Three Dragons Honored by NSIC This Week
Three Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragon student-athletes have been honored by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference as Athletes of the Week.
Wrestler Evan Forde, women’s basketball player Angie Jetvig and runner Jessica Keesling have all been honored.
Forde was the catalyst for the Dragons’ upset of No. 10 ranked Upper Iowa on Thursday night by a final of 25-17. Forde knocked off No. 4 ranked Kyle Pedretti in the 133-pound matchup by a final of 3-1.
The Dragons were down by six heading into the matchup with only three matches remaining and needing a win to give them a shot of a comeback. Forde and Pedretti studied one another in a scoreless first period, with Pedretti gaining an escape in the second to take a 1-0 lead.
With the Dragons needing a come from behind win, it was Forde who came from behind to tie the match with an escape in the third to send it into sudden victory overtime. Forde stunned Pedretti, the regions current No. 1 wrestler, in overtime just 30 seconds into the period with a big takedown that earned him the 3-1 win, propelling the Dragons to the 25-17 win.
Jetvig became the fourth Dragon all-time to hit the 1,000 point plateau in her junior season as she scored her 1,000th point on Saturday over the Upper Iowa Peacocks. She joins three other former juniors to reach 1,000 points and is the 19th Dragon women’s basketball player to join the 1,000 point club.
She reached the historic mark in her 82nd game, while the current all-time points leader at MSUM, Kari Farstveet (1,624 points) reached the 1,000 point mark in her 72nd game as a Dragon. Jetvig continues to lead the league as she is averaging 19.0 points per game this season.
On the weekend, Jetvig went 17-for-28 from the field including 1-of-2 from long range, while hitting 4-of-5 attempts from the charity stripe. She grabbed 12 boards, had four blocks and three of each steals and assists. She led the field both Friday and Saturday nights as she tallied 20 over Winona State and 19 against the Peacocks. This is the second time this season Jetvig has been named NSIC Player of the Week (11/29/10).
Keesling won the 60-meter hurdles in 9.03 seconds at the Snowshoe Open this past weekend at the University of Minnesota. She topped two NCAA DI athletes on her way to the top as she hit a pre-qualifying mark for the NCAA DII Championships.