Bison By Blood
Ben Ahneman grew up with green and gold
pumping through his blood. His father Mike
played linebacker at NDSU and was a member
of the 1965 national championship team. Ben
remembers growing up in Bismarck practicing
with his brother Jon while wearing his father’s
old Bison uniform and coming to Fargo to
watch the Bison play. “I went to a bunch
of Bison games out at Dacotah Field when
(Tony) Satter, (Chad) Stark and (Jeff) Bentrim
were playing,” said Ben. He remembers the
game where his father was inducted into the
Bison Hall of Fame. “At the time, I thought it
was cool. My dad is in the Hall of Fame, but
it didn’t really grab me until I played for the
Bison.” Ben was recruited by Rocky Hager to
play linebacker at NDSU from 1995-1998.
Ben Ahneman
-
1995 1998
Over Ben’s football
career at NDSU
his impact was
noticeable. Ben was
named defensive
captain his senior
year and earned
2nd team North
Central Conference
All-American twice
for his performance
at middle linebacker.
Ben ended his career
with 262 tackles.
Bison By Choice
Ben’s wife Erin had a different journey to
NDSU. Erin was a star basketball player from
Hastings, Minn., and won a state championship while in high school. Erin said she had
never heard of NDSU before Coach Amy
Ruley started recruiting her, but Erin liked
liked what she saw with the winning tradition.
Erin’s first ever Bison basketball game came
on her recruiting visit when NDSU played
UND in a packed Bison Sports Arena. Erin
said of her visit, “Yeah, I have never heard of
Fargo before, but if this is what I’m coming
into, sign me up right now. It wasn’t even a
question.” Coming from a winning program in
high school, Erin knew NDSU was the place
to continue her dominating basketball career.
Finding Love AT NDSU
Erin Ahneman
-
1997 2001
Erin brought her
winning ways to
NDSU in 1997 and
immediately made
her way into the
rotation. Of course,
every Bison fan
remembers that
season ending
heartbreak when the
Bison lost to The
University of Northern
Kentucky during the
Division II National
Championship game.
For the story of how Ben and Erin met, we
have to go back inside the trainer’s room at
the BSA. “He’s a few years older than me,”
Erin said. “So it wasn’t until I was older that
our social circles would intertwine.” Ben
and Erin were friends for a few years and
then started dating after Ben was done with
football, but Erin was still in the middle of her
basketball career. “One of the summers, she
went back to just go home and workout and
I moved down there and got a job at a hotel,”
Ben said while laughing after admitting, “I
kind of chased her down there to the Cities.”
Ben and Erin got married in 2004 and lived in
the Cities until 2006.
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