Week two of the Pack baseball season saw the team take on Nebraska Kearney at home.  The ThunderWolves took the series two games to one.

Baseball Week 2 Recap from CSU-Pueblo TODAY on Vimeo.

Photo by Dustin Cox

A great weekend for Pack baseball as they won the series against Montana State-Billings 3 to 1. The team takes on Nebraska-Kearney this weekend at home so come out and support the Pack!

Pack Baseball Week 1 Recap from CSU-Pueblo TODAY on Vimeo.

Pack baseball is ready to start the 2015 season Friday at 1 p.m. against Montana State-Billings.

2015 Baseball Season Preview from CSU-Pueblo TODAY on Vimeo.

Photo Gallery:

The CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves and fans gathered at Massari Arena Saturday night to honor the NCAA Division II National Championship football team and unveil the new championship banner that will commemorate the win for years to come.

National Championship Banner Unveiling from CSU-Pueblo TODAY on Vimeo.

Today reporter Dustin Cox investigates possible construction delays at the CSU-Pueblo soccer and lacrosse complex as inaugural game dates approach.   The work is scheduled to be completed this fall in time for the 2015-16 season.

Soccer and Lacrosse Complex Construction Delays from CSU-Pueblo TODAY on Vimeo.

Athletes Must Balance Academics and Sports from CSU-Pueblo TODAY on Vimeo.

Photo by Dustin Cox

National Champion ThunderWolves
Photo by Dustin Cox

At the beginning of this season, if someone had told me that the ThunderWolves were going to be national champions, I probably would have said that it was too early to tell, a goal to aim for. But I always believed it was within reach.

Saturday’s game in Kansas City was the realization of that goal and an early Christmas present for the team and the many fans who traveled 600 miles to the NCAA Division II Championship game.

The attendance for both teams at Sporting Park was 6,792. Along with those watching from home on ESPN 2, they witnessed history as CSU-Pueblo won its first national title.

The first scoring play of the game wasn’t until the second quarter when CSU-Pueblo’s Greg O’Donnell put the ThunderWolves on the board with a 27-yard field goal.

Both teams came to the game ready to battle, and battle they did, as a strong defense on both sides of the field limited the scoring plays.

Paul Browning pulls in the only touchdown of the game.
Photo by Dustin Cox

The Pack went on to score one touchdown, caught in the end zone by senior Paul Browning, and another three points on a 24-yard field goal from O’Donnell. They kept MSU scoreless, taking the victory 13-0.

Statistically speaking, the ThunderWolves outplayed the Mavericks across the board. The Pack had 327 total offensive yards and gained 16 first downs over MSU’s 12.

Defensively, the score is the story. The ThunderWolves secured the first shutout in a Division II championship game since 1997 and against one of the top scoring teams in the country.

The ThunderWolves went into the season carrying the motto, “Win The Last Game.” It was established in August when the coaching staff handed out T-shirts that read “WTLG,” alluding to Saturday’s national championship game. The team lived up to that motto with every Pack player on the field giving 100 percent, and now they are going home with a national title.

Pack Nation
Photo by Dustin Cox

But along with the great plays and the victory came the Pack Nation. CSU-Pueblo fans showed up in the thousands and were louder than ever on the sideline. Pack Cheer kept the fans excited, loud and proud. The CSU-Pueblo marching band welcomed the fans to the stadium with the fight song and played all during the game and at halftime.

My best description of the excitement in the air would be “intense.”

Being a part of such a historic game is something that I’ve looked forward to since I came to CSU-Pueblo in the summer of 2012. Now, I’ve been there, and it’s an amazing feeling to say that I go to a school with a national champion football team, the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves.

Just a few years after reinstating the football program at Colorado State University-Pueblo, the ThunderWolves are heading to the NCAA Division II National Championship. The game will be held Saturday in Kansas City.

Photo by Dustin Cox

The team has won eight straight games, earning a spot in the national championship game with a 10-7 victory over West Georgia last week. The game turned out to be a defensive battle, and the Pack spent a good portion of the game trailing, but with one field goal and one touchdown, they held on for the victory.

The ThunderWolves own a 4-3 record in NCAA playoff games, all of which have taken place at home. Since 2011, CSU-Pueblo is 10-3 against ranked opponents in Division II, and 5-0 against the nation’s top 25 this season.

The Minnesota State Mavericks finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in both the AFCA and D2Football.com national polls. MSU is 14-0 overall, sharing the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title with Minnesota Duluth. The Mavericks began the NCAA Division II playoff games as the No. 2 seed for Super Region Three.

The Mavericks rank seventh in the nation in scoring offense with an average of 42.9 points per game, and the ThunderWolves averaged more than 35.

MSU has scored 39 rushing touchdowns and 33 passing touchdowns this season, averaging 459.9 yards per game. CSU-Pueblo scored 30 passing and 22 rushing touchdowns this season and averaged 406.6 offensive yards per game.

On the defense, the Mavericks are comparable to the ThunderWolves. MSU has the best scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 12.9 points per game. The ThunderWolves have allowed an average of 13.7.

Along with CSU-Pueblo, Minnesota State is making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II National Championship game. MSU has reached the playoffs in five of the last seven seasons and owns a 6-3 record during that span.

