Five UMD football players suspended over party with underage drinking

By Jon Nowacki

September 02, 2014 at 6:21 PM

DULUTH -- Five University of Minnesota Duluth football players will miss Saturday’s season opener against Concordia-St. Paul after receiving one-game suspensions for taking part in a weekend party that led to about 50 citations for underage drinking.

In addition, two players were stripped of their captaincy following a house party late Sunday night in Duluth.

Police said Monday that 50 people at the party were cited for underage drinking, though the exact number, and the names of those cited, have not yet been released pending the ongoing investigation. About 25 of those were UMD football players.

Police said that at least 75 people were at the party when officers arrived, following up on a noise complaint.

“We had a lot of guys at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Bulldogs coach Curt Wiese said at a news conference Tuesday.

Wiese confirmed the party was hosted by UMD football players. In addition to the one-game suspensions, players will be docked athletic scholarship money.

“This is on our guys,” Wiese said. “They made the mistake, and now they have to deal with the consequences of the mistake they made. We hold a couple carrots over these guys’ heads, playing time and scholarship money are two of them. We hope this hits home. We set a tone. Our players needed to be made an example of.”

UMD had a team meeting Monday before an exhaustive practice that included additional conditioning work.

The Bulldogs, the six-time defending NSIC North Division champions, play Concordia at 6:05 p.m. Saturday at Malosky Stadium.

“We’ve heard a lot about how this unfortunately happened during the season,” Wiese said. “That’s not my take. It’s unfortunate this happened at all. It doesn’t matter where we’re at in the season. Our guys shouldn’t behave like that.”

By Jon Nowacki

Jon Nowacki joined the News Tribune in August 1998 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Stephen, Minnesota, in the northwest corner of the state, where he was actively involved in school and sports and was a proud member of the Tigers’ 1992 state championship nine-man football team.

After graduating in 1993, Nowacki majored in print journalism at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, serving as editor of the college paper, “The Aquin,” and graduating with honors in December 1997. He worked with the Associated Press during the “tobacco trial” of 1998, leading to the industry’s historic $206 billion settlement, before moving to Duluth.

Nowacki started as a prep reporter for the News Tribune before moving onto the college ranks, with an emphasis on Minnesota Duluth football, including coverage of the Bulldogs’ NCAA Division II championships in 2008 and 2010.

Nowacki continues to focus on college sports while filling in as a backup on preps, especially at tournament time. He covers the Duluth Huskies baseball team and auto racing in the summer. When time allows, he also writes an offbeat and lighthearted food column entitled “The Taco Stand,” a reference to the “Taco Jon” nickname given to him by his older brother when he was a teenager that stuck with him through college. He has a teenage daughter, Emma.

Nowacki can be reached at jnowacki@duluthnews.com or (218) 380-7027. Follow him on Twitter @TacoJon1.

Five UMD football players suspended over party with underage drinking

DULUTH -- Five University of Minnesota Duluth football players will miss Saturday's season opener against Concordia-St. Paul after receiving one-game suspensions for taking part in a weekend party that led to about 50 citations for underage drinking.