NDHSAA Wednesday Water Cooler (January 29)

By Tom Mix
NDHSAA Media Specialist

VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Each Wednesday NDHSAA Media Specialist Tom Mix posts several notable news items, current events and buzz-worthy games upcoming on the NDHSAA prep sports calendar on the NDHSAA NOW website. Keep visiting each Wednesday for all the latest midweek newsworthy items.

• West Fargo High boys swimming standout Brody Engelstad putting up some nice times this winter. It’s been an eventful junior year for Brody Engelstad. He narrowly missed an opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Trials last summer by a tenth of a second and this past fall he announced his verbal commitment to swim collegiately at Indiana University. The five-time NDHSAA boys swimming individual state champion is now focused on helping the Packers try for a repeat as team state champions. Thus far in the regular season he sports the state’s top state meet qualifying performance times in six events – 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle Relay, 200 Medley Relay, and the 400 Freestyle Relay. A complete list of all the state meet qualifying performance times can be found at https://d2q0tptsfejku7.cloudfront.net/uploads/files/2024_25_Sports_and_Activities/Swim%20Boys/2425_Boys_Swim_Qualifiers_1292025.pdf

• North Dakota’s Class A/Division AA boys basketball career scoring record in striking distance for Fargo Davies senior Mason Klabo. When Fargo Davies senior guard Mason Klabo surpassed the 2,000 career point milestone earlier this month the discussion then turned to how long it would take the prolific scorer to overtake the state’s Class A/Division AA boys basketball career scoring record. 2017 Dickinson High School graduate Aanen Moody (2,192 points) currently holds the record, but before this week ends his time at the top of the scoring list could be coming to close. Klabo is at 2,168 points after a 26-point effort in a 85-69 win against Grand Forks Red River on Tuesday, January 28. Klabo needs 25 points to surpass Moody’s record. Be sure to follow www.ndhsaanow.com and NDHSAA Social Media platforms for updates. 

• Velva/Drake-Anamoose/Garrison senior football standout Ben Schepp announces his commitment to play at NDSU. Just a few months removed from helping the Velva/Drake-Anamoose/Garrison Aggies to a NDHSAA Division A football state championship, Ben Schepp now knows where he’ll be playing his college ball. Schepp, who won NDHSCA Division A Football Senior Athlete of the Year honors in November, made his commitment to North Dakota State on Monday, January 27. Schepp also helped the Aggies to a NDHSAA Division 11B football state championship in 2022. Schepp finished his senior season with 2,361 yards passing for 33 touchdowns and also rushed for 580 yards and seven touchdowns. North Dakota State won the 2024 NCAA, Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) National Championship earlier this month.  

• Randy Hedberg, 1973 Parshall High School grad, announces his retirement from college football coaching. Early Wednesday morning (January 29) Randy Hedberg called it a career after 45 years of coaching in college football. Hedberg, who was named the 2020-21 FCS Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association at North Dakota State, was part of NDSU football teams that produced 10 of the top 11 seasons of total offense in NDSU history. He was the head coach at St. Cloud State from 1999-07 and at Minot State for eight seasons from 1982-89 compiling a 92-75-2 mark overall. Hedberg was the offensive coordinator at Central Missouri (1990-95) and North Dakota (1996-98) in between head coaching jobs. Hedberg has been an assistant with NDSU since 2014.

• JOTTINGS. The 2025 State Debate Tournament is scheduled for February 8 at Fargo Davies High School.

Follow NDHSAA on Twitter at @NDHSAA and visit www.ndhsaanow.com for the latest NDHSAA sports and activities news from around the state.