The sports world took a major blow when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March of 2020. Sports were some of the greatest casualties.

For West Fargo Sheyenne, the boys basketball team was preparing for their state semifinal matchup against the 2019 state champion Jamestown Blue Jays.

The 2019-2020 West Fargo Sheyenne Mustangs boys’ basketball team was one of the major favorites to win the 2020 state title.

It was a 23-2 season that was taken away from them right at the end, when they were looking to claim a spot in the Class A title game, North Dakota high school basketball’s biggest stage.

In addition, all the spring sports were forced to cancel their seasons and it was a heartbreaking end for the athletes of the 2020 class.

Throughout the world, sports shut down for the rest of the spring. In the United States, sport leagues started to resume around June of 2020.
West Fargo Sheyenne athletics were able to return as well going into the 2020-2021 school year.

But the atmosphere of the games wasn’t the same as before. Precautions took place and the number of fans that were able to attend the game were limited.

Heartbreak returned when the boys soccer team was having arguably one of their best seasons in program history.

They made it to the semifinal round of the 2020 state tournament before COVID infected most of the varsity squad, forcing the junior varsity players to play against varsity competition. It was a 6-0 loss to Bismarck Century for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs’ football team made their second straight state title during the fall of 2020 but came up short to Bismarck Century 34-0, in front of a limited crowd in the Fargodome.

The volleyball team achieved a seventh-place finish in 2020.

Going into the winter season, the boys basketball team had a motto that stuck with them, “Unfinished Business.”

The 2020-2021 squad was one of the tallest in the history of North Dakota high school basketball. It featured four players that were over 6’5 which were Jacksen Moni at 6’10, JahHeem Leake at 6’9, Dominic Dosmann at 6’8, and Michael Nhial at 6’6.

This squad also featured Ben Manson, one of the best shooters to come through the program, along with Gage Anderson and Barika Kpeenu.

It was another dominant season for head coach Tom Kirchoffner and his crew. After losing the season opener to West Fargo High, 87-84, the Mustangs went on to win a school record 24 straight games.

They captured their first EDC regular season title, giving them the number one seed in the EDC conference tournament, and their third EDC conference tournament championship, which gave them the East number one seed for the state tournament.

The dominant season came to an end as West Fargo High knocked off the Mustangs 78-73 in the semifinal round of the 2021 Class A State Tournament, at the Bismarck Event Center.

For the Mustangs, it was like getting punched in the gut after a season filled with COVID safety roadblocks.

Despite this, this was a team that broke almost all their team records that were held from previous years. Jacksen Moni is now excelling at Northern State University, one of the best NCAA D-II schools in the country.

Barika Kpeenu is playing football at NDSU, who just won their ninth FCS title in the last eleven years back on Saturday, January 8.

Likewise, the spring season of 2021 was a huge success for West Fargo Sheyenne. The baseball team captured their first state title, along with the boys golf team winning their first state title.

The Mustangs’ track and field teams featured a lot of stars as well. Jordan Aus, the boys track and field head coach at Sheyenne, won EDC and State Coach of the Year honors.

Mimi Gu, who is now a senior at Sheyenne, won the girls singles state tournament last year. She’ll be looking to repeat this year.

The sports world started to return to normal during the summer of 2021 and heading into the fall of 2021. Restrictions on fan capacity were lifted and Sheyenne athletes could finally once again enjoy the energy the Mustang faithful produced.

The momentum from the 2021 spring season continued into the fall season of 2021.

Sheyenne’s 2021 football team had one of the most dominant seasons in all of North Dakota high school football’s history. They posted a 12-0 record, scored 364 points, and only gave up 90 points, which were all team records.

Five out of the twelve wins were shutout wins. The Mustangs made it look easy on the gridiron and as the season progressed, they knew it was their year to win it all.

It was third times the charm for Sheyenne in the Dakota Bowl.

After losing to Bismarck Century in the Dakota Bowl two years in a row, Sheyenne was able to beat their cross-town rival, West Fargo High, 27-7 this past November, in the Fargodome, to capture their first state title in program history.

Aiden Johnson, a sophomore at Sheyenne, finished first in the individual standings at the cross-country state meet, posting a time of 15:35.

Boys soccer took third place at state this past October, which was a good way to bounce back after last year’s unfortunate finish.

Basketball, hockey, and wrestling fans have been able fill up the seats once again for the 2021-2022 winter season.

Last year, Sheyenne Mustang Media came in handy when they started streaming a variety of events at Sheyenne High School. This included multiple sports and concerts.

The purpose was to provide a new way to watch these events as a lot of parents and grandparents could not make the games last year due to capacity restrictions.

Sports fans are relieved that sports are making a return to normal, and the athletes are thrilled to enjoy the full atmosphere when they step foot onto the field or court.

The Mustangs’ boy’s and girl’s basketball teams are enjoying winning seasons once again. Both teams are in the state polls.

Sheyenne’s wrestling team had their most dominant season in program history. After acheiving their first ever winning season as a program, they went even further this year. The Mustangs captured the EDC title, going undefeated in EDC dual play.

The best time of the year for basketball is right around the corner, with March being a couple weeks away.

Both Sheyenne’s boy’s and girl’s basketball teams conclude their regular seasons against Valley City on February 22. The EDC tournament will be up next.

The play-in and first round games will be at the higher seed, while the second and third round games will be played up at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex, the home of NDSU’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.

The 2022 NDHSAA Boys’ and Girls’ Class A Basketball State Tournaments will be out at the Bismarck Event Center in downtown Bismarck, from Thursday, March 10 to Saturday March 12.

