Third former Storm player makes NHL debut

KEARNEY The Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League announced Friday that former defenseman Jack Hillen made his NHL debut April 3 with the New York Islanders when they played the New York Rangers. Hillen joins Bill Thomas (Phoenix Coyotes) and Steve Wagner (St. Louis Blues) as the third former Storm player to make it to the NHL.

Hillen was a member of the 2003-2004 Anderson Cup championship team while playing for the Storm. Hillen earned a Division I scholarship with the Colorado College Tigers after the 2003-2004 season. This past season, Hillen accounted for 37 points in 41 games for the Tigers, which lead all Division I defenseman.

In his first NHL game, Hillen had one shot on goal and served two minutes in the penalty box. He will be wearing number 38 for the New York Islanders. The Islanders season ends April 4th on the road against the New York Rangers. The Islanders have been eliminated from playoff contention this year.

UNK's Dlagnev named D2 wrestler of the year

EDMOND, Okla. Nebraska-Kearney heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev has been named the 2007-08 NCAA Division II Wrestler of the Year after an undefeated season capped by a national finals victory that catapulted the Lopers to their first-ever team title.

Dlagnev becomes the inaugural winner of the award, sponsored by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches' Association and voted on by eight regional representatives from around the country.

Each of the four regions nominated a candidate, with West Region nominee Dlagnev receiving seven first-place votes and finishing with 31 points to beat runner-up Kyle Evans of Central Oklahoma and the Midwest Region. Minnesota State-Mankato's Jason Rhoten was the North Region representative and Dan Scanlan of Limestone the East nominee.

Dlagnev, a native of Arlington, Texas, went a perfect 38-0 this season with 16 falls, six major decisions and five technical falls. He captured his second straight national championship with a 4-1 finals win over Central Oklahoma's Dustin Finn that enabled UNK to edge MSU-Mankato by a mere half-point for the team crown.

A four-time West Region champion, Dlagnev finished with a school-record 167 wins. He put together a phenomenal 167-19 career record that included 55 falls, 38 major decisions and 10 technical falls and he was 87-1 his last two years.

Dlagnev became just the fourth four-time All-American in UNK history with national tournament finishes of sixth-second-first-first. Also a four-time Wrestling Coaches All-Academic pick, Dlagnev was selected for the 2008 NWCA All-Star Classic and will continue his wrestling career on the international level.

He was a fourth-place finisher in the Senior Men's Freestyle Division at the U.S. National Championships in 2007 and won the prestigious Sunkist Kids International Open last fall.

Nebraska woman to face Texas Tech

The Nebraska softball team hits the friendly skies for the final time this season, as the Huskers travel south to Texas Tech this weekend in search of their first Big 12 Conference victory of the season during a two-game series with the Red Raiders.

After snapping its longest losing streak in the Big 12 era by winning its last three games, Nebraska hopes its recent success will help it find the win column in conference play. NU's 0-4 start marks the first time in the Big 12 era that the Huskers have needed more than three conference games to post their first Big 12 win.

As Nebraska looks to move up in the conference standings this weekend, the Huskers' confidence is growing after the team put together strong all-around performances in a pair of mid-week doubleheaders. Although the Huskers failed to sweep a doubleheader from a non-conference opponent for the first time in nine years on Monday, Nebraska finished the four games with a 3-1 record.

The Huskers found success in all phases of the game during the two doubleheaders. Offensively, Nebraska hit an outstanding .387 while recording six extra-base hits and finishing with at least 10 hits in three of the four games. In the circle, Nebraska posted a 1.00 ERA and struck out 36 in only 28.0 innings while limiting opposing hitters to a meager .149 average. NU was also outstanding in the field, turning one double play and committing only two errors in 118 chances for a .983 fielding percentage.

In the first game of the week, Nebraska doubled Northern Iowa in hits (6-to-3), but the Panthers used their only hits of the game and a costly NU error to plate a pair of sixth-inning runs and rally for a 2-1 victory. NU then exploded for a season-high 14 hits in winning game two, 6-2, to snap a six-game losing streak, the Huskers' longest skid since 1994. The six-run outburst exceeded Nebraska's run total from its six combined losses while junior Crystal Carwile also belted NU's first home run in 17 games.

The Huskers' hot hitting carried over into Wednesday's doubleheader sweep over South Dakota State. Nebraska scored eight runs on 11 hits in the first game, before settling for three runs on 10 hits in game two.

Junior Meghan Mullin was exceptional at the plate in the doubleheaders, batting .769 (10-for-13) with an RBI and four runs scored. She has reached base safely in 10 consecutive plate appearances entering this weekend.

In the circle, junior right-hander Molly Hill posted a 0.88 ERA and recorded two of her three highest strikeout totals of the season.

Three Husker freshmen run at Stanford Invitational

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Three Husker freshmen took to the track on day one of the 34th annual Stanford Invitational as Todd Gulizia, Mikel Thomas and Brad Doering hit the track for the first time during the outdoor season. The meet is not only one of the biggest meets on the West Coast, but across the country.

Two of the three Huskers felt right at home running in California as Doering is a native of Yuba City, Calif., and Thomas hails from Clovis, Calif.

The aforementioned Thomas started out the meet for the Huskers by running the 5,000 meters, finishing 10th at 14:39.70. Gulizia was up next as he ran 32:18.90 in the 10,000 meters. Doering was the last to compete, running the 800 meters in 1:56.45.

Pletcher was winner of the 2007 Eclipse Award

A story in Friday's edition of The Independent incorrectly stated that the 2007 Eclipse Award winner was Steve Asmussen. It was Todd Pletcher.

Also, jockey Armando Martinez won 13 races riding the Herb Riecken-trained Buzz Bar. The win total was incorrectly reported in Friday's edition.