FARGO, N.D.—Eight home appearances including the 45th annual Bison Open and seven dual matches, along with the first Big 12 Championships highlight North Dakota State University’s 2015-16 wrestling schedule released today by head coach Roger Kish.
“Our schedule is challenging, it’s going to be tough,” said Kish, who enters his fifth season at North Dakota State. The Bison return NCAA All-American 184-pound senior Hayden Zillmer, along with NCAA qualifiers 125-pound junior Josh Rodriguez, 141-pound sophomore Mitch Bengtson and 149-pound sophomore Clay Ream.
The challenge starts right away as North Dakota State hosts a pair of perennial Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouses in the University of Virginia at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, and Virginia Tech University at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. Both duals will take place in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. In between is the 45th annual Bison Open, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Fargodome. NDSU opens the season at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open on Sunday, Nov. 1 in Brookings.
December features the first of two duals against South Dakota State University on Sunday, Dec. 13, in Brookings. It’s a grueling month for the Bison that includes trips to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 4-5, the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 20, and the Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30 in Evanston, Ill.
Three home duals in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse highlight January as North Dakota State hosts the Air Force Academy at 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 22; Cal State Bakersfield at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, and the University Wyoming at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31.The Bison open the new year with a road trip to Boise State on Jan. 15 and Northern Colorado on Jan. 17. The duals against UNC, Air Force and Wyoming are Big 12 Conference matches.
A pair of familiar opponents close out North Dakota State’s regular season schedule in February with duals against the University of Northern Iowa at 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 13, and South Dakota State at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. The Bison start the month traveling to Utah Valley on Feb. 5 and Grand Canyon on Feb. 7. The duals against Utah Valley and SDSU are Big 12 Conference matches.
NDSU is scheduled to compete in the 10-team Big 12 Conference Championships March 5-6 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The NCAA Championships is scheduled for March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
North Dakota State won its second straight NCAA West Region championship and second Western Wrestling Conference regular-season dual title over the past three years in 2015. The Bison were 5-0 in the WWC and 9-4 overall including a 22-21 win by criteria over No. 18-ranked Wyoming. NDSU finished the season ranked 20th in the final USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll and 23rd at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
For ticket information, call the NDSU ticket office at (701) 231-6378 or (888) 231-6378 or email ndsu.bisontickets@ndsu.edu.
[eztable caption=”2015-16 North Dakota State University Wrestling Schedule” width=”700″]
Day,Date,Opponent,Location,Time/Result
Sun.,11/1/2015,Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open,”Brookings, S.D.”,9 a.m.
Fri.,11/6/2015,Virginia,”Fargo, N.D.”,2 p.m.
Sat.,11/14/2015,45th Annual Bison Open,”Fargo, N.D.”,9 a.m.
Sun.,11/22/2015,Virginia Tech,”Fargo, N.D.”,4 p.m.
Fri.,12/4/2015,Cliff Keen Invitational,”Las Vegas, Nev.”,9 a.m.
Sat.,12/5/2015,Cliff Keen Invitational,”Las Vegas, Nev.”,9 a.m.
Sun.,12/13/2015,South Dakota State,”Brookings, SD”,4:30 p.m.
Sun.,12/20/2015,Reno Tournament of Champions,”Reno, Nev.”,All Day
Tue.,12/29/2015,Midlands Championships,”Evanston, Ill.”,All Day
Wed.,12/30/2015,Midlands Championships,”Evanston, Ill.”,All Day
Fri.,1/15/2016,Boise State,”Boise, Idaho”,8 p.m.
Sun.,1/17/2016,*Northern Colorado,”Greeley, Colo.”,3 p.m.
Fri.,1/22/2016,*Air Force Academy,”Fargo, N.D.”,7 p.m.
Sun.,1/24/2016,Cal State Bakersfield,”Fargo, N.D.”,2 p.m.
Sun.,1/31/2016,*Wyoming,”Fargo, N.D.”,2 p.m.
Fri.,2/5/2016,*Utah Valley University,”Orem, UT”,8 p.m.
Sun.,2/7/2016,Grand Canyon University,”Phoenix, AZ”,2 p.m.
Sat.,2/13/2016,Northern Iowa,”Fargo, N.D.”,7 p.m.
Sun.,2/21/2016,*South Dakota State,”Fargo, N.D.”,2 p.m.
,Big 12 Championships[attr colspan=”2″]
Sat.,3/5/2016,Big 12 Championships,”Kansas City, Mo.”,All Day
Sun.,3/6/2016,Big 12 Championships,”Kansas City, Mo.”,All Day
,NCAA Championships[attr colspan=”2″]
Thu.,3/17/2016,NCAA Championships,New York City,All Day
Fri.,3/18/2016,NCAA Championships,New York City,All Day
Sat.,3/19/2016,NCAA Championships,New York City,All Day
[/eztable]
Home Duals/Tournament are in bold
* Big 12 Conference duals
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