Football: 1st Team All-State RB, 11-1 record (Runner-Up at State), 9-Man Football Outstanding Senior Athlete of the Year

Basketball: All-out hustler & blue-collar worker on the hardwood, does the little things, tough defender, hoops with grit, scores around the basket

The NDSU football commit was pound for pound, one of the best running backs we saw out of the early Dakota Bowl games last Friday, We saw even more amounts of durablity in this year’s state championship game coming from Gunner as he logged just about 100 rushing yards for the Loboes in the 9-man state championship game. Gunner’s downhill running ability could accelerate at an even faster rate from a year ago as the splash plays were on point on Friday morning. Will be intrigued to see this future Bison and how his athleticism is utilized at NDSU over the next 4-5 years.

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There is not much secret as to who the weapon is to watch for from the Loboes on both sides of the ball, as it all starts with NDSU commit Gunner Thielges Gunner Thielges 6'0" | 180 lbs | RB LaMoure-Litchville-Marion | 2026 State ND . His change of direction and pull-away speed is almost video game like at the 9-man level as Gunner can take over a game when the Loboes offense needs a spark. His acceleration thru contact is also intriguing that even in a lopsided state championship game last year, Gunner showed off his grit for the game that hopes to get another shot for a 9-man championship in the Fargo Dome where he will spend a lot of time over his next 4-5 years with the Bison.

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Another North Dakota 9-man first teamer from our 2024 Preseason All-State Team, hailing from the number #1 team in North Dakota 9-man is LaMoure/Litchville-Marion running back Gunner Thielges Gunner Thielges 6'0" | 180 lbs | RB LaMoure-Litchville-Marion | 2026 State ND as he moves in as our RB2 and at #11 overall in the state. How Gunnar finishes his runs is why he moved up almost 10 spots in our 2026 rankings as this kid has so much stamina to take it the length of the field, and has significantly improved with his agility from start to finish of those runs. The slippery tailback for the Loboes is an open field nightmare for defenses and scheming for him as a wildcat quarterback has to be a pain in the rear for defensive coordinators. Gunner was also one of my favorite 2026 North Dakota running backs at the UND Flagship Camp this summer which is always why we at PRZ Dakotas are so firm on making sure that live-eval lives up to to what we see on tape. Certainly a running back I would love to see at the FCS level. Twitter