Wide Receiver Kieren Duncan scores for the ThunderWolves.
Photo by Dustin Cox

The Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves are moving on to the final four in the Division II college football playoffs for the first time in program history after a 31-28 win over Ohio Dominican.

CSU-Pueblo was red hot, opening the first 21 minutes of the game with a 24-0 lead over the Panthers. But the Panthers battled back late in the second quarter and carried that momentum over to open the second half.

After forcing a ThunderWolf fumble in the second quarter, they would go on to get their first touchdown of the game. Seven of the 21 unanswered points they would post that would bring it to a three point game in the end.

“It seemed like, from that point on, we were fighting to take a breath, but that’s part of a football game. Things aren’t always going to be perfect,” said CSU-Pueblo head coach John Wristen.

“You would think there would be panic, but we didn’t panic. We buckled down and made a few stops,” said linebacker Joe Rosenbrock.

Entering the fourth quarter, CSU-Pueblo hadn’t scored since early in the second quarter and were looking to shift the momentum that was in Ohio Dominican’s favor. The ThunderWolves were able to get the shift they needed on an 83 yard punt return for a touchdown by Daniel Wise, making it 31-21 with 10 minutes left in the game.

After the game Wise said, “I knew if I made this play for my team, we were going to see the ‘promised land.’”

The Panthers didn’t quit, and with eight minutes left, senior quarterback Mark Miller led his team on a 53 yard touchdown drive in 56 seconds to make it 31-28. They received the ball again after forcing a quick three and out from the ThunderWolves, but followed with a quick three and out of their own.

The ThunderWolves ran the clock down and had to punt, leaving the Panthers with a minute and a half left and zero time outs. The Panthers got a first down to their own 36-yard-line, but that’s as far as they could go.

The ThunderWolves defense clamped down and forced three incomplete passes to seal the game and advance once more.

Even though the final score was 31-28, it wasn’t an offensive-friendly game for either side, but CSU-Pueblo running back Cameron McDondle was still able to rush for 103 yards on 26 carries, marking the 10th straight game he’s rushed for more than 100 yards.

After the game Wristen said, “It’s friggin’ cool, I’m excited. We’ve been close, but I always wanted to say we were a part of a Final Four.”

Wise and Rosenbrock echoed Wristen’s sentiments about the final four, but there’s still unfinished business.

CSU-Pueblo will take on the University of West Georgia in the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II championship next Saturday, Dec. 13.  The game will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl and will also be aired on ESPN3.

Photo by Dustin Cox

After earning a first-round bye in the NCAA Division II playoffs, the Colorado State-Pueblo ThunderWolves are preparing to face a familiar foe in Angelo State, a team they defeated 45-24 last year in the Lone Star Classic at Cowboys Stadium.

Entering Saturday’s game, Angelo State will be riding in on a six-game winning streak. Two of those wins came in the Lone Star Conference playoffs, and last week, in the first round of the Division II playoffs, they won 42-41 on the road against Michigan Tech.

Overall, ASU is 9-2 on the season. One of their losses came against West Texas A&M, an opponent the ThunderWolves defeated in the opening game of the 2014 season.

CSU-Pueblo is currently on a five-game winning streak. They will enter Saturday’s game with only one loss that came at the hands of Fort Lewis College, who has only won three games all season. The ThunderWolves have won their last five games by an average of 30 points.

The Angelo State Rams are led by their dual-threat quarterback, Kyle Washington. Through 11 games he’s thrown for 3011 yards and 32 touchdowns. On the ground, he rushed for 922 yards and added nine more touchdowns. As a team, they are averaging 41 points, 198 yards rushing, and 284 in the air each game.

Last season, in their loss to CSU-Pueblo, Washington threw for 173 yards, one touchdown, and an interception; on the ground, he ran nine times for 139 yards, averaging 15 yards per carry.

