Mar. 6—SIOUX CITY, Iowa. — Dakota Wesleyan‘s men’s and women’s basketball teams swept the Great Plains Athletic Conference’s freshmen of the year awards, the conference announced Wednesday.
Randy Rosenquist Jr. was the GPAC men’s freshman of the year selection, while Emma Yost was the women’s freshman of the year in the conference.
The DWU women had two all-GPAC team selections, plus three honorable mention players. Yost, a freshman from Wagner who started in all 30 games for DWU, was selected to the all-GPAC first team and averaged 14.7 points per game, which ranked fifth-best in the conference. She had six 20-point games and scored in double figures in 27 of the team’s 30 contests. Yost is the first GPAC freshman of the year for the DWU women since Haidyn Pitsch won the honor in 2021.
Menno native Morgan Edelman was an all-GPAC second team selection. She had a career-best 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, with the latter ranking as third best in the conference this season. She had six double-doubles on the season as a 5-foot-7 junior guard.
Three additional Tiger women were honorable mention selections with senior guard Isabel Ihnen, freshman forward Shalayne Nagel and sophomore guard Rylee Rosenquist. Ihnen averaged 9.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game until suffering a season-ending knee injury after 21 games. Nagel, of Springfield, played in all 30 games with 21 starts and posted 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds for the season. Rosenquist, a Dakota Valley High School product, averaged 9.1 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Tigers while battling a nagging ankle injury this season.
The GPAC’s major women’s awards included Doane’s Mak Hatcliff as player of the year, Briar Cliff‘s Kennedy Benne as defensive player of the year and Dordt’s Bill Harmsen named conference coach of the year. The all-GPAC teams and honors are selected by the league’s head coaches. Dordt won the GPAC regular season and tournament titles, with an 79-71 win over Concordia on Tuesday night. The Defenders and Bulldogs will be the conference’s automatic bid representatives at the NAIA tournament.
For the men, Randy Rosenquist Jr. leads the way with his freshman of the year selection. He’s the first GPAC freshman of the year for the Tigers since Ty Hoglund in 2017. Rosenquist had 13 points and 3.7 assists per game, with a season-high 39 points earlier this season against Briar Cliff.
DWU’s Jakob Dobney was the lone selection to the GPAC’s all-conference first and second team. Dobney, picked to the second team, led the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game. Rosenquist and Howard product Samuel Aslesen were GPAC honorable mention selections. Aslesen averaged 12 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and ranked third in the GPAC in blocks per game at 1.9.
The GPAC’s major men’s awards included Hastings’ Reggie Thomas as player of the year, Jamestown’s Jimmy Linas as defensive player of the year and Hastings’ Todd Raridon named conference coach of the year. Hastings won the GPAC men’s basketball tournament on Tuesday night 77-61 over Morningside. Northwestern earned the other automatic qualifier to the NAIA tournament.
