavers. Glenn was the leading scorer putting up 17 points, while also adding four steals. Devon Brooke followed with 14 points.

The Wolves track and field teams competed in Brookings at the SDSU D2 Open. For the men, Chris Weber broke his own record for the second straight week in the 60m with a time of 6.77. Nathan Alto won the 3000m with a time of 8:33.30, and Sam Tremelling took home gold in the pole vault. Jayden Munroe took second in the triple jump setting a new school record of 14.26m. The 4x400m relay team of Drew Salfrank, Carter Dingman, Joel Matehs, and Seth Martens took third, while also setting a new school record and hitting an NCAA provisional mark with a time of 3:15.81.

For the women, Summer Carlson took fourth in the 800m, setting a new school record with a time of 2:17.41. Bekah Walz won the pole vault and hit an NCAA provisional mark with a height of 3.75m.

Jacie Flockhart was the lone member of the Wolves Swim and Dive squad to compete at the Coyote Invite taking home silver.

Coming up tonight in Wolves Athletics, the basketball teams will travel to Crookston to take on Minnesota Crookston with the men tipping off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the women at 7:30. They will then host Bemidji on Saturday with the men’s game starting at 4, and the women at 7.

Wolves wrestling will host St. Cloud State on Friday at 7 p.m. The Huskies are currently undefeated and are the top-rated team in the country, with nine ranked wrestlers. Northern will then travel to Minot State to take on the Beavers at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

The first spring sport begins this week with Wolves softball traveling to Jamestown for a doubleheader on Friday and another doubleheader Saturday. The Wolves first pitch of the season will be against Valley City State at 9 a.m., followed by a game against Montana State Billings at 11 a.m. On Saturday, the Wolves will close out their first weekend of softball against Valley City State at 6:30 p.m., followed by a game against Mary at 8:30 p.m.