For the ThunderWolves, offensively, they’re led by junior running back Cameron McDondle and quarterback Chris Bonner. This season, McDondle rushed for 1555 yards and 13 touchdowns. In each of the final eight games, he rushed for at least 130 yards. His highest total came in the final regular season game with 227 yards.

Bonner went through a tough three-game stretch early in the season, only completing 43 percent of his passes. But during the last five games, he’s completed 65 percent of his passes and averaged 242.8 yards per game, throwing 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

Defensively, the ThunderWolves are lead by senior defensive end Darius Allen. Allen was named the 2014 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

He is second on the team behind Morgan Fox for number of sacks and tackles with nine and 14 respectively. He is tied with linebacker Seth Brown in forced fumbles with three.

As a team, the Pack scores an average of 36 points a game and only allows 13 as a defense.

Saturday, the ThunderWolves will try to win their second postseason game since the program returned nearly seven years ago. In 2012, they defeated Indianapolis in the second round after a bye, but then lost 34-13 to West Texas A&M in the quarterfinals.

CSU-Pueblo will host the Angelo State Rams Saturday at noon at the ThunderBowl.

ThunderWolves are ready for their first game on Nov. 29
Photo by Dustin Cox

UPDATE!   CSU-Pueblo has a first-round bye in the NCAA Division II playoffs.  The first game for the ThunderWolves will be November 29 at the ThunderBowl, where they will play the winner of the first round game between Michigan Tech and Angelo State.  Playoff tickets will be available on the CSU-Pueblo Athletics website!

The Pack listens to the playoff schedule and brackets for the 2014 Division II Championship Tournament
Photo by Dustin Cox

The Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves delivered a crushing loss to New Mexico Highlands Saturday, taking the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship for the fourth straight year by a score of 44-21.

New Mexico Highlands came into Saturday’s game with the best passing attack in Division II football, averaging 411 yards per game. The ThunderWolves held them to 156, which is 255 yards less than their season average.

CSU-Pueblo trailed early when quarterback Chris Bonner threw an interception that was returned by Highlands’s cornerback Taj Mathis for a 66 yard touchdown run in their opening drive. But Bonner and the ThunderWolves offense bounced back quickly, and on the very next drive, they went 75 yards in 10 plays, finishing with a nine yard touchdown pass from Bonner to Thompson to tie the game.

Pack takes fourth straight RMAC championship
Photo by Dustin Cox

The touchdown was the beginning of 44 unanswered points by the ThunderWolves. The defense got in the mix with a blocked punt that bounced to the back of the end zone, making it a 9-7 ThunderWolves lead, the beginning of the end for New Mexico Highlands.

On the ensuing drive, CSU-Pueblo took over at the 50 yard line and marched down field where Bonner threw another touchdown pass for 14 yards to Khalyph Smith. Bonner finish with 177 yards in the air, the two touchdown passes and an interception.

To start the second half, the ThunderWolves showed no signs of letting up, pounding their way into the end zone on a 13 yard run by Cameron McDondle. McDondle finished with a season–high 227 yards on the ground, also making it the eighth straight game he’s run for 130 yards or more.

McDondle’s running mate J.B. Mathews found his way to the end zone later in the third quarter to bring the score to 30-7.

Marche Dennard had a three yard run for a touchdown two minutes later making it 37-7.

As a team, the ThunderWolves rushed for 356 yards.

On the next drive for Highlands, CSU-Pueblo’s defense made their presence known once again when cornerback CJ Roberts picked off a pass by Lance Oreader and returned it 60 yards for another touchdown.

Orender, who was averaging 385 yards in the air before Saturday, didn’t even crack the century mark as the Pack held him to 94 yards.

New Mexico Highlands added two touchdowns late in the game to make the score look closer than it was. They returned a fumble for a touchdown, and then backup quarterback Tanner Wright found Tyler Slavin with three seconds left to make the final score 44-21.

With the win, the ThunderWolves finish the season at 10-1, winning their fourth straight RMAC championship and the fourth in the seven years since the program returned in 2008.

