February 23, 2026

HELENA, Mont. – Montana Western and Dakota State (S.D.) received the 17^th and final edition of the 2025-26 Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Men’s Basketball weekly awards, announced Monday by the conference office.

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

Gruhler averaged 24.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game as Montana Western went 2-0 record on the road at Providence (Mont.) and MSU-Northern.  He shot 65.5 percent from the field (19-of-29 field goals) from the floor, 60 percent (9-of-15) from the 3-point line, and hit 2-of-3 free-throws. 

Gruhler posted 16 points, eight rebounds, and three assists against the Argos and followed that with a career-high 33 points, 10-rebounds double-double in the win over the Lights.

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

Defensive Player of the Week: Brayden Pankonen, Dakota State (S.D.) Pankonen, a junior guard from Dell Rapids, S.D., was selected as Defensive Player-of-the-Week.

Pankonen averaged 2.5 steals per game as Dakota State (S.D.) closed their regular season schedule with a 2-0 record.  He stole the ball two times in Trojans’ 84-74 win over Dickinson State (N.D.).  He held the Blue Hawks’ leading scorer to 12 points on 1-of-6 3-point field goal shooting and turned him three times. 

Pankonen followed with three steals in Dakota State’s 86-72 win over Bismarck State (N.D.). 

These were done helping Dakota State propelling to their most wins (18) since 2016, most wins in the regular season since 2013, best regular season winning percentage since 2013, most regular season wins since 2013, most conference wins (13) in men’s basketball history.

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

WEEK	OFFENSE	DEFENSE
17	Kyle Gruhler, Montana Western	Brayden Pankonen, Dakota State (S.D.)
16	Jacob Bilodeau, Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	Carter McCoy, Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
15	Brendan Redhead, Providence (Mont.)	Kellen Harrison, Carroll (Mont.)
14	Omari Nesbit, Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	Lorence Dela Cruz, Carroll (Mont.)
13	Kaleb Larson, Valley City State (N.D.)	Liam Thompson, Bellevue (Neb.)
12	Isaiah Crane, Carroll (Mont.)	JJ Montgomery, Bellevue (Neb.)
11	Kyle Gruhler, Montana Western	Carter McCoy, Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
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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