Northern_Today_Spring_2021

NORTHERN TODAY 15 SPRING 2021 The fall team sports competed in abbreviated spring seasons, after the NSIC cancellation of fall sports in 2020. The Wolves faced outside competition on a limited number of dates, prepping for the 2021 season. Schedules for the fall team sports are now live on nsuwolves.com . WRE ST L I NG produced its best season in over a decade in 2021, going 5-0 in NSIC action en route to their first NSIC Championship since 2002. TRACK AND F I ELD Tanner Berg, senior TRACK AND F I ELD Tava Berg, junior MEN ' S BASKETBA L L won its fourth straight NSIC and NSIC Tournament Championships in 2021, advancing to the NCAA Tournament. TRACK AND FIELD SOFTBALL FOOTBALL, SOCCER AND VOLLEYBALL BASEBALL The Wolves kicked off 2021 with a dual competition versus Jamestown and Augustana, going 2-0. Northern saw eight school records fall in the indoor season. The Wolves took fourth (men) and fifth (women) from the NSIC Indoor Championships, with individual conference championships from Tanner Berg (weight throw and shot put), Terry Towah (200m) and Jordyn Huneke (pole vault). In addition, Tanner Berg, Tava Berg and Jordyn Huneke all qualified for the NCAA National Championships. The Berg siblings tallied All-American honors in the high jump (Tava), weight throw (Tanner) and shot put (Tanner). Northern moved on to the outdoor season, where five school records were broken. Dakota Hutzler opened the NSIC Championships for the Wolves with the first Conference Championship of her career in the heptathlon. Kealy Hill added an individual Championship in the pole vault, defending her title from 2019. In all, Northern finished the competition with a combined 13 all-conference performances and a fifth place finish by both the Wolves men and women. Northern State baseball closed out the 2021 campaign with a 15-22 record overall and 14-19 mark in the NSIC. The Wolves played their first games at Fossum Field in over three years, going 8-9 in Aberdeen. Northern finished the conference season with two Wolves hitting in the top-40 of the NSIC. In addition, Seth Brewer finished the year 13th in the league in ERA, notching a team best 6-1 record and 71 strikeouts. Northern was the first team out of qualifying for the conference tournament, finishing the year ninth overall. Despite a few in-season cancellations due to COVID, the Wolves finished the regular season with a 22-18 record overall and 13-13 mark in the league. Northern earned the 10th seed in the NSIC Tournament, which kicked off on May 13 in Rochester, Minn. Notable achievements for the Wolves included school records for single game doubles (Ashley Fauske), single game homeruns (Makenzie Merritt), single season strikeouts (Meghan Anderson) and career hits (Kennady Thompson). In addition, the Wolves tallied a top-25 upset, defeating then-No. 13 Winona State, 10-3, on the road in early April. NSU went 1-2 from the NSIC Tournament with a win over Concordia-St. Paul.