The team will find out where they stand in the playoff picture at 3 p.m. Sunday during the Division II selection show. They’ll most likely receive a bye and host s playoff game Thanksgiving weekend.

Photo courtesy of therockhandle.com.

The 2014-2015 NBA season is upon us, and there are tons of storylines entering the season. LeBron James is coming back home to Cleveland; will he be able to lead them to the promised land along with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving? And the San Antonio Spurs, will they be able to repeat for the first time in franchise history?

Will it be the year of the rookie? This summer’s NBA draft that included Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker was hyped to be the best draft since 2004 when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh were all in the same class. Will it have the same success?

Will Derrick Rose be able to stay healthy? Who are the teams flying under the radar? Who will win MVP? Most importantly, what teams will meet in the finals? Here are the answers.

Will Cleveland rock?

Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavilers will be in for a rude awakening as he returns home. James, Love, and Irving look great on paper, but they’re not going to have the success everyone is expecting.

James is the greatest player on the planet right now; he’s won two championships and a handful of league MVP’s, but he had Wade at his side in Miami, and he doesn’t have that anymore.

Love and Irving are good players, but they don’t have the championship pedigree of a Dwyane Wade. Wade carried a team to a championship before James even arrived in Miami. James needed Wade, and he was a safety blanket for James while in Miami. After almost every big game in the playoffs, whether it was a win or a loss, at every postgame news conference he had Wade by his side for guidance.

Wade was a rock, but now James doesn’t have that same type of rock to lean on. Irving and Love are both good players, but neither one has any playoff experience, neither has played a truly meaningful game in the NBA regular season, let alone in the playoffs.

Besides their experience and maturity level, the biggest question will be if they can coexist. Irving will be the biggest key, but will he be willing to give up his ball-handling duties to James? Irving is 22 years old and still building his own legacy, and I don’t believe he is ready to sacrifice what is needed in order to make the step into a championship team.

With the struggles in chemistry and lack of experience, the Cavilers will win their 50-plus regular season games, but with the improvements in Chicago and James’ former team in Miami, they will not reach the conference finals.

Rookies

All eyes will be on Andrew Wiggins in Minnesota and Jabari Parker in Milwaukee. Both have good NBA careers, but it’s way too early to know what these two young men will do this year.

Wiggins has had the “next Kevin Durant” hype behind him since his first game at Kansas, but that’s a stretch. He’s extremely athletic and can finish around the rim with the best, but he struggles to shoot the ball and will have an up and down season.

Parker has been compared to Carmelo Anthony because of their similar body types. That’s not too far off, but Anthony was much leaner and quicker than Parker is right now. He’s going to have a better rookie season than Wiggins because of his size and ability to post up, but the Bucks are going to struggle and still miss the playoffs.

Derrick Rose

The past two seasons for Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose have been rough for him and for the Bulls organization and fans. People who watched the past two seasons believe that if Rose was healthy, they would’ve defeated the Heat and won a championship.

Entering this season, the question surrounding the Bulls is whether Rose can stay healthy. Rose competed in the FIBA world championship tournament this summer and helped lead the United States to a gold medal; he looked as explosive as ever. If, and that’s a big if, he stays healthy, we may just see the Bulls in the finals.

Sleeper team

Last season, the Phoenix Suns were expected to finish at the bottom of the conference, but instead they won 48 games just missing the playoffs. Some may not call them a sleeper team, but if any team in the Western Conference were to surpass one of the eight teams who made the playoffs last season, it will be the Suns.

During the offseason, they resigned point guard Eric Bledsoe and signed another point guard, Isaiah Thomas, to go with Goran Dragic forming arguably the best core of point guards in the NBA. Last season, they had Isaiah Smith coming in to reserve Bledsoe and Dragic; now they have Thomas, who averaged 20 points and six assists with the Sacramento Kings. With this addition, not only will the Suns make it to the playoffs, they will win a playoff series.

