Minnesota State Mankato President Richard Davenport decided to cut three sports -- men's swimming and diving, men's tennis and women's bowling -- a week after the school's students approved a proposed non-binding referendum to increase student fees 75 cents a credit to save four sports. Women's tennis also was on the chopping block, but was spared because it's a championship sport in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Davenport said, while the other three are not.

Students passed the referendum by a margin of 1,796 to 1,287. Davenport noted that the vote approving the referendum represented only 12 percent of the student body. The increase in student fees would have amounted to about $20 per student. MSU Mankato is looking to trim $8 million from its overall budget for the next school year, about $560,000 of which is targeted from athletics.

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• The Wild announced it signed 2010 second-round draft pick Brett Bulmer to a three-year, entry-level contract. He will join the AHL Houston Aeros for the second round of the playoffs. The deal enables him to return to his junior team, Kelowna of the Western Hockey League, next season.

• University of North Dakota hockey forward Danny Kristo said he will return for his junior season rather than sign a professional contract. The Montreal Canadiens drafted the Eden Prairie native in the second round in 2008.

• The Twin Cities Marathon and Grandma's Marathon announced a $10,000 bonus for a runner winning both open races this year.