Hello Mustang Fans!

It is postseason time for our winter sports.

The the Southwest Minnesota State men’s basketball team (18-11 overall) defeated the University of Mary 82-65 in a Sanford Health/NSIC Basketball Tournament first-round game Wednesday at the R/A Facility. The Mustangs, the No. 3 North Division seed, advanced to play No. 7 South seed Wayne State in a second-round game at 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Wayne State upset No. 2 North seed Bemidji State 88-76 in another first-round game Wednesday at Bemidji.

On Wednesday, SMSU women’s basketball team (4-23) was eliminated from the first round of the Sanford Health/Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Basketball Tournament, falling 73-45 at No. 21-ranked Northern State.

On Saturday, the Mustang wrestling team heads to Edmond, Okla., for the NCAA Central Region Tournament. Next week, the SMSU wheelchair basketball team travels to Arlington, Texas, for the National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament, which begins Thursday.

It is an exciting time in the SMSU Department of Athletics with our winter sports staring postseason play and our spring sports in the early stages of their seasons.

Drown SMSU Golf Classic

I know it is hard to think about golf with so much snow on the ground, but we have set June 20 as the date for the 29th annual David and Carol Drown SMSU Golf Classic, which will take place at the Marshall Golf Club.

The Drown SMSU?Golf Classic is the next fundraising event for the Mustang Booster Club. The Drown SMSU?Golf Classic Committee will be convening in the next few weeks to begin the planning for this great event.

Online

For all of your information on the NSIC and NCAA Division II postseason competition, the Mustang Booster Club and SMSU athletics, visit our website: www.smsumustangs.com.

Upcoming SMSU athletic events

Wrestling

The SMSU wrestling team (12-5 overall, 6-2 NSIC) will be heading to the NCAA Division II Wrestling Super Regional 3 Tournament that begins Saturday in Edmond, Okla.

The Mustangs are looking to send more than the four wrestlers SMSU sent to the NCAA Tournament last season. Justin Reinsma (133 pounds), Kyle Begin (165), Jacob Begin (174) and Travis Peralta (184) all qualified for the national tournament in 2013 and seek to return once again.

Good luck to Coach Jesse Nelson and our Mustangs this weekend!

Indoor Track and Field

SMSU travels to Bemidji for the NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Gillett Recreation/Fitness Center on Friday and Saturday at Bemidji State University. The Mustangs, who are competing in their first NSIC Championships since 1992, begin action Friday with field events starting at 12 p.m., while track competition starts at 3 p.m. Friday and continues into the evening.

On Saturday, field events begin at 10 a.m., followed by track events at 1 p.m. The NSIC Championships are expected to conclude by 4:30 p.m.

Southwest last competed at the Beaver Twilight at Bemidji State last Thursday with the Mustang men’s and women’s teams combining to earn eight first-place finishes.

Wheelchair Basketball

SMSU (11-14) will be in action next weekend at the National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament Championships on March 6-8 in Arlington, Texas. The Mustangs’ first-round opponent will be the University of Alabama at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Women’s Tennis

The Mustangs (2-5, 1-4 NSIC) split a pair of matches last weekend versus No. 38-ranked Augustana College and Minnesota-Crookston. SMSU fell 9-0 to Augustana, but defeated UMC 6-3.

In the Mustangs’ 6-3 win over Minnesota-Crookston, SMSU took two of the three doubles matches and the Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 6 singles matches. Katie Kienitz defeated Catherine Brown 6-4, 2-6, 10-7. Kienitz and Kayla Uphus teamed up to defeat Casey Paris and Holly Roepke 8-3 in doubles competition. Shelby Monahan and Samantha Ritter also notched an 8-3 doubles victory for the Mustangs over Amanda Newman and Sarah Muellner.

SMSU travels to Mesa, Ariz., for seven non-conference matches, beginning March 11.

Baseball

The Mustangs (1-3) head to Tucson, Ariz., March 7-15 to play 12 games on SMSU’s spring trip at the Tucson Invitational.

Southwest begins NSIC play on March 22, when it travels to face Minnesota State in a league doubleheader, pending weather and playable field conditions.

Softball

The Mustangs (0-4) begins their spring trip in St. Louis, Mo., with a doubleheader against Missouri-St. Louis 3 p.m. Thursday. SMSU continues competition on the road trip, playing North Alabama on March 7 before arriving in Winter Haven, Fla., to compete in 12 games from March 9-14 in the Rebel Spring Games.

The Mustangs begin NSIC play on March 25 with a road doubleheader at the University of Sioux Falls, pending weather and playable field conditions.

Women’s Golf

Southwest returns to action in two weeks, when it heads to Daytona Beach, Fla., to host the SMSU Spring Invitational at the LPGA International Golf Club on March 13-14. The Mustangs have four tournaments scheduled during their spring season, concluding with the NSIC Spring Championship and NCAA Central Region Championship.

Good luck to all of our SMSU teams competing this weekend!

Go Mustangs!

Trivia Contest

Congratulations to Ken Mukomela who provided the correct response to last week’s Mustang Hoofprints Trivia Question: Who is the career leader in field goal percentage for the Mustang men’s basketball team?

Doug Imming (1979-83) is the career leader in field goal percentage with 57.3 success rate (323 of 564).

Trivia Question

Who is the career leader in field goal percentage for the Mustang women’s basketball team?

The first person to email me at MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU T-shirt.