January 5, 2026

HELENA, Mont. – (RV) Montana Western and No. 19 ranked Montana Tech kicked off the New Year 2026 after receiving the tenth installment of the 2025-26 Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Men’s Basketball Players-of-the-Week honors, the conference office announced Monday.

Offensive Player of the Week: Kyle Gruhler, Montana Western Gruhler, a senior guard from Vancouver, Wash., was selected as the Offensive Player-of-the-Week.

He led all players in scoring as (RV) Bulldogs went 2-0 record on the road in Frontier Conference play.  He dropped 24 second-half points (8-of-16 field goals and 4-of-4 free-throws) to help UMW rallied back from 13 points down to beat Dickinson State (N.D.) 78-73.

Gruhler followed up with 27 points outing in UMW’s 96-66 win over Bismarck State (N.D.).  He was 10-of-20 from the field, including 6-of-12 from the 3-point arc.

Gruhler shot 18-of-36 from the field (50 percent) for the week and hit 10-of-19 from the 3-point line.  He also made all five free throw attempts.  He also averaged 3.0 offensive rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.

This is Gruhler’s sixth career Erck Hotels / Frontier Conference Player of the Week award.

Defensive Player of the Week: Hayden Diekhans, Montana Tech Diekhans, a senior forward from Geraldine, Mont., was selected as the Defensive Player-of-the-Week.

He led No. 19 ranked Orediggers to a pair of road victories in Frontier Conference play at Bismarck State (N.D.) and Dickinson State (N.D.).  He grabbed four defensive rebounds, stole the ball three times, and registered a block in MT’s 90-68 win at Bismarck State.

Diekhans followed up with nine defensive rebounds (10 total rebounds) and a block in Montana Tech’s 77-57 win at Dickinson State.

This is Diekhans’ sixth career Erck Hotels / Frontier Conference Player of the Week award.
 

WEEK	OFFENSE	DEFENSE
10	Kyle Gruhler, Montana Western	Hayden Diekhans, Montana Tech
9	Sherman Royal III, Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	Royce Robinson, Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
8	Kyle Gruhler, Montana Western	Lorence Dela Cruz, Carroll (Mont.)
7	Isaiah Crane, Carroll (Mont.)	Kellen Harrison, Carroll (Mont.)
6	Emanuel Steward, Montana Western	David Young, Montana Western
5	Kyle Gruhler, Montana Western	Kellen Harrison, Carroll (Mont.)
4	Leon Sayers IV, MSU-Northern	Liam Thompson, Bellevue (Neb.)
3	JR Cison, Valley City State (N.D.)	Jaden Phillips, Bellevue (Neb.)
2	Kyle Gruhler, Montana Western	Hayden Diekhans, Montana Tech
1	Kyle Gruhler, Montana Western	Kellen Harrison, Carroll (Mont.)

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