What happened to the winter “off-season”?  On Wednesday, UND released their roster for the upcoming 2020 spring season, which starts next Friday, February 28th.  Time to get back to work.

Thunder Lake Lodge

As usual there has been some turnover and some new additions to the roster, many of which have been discussed over the past couple months.

Takeaways

  • UND added four transfers for the second semester – all at positions of need.  We wrote about the addition of linebacker Devon Krzanowski back in December. When St. Cloud State axed their program, UND swooped in and landed Krzanowski along with his teammate, kicker Adam Stage. The Hawks also added MN Rochester juco linebacker Ken Bohnenkamp and safety Connor Wilcoxen from NE Oklahoma A&M.  Wilcoxen will have two years of eligibility remaining, while Bohnenkamp will have three years remaining.  The Hawks also added freshman linebacker Tommy Kimball of Duluth, MN for the spring season.
  • The Hawks did lose several players due to transfer/graduation or medical retirement or dismissal.
    • Chavildo Van Ommeren (graduation)
    • Jake Geier (graduation)
    • Derek Murph (graduation)
    • Luke Herzog (transfer)
    • Noah Grover (transfer)
    • Izzy Adeoti (transfer)
    • Cam Hunt (dismissal)
    • Kyle Hietpas (medical)
    • Noah Mortel (medical)
    • Ben Jansen (medical)
  • The addition of two true freshman QB’s.  The Hawks signed Quincy Vaughn and Reid Neal during the early signing period and both joined the team at semester break.  With only Tommy Schuster back, naturally all eyes will be on the QB position as spring ball begins.  Three freshman battling it out to take the controls of Danny Freund’s offense as they take their maiden voyage to the MVFC – good stuff.
  • The offensive line has wisely began to beef up for the 2020 season.  The weights, which have been updated on the roster, all show increases across the board for the OL. Adding weight is one thing that needed to be done due to the Hawks inability to run the ball on 3rd and short last season. Having to actually think about what to do on 3rd and 2 is definitely a problem.  A few players who have really beefed up”
    • Donny Ventrelli – 300 pounds.  Ventrelli is the prototype for what UND needs in an offensive lineman.  Fast, athletic guy who had the frame/ability to go from 230 to 300 and still be able to move his feet well.
    • Nate Nguon – 300
    • Ryan Tobin – 300
    • Kyle Downs – 290
    • Collin Lavelle – 290
    • Jacob Lindemann – 295
    • E.J. Langstaff – 285
  • The defensive line has had similar gains, which was also a must after being a bit light last season.  UND recruited a big 2019 DL class and those guys are going to be counted on heavily in 2020.
    • Luke Lennon – 240 – Lennon is one of the better overall athletes on the team – could play TE if need be.
    • Chandon Pierre – 265 – heard very good things about Pierre’s winter progression.
    • Elijah Beach – 280
  • The cornerback position is loaded.  UND is as good at corner as they have been in a long time.  With senior Evan Holm coming back it only made the position that much better. Senior Hayden Blubaugh, freshman Sammy Fort and sophomore C.J. Siegel, who had an outstanding freshman season, will battle for the other spot.  Sophomore Caleb Nelson got his taste of action as a true freshman and should make a big leap forward in year two (Nelson may play some safety also).
  • The wide receiver group graduated two all-time greats in Noah Wanzek and Travis Toivonen.  With 122 receptions between them that leaves a big void to fill.  We expect Garett Maag to increase his catch number from 59 but guys like Chrysten Cochran, Adam Zavalney, Tyler Burian, and Jacob Odom all are going to be counted on to step up and make plays.
  • Otis Weah is eligible to practice with the team this spring, which is obviously great news for the team and for Weah himself.
  • We believe the Running Backs position closes next Wednesday.  With spring ball starting two days later expect a hire to be made fairly quickly.  We threw out a couple candidates on our What’s Happening page – former UND WR Greg Hardin and former Fresno State running back/current Augustana RB coach Robbie Rouse.  I am sure there are plenty of others but those are two we have come across.