Travis Nordhus, like the rest of his teammates, was a bundle of nerves on the sidelines Saturday as David Nadeaulined up for a potential game-winning field goal for the University of Minnesota football team.
On the game's final play, Nadeau booted a 32-yard field goal to lift UMD past Delta State 20-17 in the Division II NCAA national championship football game.
Nordhus, a freshman defensive back from Rochester, rushed onto the field in joy along with the rest of the Bulldogs after the winning kick.
"The most exciting game we've been in all year," Nordhus said. "It was unbelievable. It took years off my life."
Nordhus didn't play on defense during the game. He was on the kickoff and punt return teams, but only on coverage, not on field goal attempts.
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"It was amazing, a great experience," Nordhus said of playing in the game in Alabama.
UMD won its second national title in three seasons. Nordhus was thrilled to be part of another championship team as a freshman.
"All our hard work paid off," Nordhus said. "That's been our story all year. We fought through a lot of tough situations."
One tough situation was the loss of Isaac Odim.Odim of Rochester was an elite running back for the Bulldogs, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the sixth game of the season.
UMD finished the season 15-0. Nordhus said the players will receive a championship ring and will get to keep their jerseys from the championship game. Nordhus plans to return to Rochester today and will spend a couple of weeks here over winter break.
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The World Junior Ice Hockey Championships will begin next week and the event is being held in Jamestown, N.Y.
Rochester native Jim Johannsonis the general manager of U.S. Junior Hockey. The United States is the defending champion of the World Junior Championships.
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In a pre-World Junior Championship tournament, the U.S. had 29 players that represented 13 states.
"It really shows how our game has grown," Johannson said in an Associated Press interview.
The Americans showed their skills during the Vancouver Games last February by losing the gold-medal game in overtime to Canada. And in last year's World Junior Championship tournament in Saskatchewan, the U.S. defeated Canada 6-5 in overtime in the title game.
"I think our system is producing more players capable of playing at this level," Johannson said. "So it makes (player personnel) decisions like this tough, but it's the right kind of tough decision to have to make."
U.S. officials intend to make their final cuts to set a 22-player roster by Wednesday. The U.S. opens the tournament playing Finland on Dec. 26 in Buffalo.
Because of the big snow storm in Europe, many of the European teams have already begun arriving in New York.
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Senior Hannah Mesickof Chatfield had a career night in leading Wisconsin-Eau Claire to a 73046 victory over Randolph-Macon College (Va.) at the 2010 Daytona Beach Shootout on Sunday.
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Mesick had her fourth double-double of the season with a career-high 29 points and12 rebounds. She shot 12-for-18 from the floor and 5-for-5 at the line.
Mesick is averaging a team-best 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds through nine games this season.
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The Mayo wrestling team will hold an Alumni Night on Dec. 30. The event will take place during a duel against Mankato East and was rescheduled from earlier this month.
All former Mayo wrestlers, coaches, managers, friends and fans are invited to attend. All alumni will be honored between the junior varsity and varsity matches. Wrestling action will begin at 6 p.m. After the match a social in the high school cafeteria will be held.
