UNK WOMEN HEAD TO NCAA TOURNEY TO FACE BULLDOGS AGAIN:
The Nebraska-Kearney women’s basketball team is in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year, the first time that’s happened since 2008 and 2009, and faces a very familiar foe in the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.
The sixth-seeded Lopers (23-7) face third-seeded UMD (24-4) Friday at noon in the first game of the Central Regional. Top-seed Fort Hays State is the host with UNK having won three in a row and six of seven at Gross Memorial Coliseum. Check the tourney web page for the complete bracket, media links and ticket prices.
The eight region winners advance to the “Elite Eight” March 21-25 in Alabama.
UNK and 12th-ranked Duluth will meet in the NCAA’s for a fourth time. The ‘Dawgs, currently riding a 16-game win streak and 2022 NSIC Tourney Champions, bested the Lopers in both 1999 (66-65 in OT) and 2001 (61-57) with UNK taking last year’s contest in Warrensburg, Mo., 65-57.
Both teams returned virtually intact this year and play similar styles so there’ll be little secrets between the two.
The UNK/UMD winner plays Saturday at five against second-seed Southwestern Oklahoma State (28-4) or seventh-seed Missouri Western (21-9).
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL STRIKES A NEW DEAL:
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association reached a new collective bargaining agreement Thursday afternoon, finally halting a 99-day owner-imposed lockout fraught with rampant tension and colored by heightened mistrust.
Twenty-six of the 38 union leaders voted in favor of a five-year CBA that saw its members make significant gains with regard to minimum salaries and the competitive balance tax threshold, among other areas. The 30 team owners ratified the deal by a unanimous vote, according to the league, finalizing a CBA that provided them with an expanded postseason field and the ability to place advertisements on uniforms.
With the end of the second-longest work stoppage in the game’s history, the market officially opened, paving the way for trades and free-agent signings. Players are required to report to their respective spring training facilities by Sunday, and the first exhibition games will take place four or five days later. Opening Day will come on April 7, a week later than originally scheduled, but 162 games will nonetheless be played.
KEARNEY CATHOLIC FALLS TO JACOBSEN’S BIG DAY, PLAY THIRD PLACE GAME FRIDAY AGAINST FORT CALHOUN:
The stars weren’t aligned for Kearney Catholic Thursday morning as Ashland-Greenwood’s Cale Jacobsen scored 43 of the Bluejays 62 points downing the Stars 62-55 in the C1 Semifinals.
Keanrey Catholic gave up an 8-0 run after leading by 3 in the middle of the third quarter and could not recover, suffering only their second loss of the season.
The Stars will take on the cinderalla team of the tournament: #8 Fort Calhoun who upset #1 Wahoo on Tuesday night. Tip-off from Lincoln East begins at 11 AM.
LOCAL TEAMS TAKE ON STATE TOURNAMENT:
Area teams in action taking on the NSAA Boys & Girls state basketball tournament:
THURSDAY TEAMS RESULTS: (SEMIFINALS)
GIRLS:
CLASS B:
#2 Omaha Skutt Catholic 55 – 31 #3 Adams Central
CLASS C2:
#1 Hastings St. Cecilia 39 – 36 #4 Crofton
CLASS D1
#4 Shelton 53 – 37 #8 Hartington Cedar Catholic
BOYS:
CLASS C1:
#2 Ashland-Greenwood 62 – 55 #3 Kearney Catholic
FRIDAY CHAMPIONSHIP / THIRD PLACE GAMES:
GIRLS:
CLASS A Championship – #5 Lincoln Southwest v. #2 Fremont – 6 PM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)
CLASS C1 Championship – #1 Lincoln Lutheran v. #2 North Bend Central – 11 AM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)
CLASS C2 Third Place – #4 Crofton v. #7 Oakland-Craig – 9 AM (Lincoln East)
CLASS D1 Third Place – #2 Bergan v. #8 Hartington Cedar Catholic – 3 PM (Lincoln East)
CLASS D2 Championship – #1 Falls City Sacred Heart v. #2 Humphrey St. Francis – 8 PM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)
BOYS:
CLASS B Championship – #1 Omaha Skutt v. #2 Omaha Roncalli – 1 PM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)
CLASS C1 Third Place – #3 Kearney Catholic v. #8 Fort Calhoun – 11 AM (Lincoln East)
CLASS C2 Championship – #4 GICC v. #3 Humphrey/Lindsay-Holy Family – 4 PM (Pinnacle Bank Arena
CLASS D1 Championship – #3 Loomis v. #1 North Platte St. Patrick’s – 9 AM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)
CLASS D2 Third Place – #2 Falls City Sacred Heart v. #5 Osceola – 1 PM (Lincoln East)
STORM LOOK TO CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH AT HOME TONIGHT:
The Tri-City Storm seeks to become the first team in the USHL this season to clinch a spot in the Clark Cup Playoffs in tonight’s home game at the Viaero Center against the Fargo Force. The league-leading Storm can lock up a spot in the postseason with a win, overtime loss, or shootout loss in tonight’s game.
