A rivalry that took a 14-year hiatus will be restored when Nebraska-Kearney travels to Wayne to take on the Wildcats this Thursday evening.
The last time these two teams met was in Sept. 2011, where the Wildcats suffered defeat to the Lopers 41-20.
Scouting Wayne State:
Wayne State loses 12 of its starters from a 7-4 2024 season. One of the most notable being Nick Bohn after graduating this past spring. Former Elite-11 prospect Bennett Dannenbring will be the one to replace Bohn at QB1 this upcoming season.
Dannenbring appeared four times last season where he threw for 130 yards and two touchdowns. One of them came by way of an 80-yard touchdown pass against Missouri S&T. Dannenbring comes into the year as a redshirt sophomore and will still have two eligible seasons remaining at the conclusion of this season.
Alex Kowalczyk returns on the defensive side of the ball for the Wildcats for his fifth season as a graduate student. Kowalczyk started in four games last year before suffering a season ending injury. Before the injury, Kowalczyk was able to record 28 tackles. Kowalczyk was also named D2 Football Elite 100 watch list and College Football Network D2 Preseason All-American First Team watch list in 2024.
Carter Sitzman had a breakout season in 2024 racking up multiple awards, including NSIC First Team All-Conference honors. Sitzman was named to the 2025 D2 Football Elite 100 watch list after having the most tackles for loss at 15.5 and leading the NSIC in sacks per game at 0.64. Sitzman returns for his junior year in 2025.
Wayne State is led by Head Coach Logan Masters who is entering his fourth year at the helm of the Wildcats in 2025. Masters has a 24-9 record as WSC head coach and led the Wildcats to back-to-back eight-win seasons in 2022-2023 for the first time since the 2008-2009 Wildcat teams. Masters also guided Wayne State to its first ever NSIC overall championship in 2022 and its second ever trip to the D2 playoffs in the same year.
During last season, WSC averaged 29.2 points per game and gave up 18.7 points per game. A heavily balanced team last season averaging 167.6 yards rushing per game and passing for 172 yards per game.
Scouting Nebraska-Kearney:
Much like Wayne State, UNK is also looking to replace QB1 after Reagen Jones graduated in spring of 2025. UNK will look to Abram Scholting, who is in line to win the quarterback job.
Scholting appeared in four games last season for the Lopers. He totaled 243 passing yards and threw for two touchdowns in his appearances. Scholting is a redshirt sophomore heading into 2025.
Halfback Isaiah Harris is looking to build off a successful 2024 campaign. During last season, the senior racked up 825 total rushing yards and picked up seven touchdowns along the way. Harris was named Second Team All-MIAA last season for the Lopers.
Head Coach for Nebraska-Kearney is Ryan Held. Held took over in 2022 following the conclusion of the season and since then has put up a 7-14 record as the head man for the Lopers. During his time at UNK, Held is known for his development of players. Held has produced 15 All-MIAA honorees in just two years as the head coach.
During last season, Nebraska-Kearney averaged 22 points per game and gave up 21.5 points per game. The Lopers saw more success in the passing game last season, averaging 190.9 yards per game, whereas in the rushing game they averaged 144.5 yards per game.
The all-time series between the two teams holds a record of 3-2 in favor of the Wildcats. One of those wins was an overtime thriller in 2010 where the Wildcats defeated UNK on the road 24-17.
The matchup between Wayne State and Nebraska-Kearney will take place Thursday, Aug.28 at 6 p.m. You can tune into KWSC 91.9 The Cat and the NSIC Network to view this game.
