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BEMIDJI, Minn. – The final fall sports teams to swing into action head to the Bemidji Town & Country Club on Monday and Tuesday as the Minot State men’s and women’s golf teams tee off at the Don Niskanen Classic and the Tracy Lane Memorial, respectively.

The two-day tournaments are the first of five fall events for the Beavers, who then take a few months break for the winter, then return to the courses in March in preparation for the NSIC Championships held in late April in Missouri.

“They’re ready to go back out, compete hard for the team,” first-year head coach Dakota Brekhus said. “They’re really excited. I’m very excited to watch.”

After two seasons as an assistant coach for the Beavers, Brekhus takes over a Minot State program that is a mix of new faces and returning veterans, and he admits to having some of the same nerves he felt when he stepped in as a new assistant coach.

“I’ve got a little bit of a background now, but as a head coach, there’s definitely some big shoes to fill,” he said.

But with some talented returners leading the way, things look good for Minot State and the Beavers’ new head coach.

Leading the way for the men is senior Zach Hendrickson, a local talent from Our Redeemer’s Christian School now in his fourth season with the Beavers. Hendrickson tied for 42nd at last spring’s NSIC Championship and shot a collegiate-best round of 70 last year.

For the women, senior Zoe Banack leads the way, starting her fourth season with the Beavers after a redshirt year at Iowa Lakes Community College. Banack finished 45th at the NSIC Championships this past spring and shot a collegiate-low round of 78 last year.

“He’s playing some really good golf, and then Zoe Banack on the women’s side, she’s just improved tremendously over the summer,” Brekhus said.

While they offer veteran leadership, both Minot State teams add talented newcomers ready to make an impact.

On the men’s side, Minot products Kasen Rostad, from Minot North HS, and Fischer Johnson, from Minot High, along with junior-college transfer Gunther Soltvedt are ready to step in for Beavers.

Rostad helped lead the first-year Sentinels to the 2025 Class A State Championship, while Johnson finished 7th at the West Region tournament to help lead the Magicians to the Class A State Tournament.

As for Soltvedt, who played two seasons for a Hawks team that recently finished 7th at NJCAA National Championship, he is an All-Region Honorable Mention player who joins the Beavers as a junior.

“He’s got some really, really good talent,” Minot State’s coach said of Soltvedt.

On the women’s side, the Beavers add freshman Macie Sebelius, who helped Bismarck’s  Century High School to the Class A State Tournament two years in a row, sophomore Tori Worner, who transfers from Jamestown after averaging 85.9 strokes per round as a freshman for the Jimmies, and junior Michaela Resler, who played softball this past spring for the Beavers and now becomes a two-sport student-athlete.

“(Macie’s) got some real good potential there, I’m excited to see what she does,” Brekhus said of Sebelius.

The Beavers’ first-year coach is excited to see how all the Minot State golfers do this fall during their 5-tournament stretch, which provides the Beavers a chance to fine-tune their game and build momentum before the spring and the race to the NSIC Championships.

“Fall’s for confidence building,” he said. “So if we can go out there and play really good golf in the fall, it’s going to set us up for a really good spring.”