The team can also earn a playoff berth tonight with a Des Moines Buccaneers regulation loss, overtime loss, or shootout loss in the team’s road game against the Sioux Falls Stampede.
Tonight’s home game at the Viaero Center is “Ladies Night”. The game is also a “$5 Kids’ Friday”. Puck drop is set for 7:05pm CT.
LOPER WRESTLING AIMS TO BRING BACK FOURTH NATIONAL TITLE:
The Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team heads to St. Louis this weekend with the goal of bringing home the program’s fourth national team title and nine All-Americans.
The two-day, double elimination tournament runs March 11-12 at the Chaifetz Arena, home to Saint Louis University. Co-hosts of the event are Maryville U. and the St. Louis Sports Commission. Live results and a free live video stream are available at trackwrestling.com or ncaa.com. Action begins at 11 a.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday with finals set for 7 p.m. Saturday night.
UNK previously won national titles in 2013 (108.0 points), 2012 (107.0) and 2008 (108.5). The Lopers have knocked on the door since, finishing as runners up 2014, 2015 and 2021 (105.50). They have finished in the top eight 19 consecutive seasons.
The Blue & Gold are the new No. 1 team as they have a tourney-best nine qualifiers. No. 2 and MIAA rival Central Oklahoma and No. 3 and three-time defending national champ St. Cloud State will be the top competition with West Liberty (W.V.) the only other school with at least two top two seeds.
UNK T&F LOOKS TO CAP INDOOR SEASON:
The Nebraska-Kearney men’s track and field team looks to cap a banner 2022 indoor season by having five All-American honors at the NCAA Division II Championships this weekend in Pittsburg, Kan.
UNK and the MIAA will be in familiar surroundings as the Gorillas are hosting the March 11-12 meet at the Robert W. Plaster Center. Check the meet web page for the complete schedule and free live results and streaming links.
The Lopers, runner up at the MIAA Championships for the first time, are currently ranked 20th nationally. The team has five individual qualifiers and a relay with a top eight finish earning first-team All-American status and slots nine through 12th good for second-team accolades. A relay has to crack the top eight to be first team and then ninth or 10th to make the second-team.
NEBRASKA FOOTBALL SPRING PRACTICE – SCOTT FROST COMMENTS:
FROST – WHIPPLE HELPS A LOT WITH OFFENSIVE CONTROL
Head Coach for the Nebraska Football team Scott Frost spoke on Wednesday about the changes to his offensive coaching staff. Frost added that he has been pleased with the addition of the experienced Mark Whipple as offensive coordinator…
The Huskers will pause next week for spring practices due to a scheduled spring break for students at UNL.
FROST – GOOD FIRST FOUR DAYS
Nebraska Football has hit the ground running into Week 2 of spring practices. Head Coach Scott Frost met with the media on Wednesday and while there are still some things to correct, he likes the energy from his team…
Nebraska now sets its sights on spring break upcoming for the student-athletes next week, meaning a break from practices and spring action.
