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Aberdeen Wings captain Cory Ward of Las Vegas was named one of the best players in the North American Hockey League this week.

The forward was one of six players named to the NAHL All-Central Division Team. Last year, Ward made the NAHL All-Rookie First Team.

In 113 games during two seasons with Aberdeen, Ward recorded 120 points (67 goals, 53 assists), 42 power-play points (22 goals, 20 assists) and 12 gamewinning goals.

The 6-foot, 200pounder also led Aberdeen to its first NAHL playoff berth this season.

He is headed to Bemidji State, where the hockey coaches there eagerly await his arrival on campus this fall.

“Cory is a very exciting young prospect for us,” Bemidji State assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Ted Belisle said. “He is a big, thick, strong player that has an incredible shot and has always been able to score. In addition, he has a tremendous battle level and that competitive skill is somethingwe are looking forward to.”

Here are some other things I know:

History

The Aberdeen Civic Arena turns 75 next year. It was finished in 1938, and in the first basketball game in January 1939, the Aberdeen Central boys beat Pierre 30-11. Former Golden Eagles standout Stan Schmidt scored the first basket.

History II

The new $160,000 Aberdeen Central High School (now old Central) opened Jan. 8, 1912, with 415 students. It was dedicated Jan. 19 and 1,500 people turned out to the ceremony, presided over by school board president H.C. Jewett.

Golf I

The 21st annual pro-am at Moccasin Creek Country Club in Aberdeen is July 20-22. Cashing the $15,000 winner’s check last year was Micah Burke of Los Angeles.

Golf II

The 42nd annual South Dakota Golf Association Men’s Amateur Championship is Aug. 10-12 at Moccasin Creek. Defending champion is Tom Carlson of Sioux Falls.

Golf III

The 82nd annual Dakota Open is Aug. 25-26 at Moccasin Creek and Lee Park. Defending champion is Northern State standout Curry Kuehl of Pierre.

Derby trainer

World-class horse trainer Steve Asmussen, born Nov. 18, 1965, in Gettysburg, has two horses in the 138th Kentucky Derby: Daddy Nose Best (15-1 odds) and Sabercat (30-1).

Coverage on NBC will start at 3 p.m. Saturday with post time at 5:24 p.m.

Steve’s mother Marilyn (Sis) Scherr Asmussen was from Mobridge — she graduated in 1959.

Steve is married to 1984 Mobridge High School graduate Julie Peterson (daughter of Jim and Frances Peterson of Mobridge). The Olympic wrestling Scherr twins from Mobridge — Jim and Bill — are Steve’s cousins.

Derby II

My American News teammate Will Elkins is an avid horse racing fan who will be blogging about the derby this weekend. Watch for his picks and more on Asmussen in Saturday’s posts of Out of Leftfield at www.aberdeensports.net/outofleftfield.

Question, answer

South Dakota native Dr. Earl Rose, the medical examiner in Dallas when President Kennedy was assassinated Nov. 22, 1963, died this week at age 85 in Iowa City.

Rose told The Associated Press in 2003 that he and his staff should have done the autopsy. Instead, Kennedy’s body was taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital, where an autopsy was done by pathologists James Humes and Thornton Boswell. Their findings have been used to support an array of conspiracy theories about Kennedy’s death.

Rose believed many of those theories wouldn’t have gained traction if he had been able to do his job.

Rose did conduct Lee Harvey Oswald’s autopsy, as well as those for Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who killed Oswald two days after Kennedy was shot, and J.D Tippit, a police officer believed to have been killed by Oswald shortly after the assassination.

Some readers wondered what Rose’s connection was to South Dakota. Here is what I found:

• Born in Eagle Butte on Sept. 23, 1926.

• Yankton College graduate who attended the University of South Dakota Medical School and eared his medical degree at the University of Nebraska.

• Married Marilyn Preheim of Freeman July 28, 1951.

• Had a medical practice in Lemmon in the mid-1950s.

• One of his survivors is his brother, Robert Rose of Eagle Butte.