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| Spring 2002 | a publication for alumni, family, and friends |
Dakota Wesleyan University had a solid winter athletic season, capped by the university's first individual national champion and a national player of the year. Justin Portenier Portenier, not new to the national scene, was a returning All-American last season after a fourth-place finish at the national tournament. He started this season ranked third in the national preseason poll and never fell out of the top 10 in his weight class the entire season. "I really didn't know if something like this would happen when I signed here," Portenier said. "I was hoping it would and wanted to do something like it because no one else had." The national championship was relatively easy for the Gering, Neb., native; he allowed only one point in four matches in the tournament. Portenier entered the tournament as the fifth seed and received a bye in the first round. In the second round he defeated his opponent 16-0 in a major decision that was stopped in the second round. "After I won that match my confidence level was really high and I knew I had a chance to advance in the tournament," he said. Portenier made it into the semifinals last season, and had made it his goal to go further this season. "My goals were set high before the season even started. I had made it to the semifinals last season and was shooting for nothing less than the finals this season. After being fourth as a sophomore I had the confidence in myself that I could make it." The semifinal match turned out to be his toughest match of the tournament. He was able to win a 6-1 decision over his opponent from William Penn University. The single point in the match turned out to be the only point Portenier allowed an opponent. "I had wrestled my opponent in the finals once before and had pinned him. So I really went out and psyched myself up to get ready for the match. I knew if I wrestled my best I had a shot," he said. Portenier defeated his opponent from Montana State University in 1:29 of the first round. "I was really surprised and extremely happy when I saw Coach (Mike) Schadwinkel jumping up and down," he said. "It was a good way to end the tournament." Randi Morgan What does someone with a list of accomplishments like hers do for an encore? Morgan hopes to bring home a national championship for the Tigers. The Morgan name is synonymous with basketball at Dakota Wesleyan University. Randi, along with her brothers, Wes and Scott, and sisters, Ronda, Robin and Raven, have scored 10,227 points on the court for the Tigers. (See related story in Fall 2002 Wesleyan Today.) Although Randi Morgan sets personal goals, she is a team player in every sense of the word. "The player-of-the-year award was a personal goal, but I never thought I had a chance to win it, so I just did not talk about it much," she said. "It truly is an honor to win it, but it is more of a team award than an individual award. I do not think I would have had a chance at it if it were not for the success of the team. They really played well and did a lot more than they realize in helping me win that award." With the successes of her first two seasons comes the opportunity to play more basketball this summer. Morgan will travel to different cities and play against players from NCAA Division I programs. She is also planning to work at the Pat Sumitt Basketball Camp at the University of Tennessee. "I am looking forward to the opportunity to play with players from that level," Morgan said. "It will show me what I need to work on even more and hopefully I can use that next season with the team here." Helping her team reach higher goals is something Morgan hopes to achieve as she looks toward next season, but there is another thing that motivates her - DWU women's basketball coach Kevin Lein. "Coach Lein is always making me want to work harder," Morgan said. "He is an excellent coach and he brings out the best in all of the players. You see how hard he coaches and you know he is giving you 100 percent every time we are out on the court, so you want to try and give him the same effort. I also want to keep my spot on the team, because he is not afraid to put somebody else in the game if you are not giving it 100 percent." Morgan's motivation and leadership have led to her being named a captain for the 2002-03 season. Those traits, plus her work ethic and desire to become even better, could lead to two more solid seasons for the DWU women's basketball program. Only time will tell how far Morgan can go. She enters her third season only 513 points from becoming the all-time leading scorer for the DWU women's basketball program. The current titleholder is her sister, Ronda '95. Dakota Wesleyan University |
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