Minnesota Scene: UMD rushing leader injured in stabbing

The Minnesota Duluth football team's leading rusher last season was stabbed around bar closing time over the weekend after a street fight in downtown Duluth, authorities said Monday.

Austin Sikorski, a senior running back, was stabbed in the lower right side of his abdomen about 1:55 a.m. near W. Superior Street and 1st Avenue, said police spokesman Jim Hansen.

Police found the wounded Sikorski about a block away and he was hospitalized in stable condition, Hansen said.

Hansen said police have identified someone they are calling "a person of interest," but there had been no arrests as of early Monday afternoon.

Sikorski, of Stevens Point, Wis., led the Bulldogs last season with 1,290 yards and 16 touchdowns. USA College Football designated him as a preseason All-America for NCAA Division II. The Bulldogs went 10-2 last season, losing in the second round of the playoffs.

UMD said in a statement that it was aware of the incident but that it was still gathering details.

Paul Walsh

The defenseman, a second-round pick (54th overall) by the Blackhawks in 2010, anchored one of the best defenses in college hockey last year, helping guide the Gophers to the national championship game. He compiled 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) as a senior and 38 points (eight goals, 30 assists) throughout 142 career games.

Holl will be remembered most for the game-winning goal he scored in the final second of last April's national semifinal against rival North Dakota.

JASON GONZALEZ

Ski jumper Christian Friberg of St. Paul won his first senior-level national championship Sunday, soaring 130 meters and 126.5 meters on his two jumps to earn the large-hill title in Park City, Utah. Friberg, 19, recently finished a career-best ninth place at an FIS Cup competition in Austria.

RACHEL BLOUNT

• Defending national champion North Dakota State received 18 of 26 first-place votes and the No. 1 ranking in the FCS coaches' preseason poll. South Dakota State was 10th.