FROST – QUARTERBACKS LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Head Coach of the Nebraska Football team Scott Frost spoke about his quarterback situation during Wednesday’s spring practice media session…
Frost also added that Chubba Purdy has been somewhat limited due to an injury but is still learning the offense with the rest of the quarterback room.
NEBRASKA FOOTBALL SPRING PRACTICE – HEINRICH HAARBERG COMMENTS:
Former Kearney Catholic Star and sophomore quarterback for the Huskers Heinrich Haarberg is entrenched in the quarterback battle for Nebraska Football, and he adds that he feels he may have a leg up in the competition due to the learning curve of the new offense…
Haarberg did not see any action last season, but is still expected to compete for the starting position this spring.
HAARBERG – WHIPPLE MAKES LEARNING EASIER
Sophomore quarterback for the Nebraska Football team Heinrich Haarberg was asked about one of his favorite traits of new offensive coordinator of the Huskers Mark Whipple…
Haarberg did not see action as a freshman last season, coming into the Big Red as a three-year starter at Kearney Catholic after being the first in-state quarterback to sign with Nebraska since 2001.
HAARBERG – DEEP QUARTERBACK ROOM HELPS TEAM
The Huskers have plenty of options to go under center heading into the 2022 season. With a bevy of transfers such as Chubba Purdy and Casey Thompson, returning Huskers such as Logan Smothers and Heinrich Haarberg look to duke it out for the number one spot at quarterback.
Haarberg adds he feels the extra depth can help the Huskers overall…
The Huskers currently have five quarterbacks on scholarship: Thompson, Purdy, Smothers, Haarberg, and Matt Masker.
NEBRASKA SOFTBALL HEADS WEST FOR NON-CONFERENCE PLAY:
The Nebraska softball team is set for a tournament in California hosted by Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. The Huskers will play five games, starting with a matchup against Sacramento State on Friday, March 11 at 2 p.m. CT.
Following game one, the Huskers will take on Cal State Fullerton on its home field at 4:30 p.m. CT.
The Huskers will have one game on Sunday against Boston. NU will take on the 2021 Patriot League Championships at 11 a.m. CT.
NU will finish the weekend with two games on Sunday. At 11 a.m. CT, the Huskers will face Central Florida. Later, Nebraska will face Long Beach State on its home field at 4 p.m. CT.
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
-
- BOYS BASKETBALL: State Tournament @ Lincoln (Semifinals)
- #3 Kearney Catholic v. #2 Ashland-Greenwood (Pinnacle Bank Arena)
- #2 Ashland-Greenwood 62-55
- #3 Kearney Catholic v. #2 Ashland-Greenwood (Pinnacle Bank Arena)
- BOYS BASKETBALL: State Tournament @ Lincoln (Semifinals)
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- BOYS BASKETBALL: State Third Place Game
- #3 Kearney Catholic v. #8 Fort Calhoun – 11 AM (Lincoln East)
- BOYS BASKETBALL: State Third Place Game
- UNK:
- UNK MENS TRACK: @ NCAA Indoor Championships, Pittsburg, KS
- WRESTLING: @ NCAA Div. 2 Championships
- WOMENS TENNIS: @ Cameron Lawton, OK
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ NCAA TOURNAMENT (Hays, KS)
- UNK v. Minnesota-Duluth – 12 PM
- SOFTBALL: @ Missouri Western (Doubleheader) – 2 PM, 4 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- WOMENS WRESTLING: @ NAIA National Championships
- SOFTBALL: @ McPherson Tournament
- v. No. 24 Central Baptist College – 10:30 AM
- v. Tabor College – 12:45 PM
- BASEBALL: @ Rusmatt Tournament
- v. Cornerstone University
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- UNK MENS TRACK: @ NCAA Indoor Championships, Pittsburg, KS
- WRESTLING: @ NCAA Div. 2 Championships
- WOMENS TENNIS: @ Angelo State
- SOFTBALL: @ Northwest Missouri State – 12 PM, 2 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- WOMENS WRESTLING: @ NAIA National Championships
- BASEBALL: @ Rusmatt Tournament
- v. Cornerstone University
