With National Letters of Intent slowly trickling in over the last couple of days, the Minot State men’s basketball team and wrestling team held a press conference on Thursday to announce its first signings for its newest recruiting classes.

Men’s Basketball

The Minot High duo of Jaxon Gunville and Easton Larson signed on Wednesday but were formally introduced Thursday by MSU head coach Matt Murken. The Beavers also confirmed the signature another North Dakota native, Roman Srejma, from Fargo Shanley High School.

“When we took over the program, one of the big keys was to try and get the best local guys to stay local,” Murken said. “All three kids have a bright future and come from great families. In the recruiting process, you recruit the whole family, not just the player. Really excited to add them to the mix and our basketball team next year.”

Gunville is a sharpshooting guard who could break a handful of three-point shooting records with the Magi this season.

“Really excited about Jaxon’s ability to shoot the basketball,” Murken said. “There is a place on the court for shooters at all the time. He has a skill that he is really good at.”

Larson, to repeat Murken’s go-to description, brings “the hustle.” Murken hopes to see big things from his budding big man.

“One of the guys I think will have the biggest improvement in the state from last year to this year,” Murken said. “He just plays extremely hard and a good rebounder.”

Srejma is another forward with plenty of upside.

“He is a 6-foot-8 guy who also has ties to the Minot community,” Murken said. “You can never have enough big guys. He is a young guy that still has a lot of good basketball ahead of him. Room for growth for sure.”

The Beavers are also looking to bring in at least two more signings.

“Looking to add more talented men, high character men,” Murken said. “We will probably add a little bit more size. I would like to get a true (No.) 5 man and another guard that can put the ball in the basket.”

Wrestling

The Minot State wrestling team announced four signings on Thursday, including two more Minot High standouts: Kelby Armstrong and Jacob Carmichael.

Armstrong was a 2018 state championship, and Carmichael was a 2019 state tournament runner-up.

“There is already a relationship built with those guys and an advantage for them to stay home here,” MSU head coach Evan Forde said. “I’ve probably been in Kelby Armstrong’s corner for 50 or more matches in his career. I’ve coached him in some of the best high school and national tournaments in the nation. I’ve been coaching him in the offseason since I started here.”

The Beavers are also bringing in Wheeling Jesuit transfer Dante Lapitan and Brendan Barnes from Kalispell, Montana.

“Wheeling Jesuit shut its program down, so home for (Lapitan) is Germany on an American Air Force base and he will be coming to join us — projected at 157 (pounds) — starting next semester,” Forde said. “Brendan Barnes is a two-time state placewinner, and we project him at 141.”

The Beavers are far from finished and hope to bring in nearly a full line-up of recruits.

“We got a good balance right now, so really each year we want to bring in basically a full line-up,” Forde said. “At least one guy at each weight is our recruiting goal. Guys move around in weights every year, so it’s not an exact science, but we are trying to keep that balance going.”

Twitter Announcements

The following student-athletes were confirmed on Twitter by the Minot State athletic department despite no press conference being held for the following sports.

Women’s Soccer: Brooklyn Casey (Minot, North Dakota), Jordyn Knipper (Cheyenne, Wyoming), Sydney Dollinger (Bismarck, North Dakota), Nicole Sanchez (La Mirada, California), Jordan Tenpas (Placentia, California), Maddie Underwood (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Baileigh Baker (Highlands Ranch, Colorado).

Baseball: Xavier Gonzalez (Mesa, Arizona), Griffin Shearon (Littleton, Colorado) and Gunnar Kozlowitz (Windsor, Colorado).

Softball: Tesia Hrom (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Isabella Penner (Blumenort, Manitoba).

Women’s Cross Country: Tori Nygard (Wolf Point, Montana).

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.