MVP

The MVP award should be named the Lebron James award, but if I were to pick someone not named Lebron, I believe Marc Gasol for the Memphis Grizzlies will win the most valuable player award.

Last season Gasol only played in 59 games due to an early season knee injury. With Gasol, the Grizzlies were 40-19, without him they were 10-13. They would have won 60 games had he been healthy. Gasol is playing for a new contract, the current one is expiring within the next two years, so he’s going to play his best basketball and capture the first league MVP in franchise history.

Predictions

I am one of the biggest fans of the Spurs brand of basketball, but the Spurs will not repeat as champions. In the previous four titles won by the franchise, they have never repeated for back-to-back championships.

The Spurs were coming off one of the biggest upsets in NBA finals history two years ago when they lost to the Heat in game seven. They had the title in their hands, but the Heat’s Ray Allen hit what might be the greatest shot in finals history to tie game six. The Heat won in overtime, forcing game seven where the Spurs lost.

The Spurs were motivated to take the trophy last year, and they did when they destroyed the Heat for their fifth championship. This season that same type of hunger won’t be there, and after back to back seasons in the finals, they’re not going to have the legs to reach for a third straight year.

The team that will replace them will be the Memphis Grizzlies.

Memphis has the best center in the NBA in Gasol, Zach Randolph will still average 15 and 10, and Mike Conley has turned himself into a top 5 point guard. Defensively, they’re the best in the NBA, and with injuries in Oklahoma City and the Clippers still needing to find themselves on the defensive side of the floor, Memphis will take the Western Conference.

Who will they meet in the finals? They will meet the Chicago Bulls, another great defensive team. With all-star point guard Derrick Rose back, and Marc Gasol’s brother Pau at forward to give them a low post threat, their size will be too much for the teams in the Eastern Conference. They will reach the finals for the first time since the legendary Michael Jordan took them there.

Chicago, though, will fall short to the Memphis Grizzlies. The combination of Gasol and Randolph will be too much for the Bulls. Conley will do enough to eliminate Rose, and the Memphis Grizzlies will capture the first NBA championship in franchise history.

Real Talk with Mike and Sydney Topic #4 4 November 2014 from CSU-Pueblo TODAY on Vimeo.

Real Talk with Mike and Sydney Topic #1 4 November 2014 from CSU-Pueblo TODAY on Vimeo.

ThunderWolves score a season high 49 points against the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets.
Photo by Dustin Cox

The Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves scored a season high 49 points in a 49-7 blowout win over the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets.

From the opening kickoff, the ThunderWolves pounced on the Yellow Jackets. The defense forced a three and out; then the offense came out and struck in a hurry. In the Pack’s very first offensive play, Chris Bonner hit wide receiver Daniel Wise for a 57 yard touchdown pass, making it an early 7-0.

On the next offensive possession for the Yellow Jackets, running back Phydell Paris fumbled on third down, and CSU-Pueblo took over at midfield.

On this drive, a combination of players helped the ThunderWolves across the goal line.

After two penalties, running back Cameron McDondle made his presence felt by breaking free for a 29 yard run inside BHSU’s 30 yard line.

Bonner capped the drive off with an 18 yard pass to Khalyph Smith, and then a three yard touchdown pass to Zach Boyd. Bonner would finish with four touchdowns, 285 yards, and 85 percent of his passes complete.

The Yellow Jackets responded with their first and only touchdown of the game, going 74 yards on nine plays, with Trent Butler running the ball in from 2 yards out to make it a one score game.

From that point, CSU-Pueblo didn’t look back.

The Pack would go on to score five more times. Jarred Radebaugh caught two touchdown passes from Bonner; wide receiver Kieren Duncan took one from the backfield 8 yards out and ran it in. ThunderWolf Marche Dennard scored on a 1 yard touchdown run to make it 42-7, and the final touchdown came from cornerback Stephan Dickens, who returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown.

After the game, head coach John Wristen said, “I’ve never seen anything like that in a game before.”