It’s going to be another exciting postseason of North Dakota high school basketball. Sports fans know, when it’s March, expect the unexpected.

By Logan Staska

The NBA’s 2021 season started on October 19th. Many new changes occurred with players being traded to other teams and teams playing better than they did the last season.

Before the season started, many players were transferred to different teams in hopes of being the diamond that will get them out of the rough. LeBron James, shooting guard/small forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, gained two new star athletes as teammates.

With already having his center Anthony Davis to rely on, he also gained Russell Westbrook as a point guard and Carmelo Anthony as a power forward.

However, with all the star power on the team they haven’t been playing the best and have been getting in each other’s way.

The Chicago Bulls, however, are having a much better season than last year after picking up point guard Lonzo Ball, and power forward DeMar DeRozan to join small forward Zach LaVine. Along with those two Nikola Vucevic took place at center.

Not many believed that this team would thrive with these players but now they have been stationed in the top of the Eastern Conference.
Many are surprised the Golden State Warriors are doing so well. With the point guard Stephen Curry missing his shooting guard and “splash-brother” Klay Thompson due to injury.

He has been able to keep the warriors in the top of the Western Conference. With how well Stephen Curry has been playing many are now starting to believe that he is the best shooter in history.

Along with Klay Thompson being one of the players we haven’t seen touch the court this season, we also haven’t seen star point guard for the Brooklyn Nets Kyrie Irving.

Kyrie Irving hasn’t played a game this season due to the city of New York’s vaccine mandate for Covid-19. With Kyrie Irving refusing to get vaccinated due to his personal decisions; he hasn’t been there for his teammates Kevin Durant and James Harden.

Another player not playing is point guard for the 76ers Ben Simmons who hasn’t been there for his team due to mental health reasons. It’s been noticed that his mental health started going down after the playoff game against the Atlanta Hawks. He folded the game with an illogical pass in which he had a perfect lay-up and could have gotten the chance for a free throw with the foul.

If he went for the lay-up, he would have most likely been able to get the 76ers to the next round. After the game many 76ers fans were disappointed and put the blame on Ben Simmons making it hard to go back and play.

The 76ers are getting very annoyed about Ben Simmons refusing to play; on November 15th, 2021, they fined Ben Simmons for not traveling with the team on their 6-game road trip.

The 76ers have been floating around in the Eastern Conference from being in the lower bottom to upper top. The 76ers have been able to show that they’re a good team with or without Ben Simmons. With power forward Joel Embiid, small forward Tobias Harris, and shooting guard Seth Curry, Stephen Curry’s brother, the 76ers can stay in the playoff pictures. But who knows how good they will be once Ben Simmons comes back, if he comes back?

The Milwaukee Bucks, who won the 2020 national championship, is shockingly staying in the bottom portion of there confrence.

However, the season is still a long way from ending and power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks have time to get everything figured out and figure how to be a playoff contender and hopefully win another championship.

The current status of the NBA right now is sure to keep basketball fans interested but there is still a long season ahead where anything can happen. Will your team make it to the playoffs and finals? We’ll have to wait and see.

By Logan Staska

Martial Arts are combat techniques that come from many different countries and cultures and are used for self defense and sport. Before MMA, matches where held within the singular sport, but on November of 1992 the UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship, officially started mixing the forms of combat.

Since the beginning of the violent sport, Dana White, president of the UFC, has been traveling throughout the world looking for talented athletes trying to find the next super star.

He located star fighters from everywhere including Africa; where he found Kamaru Usman, Francis Nganou, and Israel Adesanya, Brazil; where he found Anderson Silva, Royce Gracie, and Jose Aldo and many other fighters from different countries in Europe, Australia, Asia, and North America.

Dana White’s brilliant business moves grow the popularity of the UFC with the sport combining all forms of martial arts from all the different countries making the sport more interesting.

Also, UFC is gaining major popularity because fighters will walk into the octagon with the flag of their home country. This action makes fans cheer for their home fighter such as the Olympics.

Conor McGregor is the most famous fighter in the UFC and whenever he has a fight the crowd is bombarded with Irish flags, showing the Irish natives are cheering for their home-town-boy. This action is also showed with other fans such as Michael Chandler fans waiving United States flags when he fights.

The UFC has support from companies that enhance the sports popularity such as Monster Energy Drinks, Body Armor and Reebok providing footwear for fighters. These sponsors help the sport increase in popularity along with major celebrity influence such as stand-up comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan draws attention to the UFC with his podcast the Joe Rogan Experience.

Just like in boxing, the UFC has a PPV (pay-per-view) system. The PPV helps increase the hype for the fight by making viewers more interested in the headlining fight. The first pay-per-view sold 86,000 dollars.

One fighter who sells a high amount of PPV is Conor McGregor. He gets the entire world to view into the fight with his intense trash talking at press conferences. Hate him or love him, you’re watching the fight.

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Connor McGregor are the reason for the largest pay-per-view in UFC history selling 2.4 million dollars.

While the UFC is the most popular organization in combat sports, they have been having a battle with boxing for the most popular combat sport. Boxing and the UFC intertwine with each other putting the best strikers against boxers to see who would win.

Connor McGregor was the light at the end of the tunnel for the UFC when he went to box Floyd Mayweather, but unfortunately the Irish striker couldn’t take down the undefeated champion.

Mayweather has the highest PPV sold in any combat sport selling 4.3 million views generating 600 million dollars.

With all the steps taken to get the UFC where it’s at today, the UFC will be able to keep increasing in popularity with new headlining fights like Dustin Poirier vs Charles Oliveira on December 11th. With these headlining fights the UFC will grow in viewers and participants.