The two teams will meet for the first time Saturday at Sporting Park, located in Kansas City, Kansas. The game will also be televised on ESPN 2 beginning at 2 p.m. Mountain time.

Hundreds of students, alumni and fans are heading to Kansas City to support the ThunderWolves and help them bring the national title home to CSU-Pueblo.

More information on the game is available at www.gothunderwolves.com.

Tight end Zach Boyd celebrates the ThunderWolves’ winning touchdown.
Photo by Dustin Cox

The NCAA Division II semifinals are over, and now two teams are headed to the national championship; the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves are excited and proud to be one of those teams.

CSU-Pueblo quarterback Chris Bonner threw a 38-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter, and the Thunderwolves’ defense was able to hold off West Georgia’s offensive attack as CSU-Pueblo beat West Georgia 10-7, Saturday night. The ThunderWolves advance to the NCAA Division II Championship game for the first time in program history.

With 6:50 left in the first quarter, Greg O’Donnell put the Pack on the scoreboard with a 24-yard field goal. The West Georgia Wolves answered the Pack’s first score with a 30-yard pass to Shaq Hall for a touchdown, with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

The second and third quarters did not produce any scoring plays, and the Wolves held their 7-3 lead. Pack quarterback Chris Bonner passed for 157 yards and the offense netted 92-yards rushing. Kieren Duncan ended the game with 49 receiving yards.

With 4:50 left on the game clock in the fourth quarter, LeVon Floyd intercepted a pass from Dallas Dicky, quarterback for the Wolves, turning the game in the favor of the ThunderWolves. This was the pivotal point in the game, helping to change the momentum with the later Pack touchdown.

Although West Georgia dominated in possession time with 34:31, they could not convert that time into more points on the board. CSU-Pueblo had possession for a little more than 25 minutes and worked hard to keep the Wolves out of the endzone.

West Georgia finished the game with 156 net rushing yards and 210 passing yards. They tried hard to answer the winning touchdown, but were unsuccessful.

During Saturday’s game, both teams attempted to use some trickery, but not all those attempts were successful. Bonner completed just 10 of 25 pass attempts, but he came through with a fake reverse and hit tight end Zach Boyd, who stepped into the end-zone for the ThunderWolves’ only touchdown of the night, which sealed the win.

Head coach of the West Georgia Wolves Will Hall said that the loss was very disappointing with such a large amount of possession time but congratulated the ThunderWolves on their victory. The Wolves made it into the red zone three times and tried to make plays, but the ThunderWolves would not allow it.

Coach John Wristen, head coach of the ThunderWolves, said that it means more to him, seeing the smiles and hearing the fans cheering than anything else.

Chris Bonner, quarterback for the ThunderWolves, didn’t complete too many passes in the game, but said that when the team is in a game and under pressure that, “you can’t think too much. You just have to let it fly,” speaking about his play with Darrius Allen.

“Darrius makes big plays in our passing game. He has such great strength and speed,” said Wristen. Wristen also said that Allen has a relentless spirit about him.

It is the big spirits of both the players and the fans that helped drive the ThunderWolves to a 10-7 victory over West Georgia Saturday night.

Throughout the week, the Athletics Department at CSU-Pueblo worked hard, along with many fans, to help fill the ThunderBowl for Saturday’s game. The final attendance was 7,236, which was far more than the previous playoff games this year.

The CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves move on to the NCAA Division II National Championship game in Kansas City, Kansas, Saturday, Dec. 20. CSU-Pueblo will take on undefeated Minnesota State Mankato in the championship game, which will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN2.

Those who plan to attend the game in Kansas City can purchase tickets online at www.ncaa.com.

The Colorado State University-Pueblo football team is ready to take on the West Georgia University Wolves this Saturday in the semifinal game of the NCAA Division II championship.

The last time the ThunderWolves took the field, they won their seventh straight game, a 31 to 28 victory over Angelo State. This is the first time in program history that the team has made it to the semifinal game and the first time a team from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has been in the final four of the Division II championship.

The Pack is currently second in the nation with a turnover margin of +24. The team has gained 42 turnovers and lost just 18.  In the last seven games, the ThunderWolves have out-scored their opponents 298 to 98, averaging more than 41 points per game.

During the same seven-game stretch, the Pack recorded a +12 turnover ratio, scored four defensive touchdowns, had three punt return scores and a safety.

Saturday, the ThunderWolves take on the West Georgia Wolves, who suffered two losses in the span of three games Oct. 11-25.  The Wolves have since won six straight games, including three NCAA Playoff games.

The Wolves are coming in as the No. 6 seed in Super Region Two and have been on the road for all their playoff games. The Wolves rank 19th in the nation in rushing offense with 231.6 yards per game. Seth Hinsley is the top running back for West Georgia with 1,345 yards and 96.1 yards per game.

Saturday’s game will be the first time the ThunderWolves and Wolves have met, and the outcome will decide who moves on to the NCAA Division II Championship game in Kansas City, Dec. 20.

Saturday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN 3 and the athletics department hopes to pack the ThunderBowl to improve the home field advantage.

Kickoff is at 4:30 and tickets are still available at the ThunderBowl box office or online at gothunderwolves.com.