CSU-Pueblo’s offense will get all of the glory, but their defense was causing havoc the entire game, forcing four turnovers and setting up the offense with good field position.

The 42 point victory marks the third straight win for the ThunderWolves and the largest margin of victory for them this season.

Next, CSU-Pueblo travels to Grand Junction to take on the 5-4 Colorado Mesa Mavericks who are coming off a 37-23 loss to Colorado School of Mines. Then they will return home to finish the regular season against New Mexico Highlands Nov. 15 in the ThunderBowl.

File photo.

Entering Saturday’s game against Colorado State University-Pueblo, the Orediggers of Colorado School of Mines were the hottest team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They were undefeated, atop the conference standings, and averaging 43 points per game. Saturday that all came to an end with a 20-12 loss to the ThunderWolves.

Mines had an opportunity to try and tie the game in the final minute, but CSU-Pueblo’s defense stepped up when it was needed most and stopped the Orediggers on fourth down to seal the victory for the ThunderWolves.

CSU-Pueblo’s defense was the highlight of the game, holding the Mines offense to 349 yards when they were averaging almost 600 per game. Senior defensive end Darius Allen led the way for the ThunderWolves with three sacks and a force fumble that led to a last second field-goal in the first half.

The ThunderWolves led from start to finish; for the second straight week in a row they scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the game. Running back Cameron McDondle ran it in from 2 yards out to cap off a 58 yard drive. McDondle finished the game with 134 yards on 29 carries along with the touchdown.

After the touchdown by CSU-Pueblo, it was a defensive battle until Mines hit a field-goal less than a minute into the second quarter to cut into the lead at 7-3.

It wasn’t long before the ThunderWolves came back and answered with points of their own. Chris Bonner hit Kieran Duncan in the end zone for a 15 yard touchdown pass to make it 14-3. Bonner completed 19 of his 29 passing attempts and threw for 242 yards and one touchdown. Duncan finished with 129 yards and one touchdown on five grabs.

With less than two minutes left in the half, the Orediggers would get another field-goal by kicker Avery Llewellyn from 33 yards out to make it 14-6.

After a 19 yard run by McDondle and a 39 yard pass from Bonner to Duncan, CSU-Pueblo quickly got inside Mines territory that would lead to a 28 yard field-goal attempt by Greg O’Donnell. O’Donnell missed and it left 30 seconds for Mines to work.

On second down at their own 36, Mines quarterback Justin Dovrak dropped back to pass, Allen strip sacked him and CSU-Pueblo recovered with three seconds left.

The ThunderWolves sent O’Donnell back in for another field-goal attempt, this time from 43 yards. O’Donnell would make the kick to give CSU-Pueblo a 17-6 lead at halftime.

It was an even lower scoring second half.

CSU-Pueblo would get a field-goal early in the third quarter to make it 20-6. Mines, late in the fourth quarter, would put together their best drive of the day, going 91 yards on 10 plays in less than four minutes to score a touchdown on an 8 yard touchdown pass from Dovrak to Diamond Gillis.

Mines defense forced CSU-Pueblo to punt, giving them the ball back with 3:17 left in the game. They started at their own 20 yard line and got as far as CSU-Pueblo’s 35. But on 4th and 1, the ThunderWolves got the defensive stop they needed to win the game when Dovrak could not complete the first down pass to Gillis.

With the win, the ThunderWolves move to 7-1, and the Orediggers move to 7-1. Next the ThunderWolves head back home to take on Black Hills State, Nov.1 at 2 p.m.

Paul Regrutto
Photo courtesy of CSU-Pueblo Athletics

Two years ago, the Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s soccer program hit rock bottom with a record of 2-13-2. They were at a crossroads, having to replace their head coach, Janet Cassidy, and they only had 25 players on their roster.

During the offseason, the team found a replacement coach and began a major turn-around. CSU-Pueblo hired Paul Regrutto to take over the team, and in his first season with the ThunderWolves, there was immediate improvement. The 2013 season saw the ThunderWolves win five more games than the previous year.

