Bulls All-Decade Nominees: Day 5

May 28, 2021


SEE OUR OTHER ALL-DECADE NOMINEES:
DAY 1  ||  DAY 2  ||  DAY 3  ||  DAY 4

 

ADAM ORN (DEFENSE, 2014-16)

Adam was always cut out to wear a letter “C” on his chest, and wore it a lot during his career on the ice. He wore it as a high school senior, capping a 39-point career at Anoka High School in 2013-14, wore it again with the Bulls while leading the team to back-to-back national championships, and earned the letter again as a collegiate player at St. John’s. Orn wasn’t much of a goal-scorer his first season with the Bulls, preferring instead to set his teammates up on the way to a 21-point season in 2014-15. He ramped things up significantly in his final season of junior hockey, notching 49 points and earning the league’s Defenseman of the Year award. He would crank out 31 points over four seasons at the NCAA Division III level with the Johnnies.


JOEY PETRONACK (DEFENSE, 2018-20)

“Petro” always kept his motor running while with the Bulls, and made sure he had a full tank of gas for whatever was asked of him. After a three-year run at Hill-Murray High School, Joey made a brief stop in Manitoba before jumping in with the Bulls in 2018-19 – all he did for North Iowa that season was post 28 regular-season points, seven more in the playoffs, and help the Bulls return to the Fraser Cup tournament. After a half-season in the Eastern Hockey League, Petronack returned for another 20-point showing in 2019-20 and helped the Bulls capture a West Division championship. His first season in NCAA Division III hockey was brief, but memorable, notching six points in 11 games and earning an Honorable Mention spot on the All-Wisconsin Conference team for Wisconsin-Stout.


HARRISON STEWART (DEFENSE, 2018-20)

The Rockford, Illinois native came to North Iowa direct from the AAA ranks east of the Mississippi and quickly rewrote the Bulls’ defensive record books. Harrison made his way to Mason City from the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals program, and picked up 33 points in his first season as a Bull in 2018-19. He earned a brief call to the North American Hockey League the following year, playing two games with Amarillo, but did the bulk of his work for North Iowa in a 46-point season in 2019-20. His final point as a Bull was a beauty, banging in a one-timer to top Granite City in overtime on the season’s final weekend. The West Division’s Defenseman of the Year was called to Wisconsin-Stevens Point for 2020-21, notching five points for the defending NCAA Division III national champs. With 16 career goals and 79 career points, he ranks as the most prolific North Iowa goal-scorer ever to patrol the blue line, and with 29 career power play points, he stands alone as the most productive blueliner on the power play.


JORDAN ROO (FORWARD, 2018-20)

One of the great things about the 2019-20 West Division championship team – as far as today’s nominations are concerned – is that there were a lot of great players with names at the end of the alphabet. After two solid seasons at Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School, Jordan headed to Mason City and became a player to watch in the 2018-19 season, posting 19 points in 32 appearances. The following year, Roo returned to town and posted 60 more – ironically, Roo and Harrison Stewart finished with identical totals of 79 career points for the Bulls. Roo also joined Stewart with the Pointers, posting one point in five games in his first season of NCAA Division III hockey.


TIM SANTOPOALO (FORWARD, 2012-14)

“Fan favorite” might be the best single phrase for describing Tim with the Bulls, and yet no one phrase comes close to scratching the surface on its own. Santopoalo enjoyed a varied experience in the junior ranks before coming to Mason City, playing for Janesville and Springfield in the NAHL and Helena in the former American West Hockey League, but “Santo” would crank out the points in 2012-13, scoring 66 on the way to a national championship. The next year, the 5’5″ forward posted 118, including 50 goals, on the way to a spot on the league’s First Team. The Bulls’ entire top forward line was named to the First Team, picking up 353 points as a unit during the season. His final goal was the Bulls’ only marker in a 4-1 loss to the Boston Junior Bruins in the 2014 national title game. After a four-year NCAA Division III career with Finlandia and Aurora, he would embark on a season with the Svegs club in Sweden, earn the nickname “Super Mario” for his diminutive stature and prominent mustache, and land in the Federal Prospects Hockey League with the Watertown Wolves and Columbus River Dragons. His 83 goals remains a North Iowa career record to this day.


