Dragons hope to test Bison's best

The Forum, Fargo, North Dakota

02/18/1997

Dragons hope to test Bison's best By Jeff Kolpack When North Dakota State visits Moorhead State tonight, it will be a wrestling battle of two coaches who donate to the Dragon program.

NDSU's Bucky Maughan, a MSU graduate, contributes a few bucks to the alma mater. Moorhead's John Sterner gives so much time, energy and dedication that it would take 100 years to pay back a hypothetical loan.

Some day, hopefully before 100 years, these two programs will wage war, with the outcome in doubt until the heavyweight match. At least in the '90s, the Dragons are closing the gap.

"The best thing that could happen to college wrestling in the area is if Moorhead State and NDSU have great home-and-home duals every year," Maughan said. "I want to see them do well." In Sterner, the Dragons have a coach who has made the most of limited financial resources. The wrestling program receives about $3,000 per year in scholarships. It's not much; MSU counts about $2,400 for just one tuition and fee.

Sterner sells his program with honesty. He makes no bones that the money isn't there. If it comes down to buying an athlete, the Dragons don't bid.

"I tell them that point blank," Sterner said, "if their primary concern is money, I know I'm in trouble." That hasn't been the case with wrestlers on board the Dragon ship. In a show of amazing team vitality, Sterner has had upperclassmen go above and beyond the call of duty to keep the program afloat. They have sacrificed scholarship money to give to freshmen or sophomores. All in the name to have a stronger team.

"They said, ?We don't want the program to go down,'" Sterner said. "We've been fortunate to have that type of mentality." The mentality against NDSU is getting stronger. When Sterner first took the reigns, the Bison shut the Dragons out -- the ultimate in-your-face wrestling outcome. Moreover, Maughan put a few reserves on the mat just to give them experience.

That's changed and it is the ultimate compliment to Sterner's program: to beat us, you have to use your best.

"That's super," Sterner said. "We're trying to get some respect. We feel we're starting to get the type of kid to do that." Sterner anticipates the Dragons will be competitive in seven of the 10 matches tonight. That's seven more than it used to be. And it's caused Maughan to take the dual more seriously.

"Now we have to put some good people in there," Maughan said. "They have some dangerous kids." They are dangerous Division II kids. The Dragons made the switch from NAIA to Division II a few years ago. At first, Sterner was skeptical. For starters, realizing the feeling of success at the NCAA Division II Championships is tougher for an under-funded program than at the NAIA level.

As it's turned out, going D-II has been a blessing. The Dragons qualified three for last year's D-II Championships and have one athlete this year, Nate Hendrickson, who is a legitimate challenger for a national title.

"We have three guys who came who wouldn't have if we weren't Division II," Sterner said. "We're getting more people to stop by and visit whereas before, it was, ?Who are you?'" This year's national tournament is at the Bison Sports Arena March 14-15. The Dragons may never have the quality to challenge for the upper echelon of that tournament, at least not in the foreseeable future. Right now, they'll settle for giving the Bison a good match.

"Over the years, I've talked to Bucky and I've watched his program," Sterner said. "It took him a long time to get going. You have to have patience. We tell our kids that NDSU earned it. It just didn't come to them because they were Bison."