Now, fast-forward to August 2014, and unlike previous seasons where there were only 25 players, the team entered the season with 34 players on the roster. Increasing the competition and depth on the roster created more excitement surrounding the program going into year two of Regrutto running the show.

Talking about second year head coach Paul Regrutto last month, CSU-Pueblo athletic director Joe Folda praised him and said, “Paul has done a great job so far and has the team going in the right direction.”

Even with losses to New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis, through 13 games the ThunderWolves are 5-6-2 and 3-3-1 on the road this season; in the previous three seasons they won only three road games combined. They still have an opportunity to add to that mark with two road games at Colorado Mines and UCCS.

Prior to this year’s success, Folda had high expectations for the program.

He said, “Even though they (women’s team) play in the RMAC, one of the toughest soccer conferences in the country, I think they should finish around the top four in the conference (each year).” This would likely mean finishing ranked in the top 25.

Comparing the women’s and men’s soccer programs, funding varies even though they are the same sport. The men’s program is funded less than the women’s program. With the difference in funding, Folda has higher expectations for the women’s program.

While people are noticing the improvement in play, another improvement is the facility. It was announced last year that the soccer field would be replaced with a brand new 450 seat grandstand soccer complex that would also host home lacrosse games. The complex isn’t finished yet, but the artificial-turf was placed this past summer and it is already hosting home games.

Once the new complex is completed, it’s bound to help recruitment, but for Regrutto, it’s already helped.

“We’re really excited about it. Some of the girls have already come here because of the fact that they already know the facility is going to be here,” he said.

As for the program going forward, Regrutto believes there’s a lot of potential at CSU-Pueblo. With the growth in the program, he believes people in Colorado, specifically in the northern part of the state, are starting to notice Pueblo, and it’s going to make recruiting easier.

Thunderwolves take down Eagles 41-13.
Homecoming 2014

Coming into Saturday’s game, the biggest question surrounding the Colorado State University-Pueblo Thunderwolves was how they were going to respond after losing to Fort Lewis last week. They responded, and in a big way, winning 41-13 over Chadron State.

After the defense forced a three and out to start the game, it didn’t take the Thunderwolves long to score on their first offensive play of the game, a 59 yard touchdown pass from Chris Bonner to Kieran Duncan. Duncan, who missed last week’s game due to injury, finished the game with 105 yards and a touchdown on four receptions.

The first quarter scoring didn’t stop there; CSU-Pueblo put points on the board on their next three drives, twice with touchdowns. Running back Cameron McDondle scored on a 29 yard run to put the Thunderwolves up 14-0. Chadron State would answer with a field-goal, but the Thunderwolves came back with a 70 yard drive, capped off by another Bonner touchdown pass. This time it was for 15 yards to Trent Thompson to make it 21-3. Bonner would finish the game with 325 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Also making his return from injury was wide receiver Paul Browning. Browning had four receptions for 71 yards.

The Thunderwolves offense will get most of the glory from today’s winning game, but their defense stepped up in every key moment. Any time Chadron State’s offense would start to build some momentum, the CSU-Pueblo defense would force a field-goal or a turnover. Eagles quarterback Jonn McLain threw for 303 yards, with two interceptions, and he was sacked four times.

For Chadron State, their biggest strength is their running attack led by Michael Madkins and Cody Paul. But the Thunderwolves slowed both Madkins and Paul down, allowing only a combined 85 yards between the two and 135 rushing yards for the Eagles as a team.

Madkins would score the only touchdown of the game for Chadron State midway through the fourth quarter on a three yard run, but the game was already out of reach.

While the Thunderwolves’ 42 game winning streak ended last week, they have started a new one and will look to extend it next week on the road against the conference-leading Colorado School of Mines. The game will be broadcast on Altitude Sports and Entertainment at noon Saturday, Oct. 25.