KOHEI SATO (FORWARD, 2014-17)

The son of a professional hockey player and grandson of an Olympic speed skater, it was no surprise that Kohei’s speed would be his calling card. It’s also no surprise how far that speed has taken him – Sato joined the Bulls in 2014 after two years at the Canadian International Hockey Academy in Rockland, Ontario. His first season in Mason City was a solid one, posting 16 points in 27 games. He was also making noise on the international scene, though, competing that year in the Division I-B World Junior tournament and the Junior Challenge Cup of Asia. His 42 points in 2015-16 was also a more-than-steady mark, but he saved his best work for the postseason, with an unreal 17 points including a breakaway goal in the Silver Cup national title game. His post-postseason was every bit as good, competing in the 100-meter and 200-meter races at the Iowa high school track and field championships in front of 13,000 fans. He played just seven games for North Iowa in 2016-17, but picked up 15 points and a call-up to the NAHL’s Northeast Generals. Sato’s 36 points with the Generals was second on the team, landing him an NCAA Division I commitment to New Hampshire. Over four years at UNH, Sato scored 29 points before heading to Bentley University as a graduate transfer for the 2021-22 season.


PATRICK SIVETS (FORWARD, 2011-13)

A quick learner, you always knew Patrick would continue to improve as long as he was given the time to do it. Sivets came to the Bulls from Wayzata High School, starting his junior career at the same time the Bulls’ history began. His 39 points was an excellent showing in the team’s first season in 2011-12, helping North Iowa get its history off the ground with a 29-win season. In 2012-13, he tacked on 57 more points, narrowly missing the chance to become the team’s second-ever 100-point scorer. (Matt Kroska would top the century mark over those same two seasons.) His numbers at NCAA Division III St. Olaf College also trended in the right direction, scoring 13 of his 24 collegiate points as a senior.


BRENDAN STUDIOSO (FORWARD, 2016-19)

A native of Washington state, Brendan enjoyed a pair of brief call-ups to the NAHL during his three seasons of junior hockey, but he became a true legend among North Iowa hockey fans. After playing for AAA programs in Everett, Washington and Dallas, Texas, Studioso came to North Iowa in 2016. His numbers that first season were never gaudy, but with 33 points in 39 games and 10 points over seven playoff appearances, he was a rock-steady contributor. He played two NAHL games for Fairbanks that year and tacked on six more the following year with the Minnesota Wilderness, but cranked out 56 points over 40 games with the Bulls. As a captain the following year, his swan song in junior hockey was another solid one with 54 points and a spot in the Fraser Cup tournament. That scoring pace hasn’t slowed down a bit at the college level, either – Studioso rolled up 37 points, more than a point a night, in his freshman season for Arizona State’s ACHA club in 2019-20.


PETER VERSTEGEN (FORWARD, 2017-19)

There may not be a more consistent player to come out of the North Iowa program than Pete – while never a player who was going to post unworldly numbers, you always knew what you’d get from him and you knew that he’d come through in the big moments when it was needed the most. Verstegen played four years at Oshkosh High School in Wisconsin, posting 30 or more points in three of those seasons. He climbed above the 30-point mark again the following season, helping the Bulls win the last of their Central Division championships. In 2018-19, North Iowa returned to the West and Verstegen kicked his scoring into the next gear with 54 points on the way to a Fraser Cup tournament appearance. He currently sits 18th on the team’s all-time scoring list and his 92 appearances rank eighth. After two years at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Stout, Verstegen has added 13 additional points to his career totals.


LUCAS WAHLIN (FORWARD, 2019-20)

Lucas only played one season in Mason City, but the sky is clearly the limit for the one-time Hill-Murray High School standout and current Kenai River Brown Bear. Wahlin began his junior career in the fall of 2019, and established himself quickly as a force to be reckoned with in the West Division. bookending his season with a two-goal game at Breezy Point on opening night, and a pair of three-point games, with two goals each night, on the final weekend of the year at Granite City. His 59 points placed him in third on the team, despite a five-week NAHL call-up to the Jamestown Rebels and three more games with Kenai River. This season, Wahlin has excelled with the Brown Bears, notching 27 points and taking the team back to the Robertson Cup playoffs. His 1.55 points-per-game average as a Bull ranks 10th on the team’s all-time list.