North Dakota 9-Man Preseason All-State Team: Defense

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prior to tonight's Week 1 matchups in North Dakota, we release our <strong>North Dakota 9-Man Preseason All-State Team</strong> on the defensive and offensive side of the ball coming up next. We start it off on the defensive side of the ball, with the how we break our teams down, our vote for Preseason DPOY, and of course the team of <strong>17 athletes</strong> that cracked our 9-man Defensive Preseason All-State Team!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>How We Put This Team Together</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With every Preseason All-State Team we have ever put together at Prep Redzone Dakotas, the evaluation process comes covers several variables. Each athlete listed will have had to have a <strong>light/moderate amount of tape</strong> from the 2024 season, camp tape that we could find on Hudl or social media <strong>or </strong>been referred by a high school coach in our network. We also hit the camp trail harder than we have ever done this summer, so those live evals from camp season are also crucial in this evaluation process. Last but not least, our rankings are not factored in these teams, as we are in the middle of updating every single class in North Dakota as we speak so plenty is going to change here soon. By the numbers, <strong>17 athletes  </strong>from across 9-man North Dakota football are listed in our Defensive All-State Team and as we spent about all of our time today evaluating tape, scanning social media for more clips, and more to generate these teams as accurately as possible. <strong>Another area that I wanted to hit on</strong>, because North Dakota is so dominant on athletes playing on both sides of the ball, there might be some athletes that are listed on our 9-Man Defensive All-State Team higher than where they were on the Offensive. Their might be prospects we miss because they focus on their defensive tape vs. their offensive tape or vice versa too. This shows to us and the college coaches that subscribe to PRZ, that tthat given position might be their better fit at the next-level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"26px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:26px"><strong>9-Man Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"26px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:26px">[player_tooltip player_id='1226865' first='Lincoln' last='Harter'], DB, Kidder County <a href="https://x.com/harter_lincoln">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"26px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:26px"><strong>Runner Up: </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"26px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:26px">Stockton Nelson, LB, Divide County <a href="https://x.com/stockton_nelson">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"24px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:24px"><strong>Defensive Linemen</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>First Team</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1226855' first='Larry' last='Umber'], Linton-Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock 2026 <a href="https://x.com/larry_umber56">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1226999' first='Hunter' last='Tolstad'], Westhope 2026 <a href="https://x.com/TolstadHunter">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Second Team</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='675445' first='Mason' last='Mauch'], Hankinson 2026 <a href="https://x.com/masonmauch1">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1314654' first='Preston' last='Arndt'], LaMoure-Litchville-Marion 2027 <a href="https://x.com/PrestonArndt81">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Tyler Black, Four Winds 2026</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"24px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:24px"><strong>Linebacker</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>First Team</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Stockton Nelson, Divide County 2026 <a href="https://x.com/stockton_nelson">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1309760' first='Brenan' last='Anderson'], Maple River 2026 <a href="https://x.com/Brenananderson2">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Second Team</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1626741' first='Xander' last='Thompson'], MLS 2027 </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1591136' first='Noah' last='Hagen'], TGU 2026 <a href="https://x.com/NoahHagen08">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Third Team</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1626726' first='Cole' last='Casavant'], North Prairie 2027</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"24px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:24px"><strong>Defensive Back</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>First Team</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Raeshaun Earl, Hankinson 2026 <a href="https://x.com/raeshaunearl">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1226865' first='Lincoln' last='Harter'], Kidder County 2026 <a href="https://x.com/harter_lincoln">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1226858' first='Jake' last='Hayes'], Linton-Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock 2026 <a href="https://x.com/jakemhayes7">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Second Team</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1214228' first='Jason' last='Weinberger'], Grant County-Flasher 2026 <a href="https://x.com/weinb62227">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1320071' first='Colby' last='Thielges'], LaMoure-Litchville-Marion 2027</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1626732' first='Logan' last='Olson'], North Prairie 2027 </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Third Team</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">[player_tooltip player_id='1626232' first='Connor' last='Dockter'], Mayport-CG 2027</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->