MSU is headed to Nashville for its second consecutive national championship appearance on Jan. 3 and will face unranked Illinois State. The Bobcats are searching for their first national title since 1984, the school’s lone win in just three all-time appearances (2024, 2021 and 1984).

North Dakota State upended MSU 35-32 in Frisco a year ago.

In Frokjer’s senior season of prep ball, the Royals finish a possession shy of Bountiful 42-35 in the 5A state title.

Frokjer, averaging 41.1 yards on 46 punts this season (long 61), managed a 30-yarder just a few minutes into the third quarter of Saturday’s game, prompting a Grizzlies touchdown drive for Montana’s first lead of the game – albeit short-lived.

Montana State scored 28 unanswered to outrun their in-state rivals for a second time since defeating Montana 31-28 in Missoula on Nov. 22.

“It was insane,” Frokjer said of Saturday’s game. “There was probably as many people as we could fit into (Bobcat Stadium), and at least another 100,000 outside in and around Bozeman.”

Illinois State, which finished the regular season 8-4 and 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference, has won four consecutive games spanning three time zones, including at No. 16 Southeastern Louisiana (21-3), No. 1 North Dakota State (29-28), No. 8 UC Davis (42-31) and No. 12 Villanova (30-14) to earn the school’s second-ever title game appearance and first since 2014.

No upset, though, will come easily. MSU boasts two rushers, senior Julius Davis and sophomore Adam Jones, with 1,000-plus yards on the ground, and junior quarterback Justin Lamson, is flirting with a 3,000-yard season. Illinois State senior quarterback broke 3,000 passing yards at UC Davis in the quarterfinals on Dec. 13.

“It’s been a whole new mindset,” Frokjer said of his first college postseason. “Now that it’s the playoffs, it’s been a whole new season for us and we’re just going to attack everything.”

MSU and Illinois State is slated for a 5:30 p.m. at FirstBank Stadium.

Rivera upsets top-10 Wisconsin wrestler

Layton alum and Utah Valley freshman Geromino Rivera Jr. added a big win to his resume over the weekend.

Rivera, at 133 pounds, upset Wisconsin’s Zan Fugitt, ranked No. 7 nationally, by a 5-2 decision on Thursday for his first ranked win as a Wolverine.

UVU ultimately dropped its road dual 23-14 to the Badgers last Thursday but emerged with six individual victories on the mat.

Idaho native and first-year UVU coach Adam Hall, who won over Rivera during his recruitment out of high school, highlighted the freshman star in his postgame comments via the team website.

“Tonight was a battle. Wisconsin has a good team from top to bottom, a top-25 team,” Hall told GoUVU.com.

“We knew we needed to make up for David being out, and several of our guys stepped up big. Two upset wins to start the dual at 125 and 133 were huge for our momentum. We lost some steam in the middle and it cost us, but we have momentum going into the break before the Southern Scuffle.”

With the win, Rivera improves to 3-5 (0-1 Big 12) overall on his freshman campaign.

Rivera was a four-time state champion at Layton, where he produced a 29-7 record upon earning a fourth consecutive state title against Westlake’s Curtis Borge in last year’s 132-pound title.

UVU travels to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for the Southern Scuffle from Jan. 3-4.

Beus named top prospect by Prep Baseball

Syracuse High junior Burkon Beus is one of the state’s top uncommitted outfielders, according to a new list released by Prep Baseball Utah on Saturday.

This fall, Beus (.308 BA, .491 OBP) recorded 19 runs, 13 stolen bases, 12 RBI, three doubles and two triples in 21 comp league appearances.

Last spring, Beus led Syracuse with 22 hits and six RBI (including two doubles) as a sophomore.

The Titans finished just 8-18 last spring but welcomed a new head coach in Northridge alum Frans Meyer this offseason.

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.