UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich.  – The sophomore season for head coach Brian Bergstrom and the 2023 Winona State University football team is set to kick off Thursday, Aug. 31, when the Warriors travel to Saginaw Valley State University for a week one showdown with the Cardinals.
 
Bergstrom became one of just a handful of head coaches at all NCAA levels to lead his team to the postseason in his first year, as the 2022 Warrior squad earned the program's seventh NCAA post-season bid after going 8-3 in the regular season and claiming a share of the NSIC South title. WSU bowed out to Bemidji State in the NCAA playoff first round. Still, several Warriors earned several impressive individual accolades under Bergstrom's tutelage, including Mitch Snitker (NSIC Britton Award), three Don Hansen All-Americans (Payton Dachel, Jaylen Schleicher, Clay Schueffner), and Carter Duxbury (NSIC Glen Galligan Award).

Thursday's WSU – SVSU matchup will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the NCAA Division II era. Still, both programs have been found in the upper echelon of NCAA Division II football in recent years, including this season. Both Winona State and Saginaw Valley State are in the 'Receiving Votes' section of the 2023 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Preseason Poll and each team heads into the fall with high expectations.

The Winona State sideline will feature a mix of returning staff and a handful of new faces on the roster.  WSU's offensive coordinator, Isaac Fruechte, will head into his second season with the Warriors and added the associate head coach title to his resume. Fruechte is a well-known commodity in southeast Minnesota, having played and coached at Caledonia High School, one of Minnesota's top prep programs.

Fruechte will have various options to put points on the Warrior scoreboard at his disposal. The running back contingent will be led by Ty Gavin, who was named the WSU Player-to-Watch on offense by the NSIC. Joining Gavin will be a Rushford-Peterson All-State selection, Noah Carlson, a former NCAA Division I track standout at the University of Michigan and AP News Minnesota State Player of the Year in 2016. Tyler Zirpoli will line up at fullback for WSU and veteran center Jordan Haddad will anchor the Winona State offensive line. Both Zirpoli and Haddad serve as team captains for the offense.
 
The WSU receiving corps is similarly structured, with several home-grown options and transfer talent on the roster. Winona Senior High School product Dakota Matthees will line up at tight end for the Warriors, and La Cresent High School standout Thomas Kiesau will look to be a prime target as a wideout as well. The depth chart includes former University of Wisconsin transfer Cooper Nelson - now in his second season at Winona State - and sophomore Keaton Arendt as likely candidates to be featured in the aerial attack. In 2022, Nelson had 28 catches for WSU, scoring two touchdowns and collecting over 350 yards.
 
Who throws to the Warrior receivers remains to be seen. 
 
The quarterback race features three options, with returners Kyle Haas and Trevor Paulsen now competing with University of South Dakota transfer Cole Stenstrom. Haas and Paulsen combined to lead Winona State to the NCAA postseason last year, with the platooning duo going 193-for-361 and 12 touchdowns. Together, the returning QB's amassed 2,289 passing yards, leading the team to an 8-4 record. Stenstrom was the primary backup signal caller at USD in 2021 and saw time as a running back for the Coyotes in 2022 while also serving as a performer on special teams.

Defensively, Winona State will bring a well-known commodity into the season. All-American linebacker Clay Schueffner is looking to replicate his 2022 season, in which he was the NSIC leader in total tackles with 122.  Schueffner was one of just 48 NCAA Division II players nominated for the Harlon Hill Award.   Joining Schueffner will be Darius Manuel, Kyjuan Vengrowsky , and team captain Joseph Demro, Winona State features a defensive presence that is perhaps the best in the NSIC. The Warrior secondary will be led by Swiss Army knife Tristan Root, a free safety who earned All-Region honors last year as a punter. The defense will be under the direction of second-year coordinator Spencer Erickson, who assumes complete defensive calling duties this season.
 
Special teams play will be a strength of Winona State, with an almost all-veteran crew returning. 
 
Placekicker Jacob Scott returns for 2023 and looks to build off an impressive 2022 campaign. The Flower Mound, Texas product earned NSIC Player of the Week twice last fall and was 5-of-7 beyond 40 yards, going 14-of-21 overall on field goals.   Tristan Root, an All-NSIC and All-Super Region pick, will handle the punting duties and lining up in the Warrior secondary.  Both specialists will depend on Morgan White as the WSU snapper, connecting with holder Jake Van Hulzen on placekicking opportunities. White, Van Hulzen and Scott combined to go 36-of-37 on PATs. Aarion 'AJ' Lacy and Eastern Kentucky transfer Quentin Pringle got the call as kick returners for Winona State. Long-time Warrior assistant coach Brian Curtin coaches the special team unit.  

Winona State – Saginaw Valley State Notables

• Thursday's contest is the first meeting between Winona State & Saginaw Valley State in football.
• Winona State has won their last six season openers. They last lost in week one in 2015, falling 42-17 at MSU Moorhead.
• WSU has played two GLIAC schools since 1990, Michigan Tech and Ferris State.
• With Upper Iowa leaving the NSIC this fall, the 2023 season marks the first year since 2011 that Winona State has a non-NSIC opponent on its schedule. In 2011, WSU opened with Michigan Tech.
• Winona State will compete in a single-division NSIC football season in 2023. The league scrapped the two-division alignment with the departure of Upper Iowa.
• WSU opened the 2022 campaign on the road at Minot State; combined with this year's road opener at SVSU, it is the first time since 2004 and 2005 that the Warriors have been the visitor in consecutive season openers.

That's a Stat!
Winona State's Tristan Root is believed to be the only NCAA Division II player in the past ten years to recover a blocked punt for a touchdown and successfully punt in the same game when WSU beat MSU Moorhead 40-7 on Sept. 24.

That's a stat, too!
It is 625 miles between Winona, Minnesota, and University Center, Michigan, by car. The trip is just 459 miles by boat and a ride on the Lake Michigan Car Ferry.  
 
The Cardinals, categorically
Head coach: Ryan Brady, 4^th season, 20-13 at SVSU.

Top offensive SVSU returners: WR Jairus Grissom was the SVSU offensive candidate at the GLIAC media days earlier this season. Grissom played three seasons at NCAA Division I Eastern Michigan.

Top defensive SVSU returners: DB Michael Woolridge has six career interceptions for SVSU and has played in 32 games for the Cardinals.
 
Last Season:  The Cardinals feasted on their early season opponents, going 4-0 to start the year, including a 72-0 drubbing of West Virginia Wesleyan in their opener. SVSU had national powers Grand Valley State and Ferris State on back-to-back weeks, losing both games. The Cardinals also lost to Davenport in a nail-biter, 29-28, before winning their final two games of the season, against Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech, respectively.

SVSU defensive notables: Last year, SVSU had the 7^th-ranked red-zone defense in all of NCAA Division II football.
 
SVSU offensive notables: IN 2022, the Cardinals averaged 373.6 total yards on offense. SVSU was the top GLIAC team in terms of 3^rd Down Conversion rates, having success 43.5% of the time.

Location, Location, Location: Harvey R. Wickes Stadium, Natural Grass, Capacity 6,300. Kickoff set for 6pm Eastern Time Zone, 5pm Central.

For the most up to date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit: www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and @WinonaStateATH.
About Winona State University Athletics: 

The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words: Graduate Champions.  

Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).  Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics.