News

West Fargo has built what appears to be an indestructible softball dynasty. 

Winners of 17 consecutive state championships, the Packers are literally the only champion the state of North Dakota has ever known.

Its bid for an 18th straight title won't be settled for a few weeks - West Fargo is currently 23-2 overall and 15-0 in the EDC - no one will ever be able to question the impressiveness of this particular streak. 

With that in mind, our Varsity Sports team thought it would be interesting to see just how remarkable West Fargo's run really is. In other words, how do the Packers stack up against other Dakota dynasties? 

I got the job, which seemed a little overwhelming at the time. But, my inner-history buff was certainly intrigued. 

I spent the better part of a day scouring the record books for both North and South Dakota and was somewhat surprised by what I found. One thing is for sure, there is no shortage of perennial powers - past, present, and/or current -  in this part of the country. Schools from both states have put together some incredible championship runs in one sport or another, including at least one national record. 

Here's your sport-by-sport breakdown for each state (* indicates active dynasty/streak):

ND Baseball

• Most Championships: Drayton, 6 | Minot Bishop Ryan, 6
• Most Consecutive Titles: Drayton, 6 (1958-63)

ND Boys Basketball

• Most Championships: Minot, 16
• Most Consecutive Titles: Bismarck, 3 (1957-59) | Fargo, 3 (1922-24)

ND Girls Basketball

• Most Championships: Mandan, 8
• Most Consecutive Titles: Mandan, 6 (2003-08)
• Active Streaks: Bishop Ryan, 3* (2013-15) | Fargo Shanley, 2* (2014-15)

ND Boys Cross Country

• Most Championships: Bismarck, 17
• Most Consecutive Titles: Bismarck, 10* (2005-14)
• Active Streak: New Town, 3* (2012-14)

ND Girls Cross Country

• Most Championships: Bowman, 25
• Most Consecutive Titles: Bowman, 12 (1979-90) | Bowman, 10 (1992-2001)
  • Bowman won 25 of 27 Class B championships between 1979 and 2005
• Active Streak: Hillsboro (Hillsboro/Central Valley), 3* (2012-14)

ND Football (No Records Available From 1960-66)

• Most Championships: Fargo Shanley, 18
• Most Consecutive Titles: Fargo Shanley, 6 (1972-77)

ND Boys Golf

• Most Championships: Fargo South, 19
• Most Consecutive Titles: Fargo South, 7 (2004-10)

ND Girls Golf

• Most Championships: Fargo South, 16
• Most Consecutive Titles: Fargo South, 7 (1999-2004)
• Active Streak: Kindred, 3* (2012-14)

ND Boys Hockey

• Most Championships: Grand Forks Red River, 19
• Most Consecutive Titles: Grand Forks Central, 6 (1968-73)

ND Girls Hockey

• Most Championships: Fargo North, 5
• Most Consecutive Titles: Fargo North, 2 (2004-05 and 2008-09) | Bismarck, 2 (2006-07)

ND Boys Soccer

• Most Championships: Fargo South, 6
• Most Consecutive Titles: Fargo South, 4 (1998-2001)

ND Girls Soccer

• Most Championships: Bismarck Century, 7
• Most Consecutive Titles: Bismarck Century, 3 (2001-03)

ND Boys Swimming and Diving

• Most Championships: Minot, 23
• Most Consecutive Titles: Minot, 10 (1999-2008)
• Active Streak: Bismarck Century, 3*(2013-15)

ND Girls Swimming and Diving

• Most Championships: Minot, 11
• Most Consecutive Titles: Minot, 11 (1978-1988)
• Active Streak: Minot, 2* (2013-14)

ND Boys Tennis

• Most Championships: Grand Forks Red River, 26
• Most Consecutive Titles: Grand Forks Red River, 17* (1998-2014)

ND Girls Tennis

• Most Championships: Grand Forks Red River, 20
• Most Consecutive Titles: Grand Forks Red River, 13* (2002-14)

ND Boys Track and Field

• Most Championships: Bismarck, 34
• Most Consecutive Titles: Bismarck, 11* (2004-14)

ND Girls Track and Field

• Most Championships: Minot, 13
• Most Consecutive Titles: Minot, 7 (1991-97)

ND Wrestling

• Most Championships: Bismarck, 33 (43 if you include state dual championships)
• Most Conecutive Titles: Bismarck, 7 (1978-84) | Bismarck, 10 (state dual championships - 2000-09)
• Active Streak: Bismarck, 2* (2014-15)

ND Volleyball

• Most Championships: Grand Forks Red River, 8
• Most Consecutive Titles: Fargo North, 3 (1994-96)

In South Dakota, the standard of consecutive excellence has been set, and to this point upheld, by the Madison gymnastics program.

The Bulldogs set a national record by winning 16 consecutive Class A championships between 1995 and 2010. Their run came to an end in 2011 with Deuel beginning its own three-year reign.

The Bulldogs finished as runners-up at each of those three state meets before reclaiming the throne in 2014. They now own a total of 17 state championships. 

SD Boys Basketball

• Most Championships: Mitchell, 15
• Most Consecutive Titles: Yankton, 4 (1922-25)

SD Girls Basketball

• Most Championships: Yankton, 8
• Most Consecutive Titles: Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 5 (1997-2001)
• Active Streak: Sioux Falls Washington, 2* (2014-15)

SD Boys Cross Country

• Most Championships: Flandreau Indian, 14
• Most Consecutive Titles: RC Stevens, 10 (1995-2004)

SD Girls Cross Country

• Most Championships: Rapid City Stevens, 16
• Most Consecutive Titles: Rapid City Stevens, 8 (1993-2000)
• Active Streak: Ipswich, 5* (2010-2014)

SD Football 

• Most Championships: West Central, 11
• Most Consecutive Titles: West Central, 6 (2000-05)

SD Boys Golf

• Most Championships: Sioux Falls Washington, 21
• Most Consecutive Titles: Rapid City Stevens, 6 (1994-99) | Sioux Falls Christian, 6 (2005-10)

SD Girls Golf

• Most Championships: Brookings, 14
• Most Consecutive Titles: Clark (Clark/WL), 7 (2004-10)

SD Boys Tennis

• Most Championships: Sioux Falls O'Gorman, 12
• Most Consecutive Titles: Sioux Falls Lincoln, 5 (1995-99)

SD Girls Tennis

• Most Championships: Sioux Falls O'Gorman, 20
• Most Consecutive Titles: Sioux Falls O'Gorman, 8* (2007-14)

SD Boys Track and Field

• Most Championships: Sioux Falls Washington, 34
• Most Consecutive Titles: Sioux Falls Washington, 9 (1953-61)

SD Girls Track and Field

• Most Championships: Rapid City Stevens, 19
• Most Consecutive Titles: Rapid City Stevens, 13 (1993-2002)
  • Rapid City Stevens has won 16 of the last 19 Class AA championships
• Active Streaks: Ipswich, 3* (2012-14) | Rapid City Stevens, 2* (2013-14)

SD Wrestling

• Most Championships: Rapid City Stevens, 8
• Most Conecutive Titles: Mitchell, 4 (1995-98)

SD Volleyball

• Most Championships: Northwestern, 7
• Most Consecutive Titles: Northwestern, 4 (2003-06)
• Active Streak: Warner, 3* (2012-14)

I realize this is a lot to process, and I can assure you that compiling all of it created a bit of an information overload. In fact, I don't think I was able to fully appreciate it until I came back to review it myself.

None of this is meant to cheapen the accomplishments of the West Fargo softball program, but rather to shed some light on those of many dominant programs from our region. Sustaining that level of success for an extended period of time - let alone a consecutive period of time - is incredibly difficult and deserves to be celebrated.

Look for an abbreviated version of this conversation, plus Jason Andera's feature on West Fargo softball, on tonight's episode of Varsity Sports at 8:30 p.m. on Midco Sports Network.