ABOVE: Hudson Artz.

FAIRMONT – Ever since he could remember, former Fairmont High School football player Hudson Artz dreamed of playing for North Dakota State University.

Now, in 2025, Artz is representing the green and yellow on the field, making a significant impact on the program he has always looked up to.

The fandom for the Bison started at an early age for Artz. He drew inspiration from his father, Kelly, a wide receiver for NDSU from 1993 to 1996.

Since then, Artz and his family traveled all around the Midwest, cheering on the team as much as possible and witnessing some of the biggest wins in program history.

“We grew up going to games,” Artz said. “They beat Minnesota a couple of times. When they beat Iowa and Iowa State, we went to all of those games. We would make it up to Fargo [North Dakota] every so often.”

It wasn’t a surprise when Artz claimed football as his favorite sport once he officially put on the pads. But before any thought of playing for NDSU was in the picture, Artz’s first goal was to be a part of Mat Mahoney’s football program at Fairmont High School.

Artz first got accustomed to the Cardinals after managing the team in middle school. Traveling with the roster, capturing film, and running game balls to the referees, Artz was a witness to the tradition Fairmont football holds.

“That was kind of the dream before playing college football, getting to be on the high school team,” Artz said. “I think that’s a credit to how good of a high school program Fairmont has been.”

His in-game action came during his freshman season. In 2019, Artz was a part of a handful of special teams units for Mahoney’s team. Playing on kickoff and kickoff return, Artz got the feel for what playing for the Cardinals was like.

“That was an awesome opportunity for me,” Artz said. “Coach Mahoney gave some of us freshmen a taste of what it’s like to go through a varsity season. Being under the leadership of those seniors that year. From then on, there was a standard of what it had to be.”

For the next three seasons, Artz found himself as an impactful starter on the defensive side of the ball. He played a mix of linebacker and safety his sophomore, junior, and senior campaigns – earning All-Conference honors each year and receiving an invitation to the Blue Grey All-American Bowl.

Playing at the next level became a reality after his sophomore year. Artz sent his season highlight tape to a variety of coaches in the area, earning invitations to a handful of collegiate camps to further display his skill set.

In the summer entering his senior season, Artz accumulated eight Division II offers from multiple schools in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

While these offers were something that interested Artz significantly, his heart was always set on playing for NDSU.

“I was able to go on a bunch of junior days and visits, but I kinda knew that NDSU was where I wanted to go,” Artz said.

He got the chance to attend the Individual Camp hosted by the Bison. This three-day session, run by the NDSU coaching staff, allowed players to showcase their skills in front of over 40 other college recruiters.

“I came up to camp up here for three straight days and be around the coaches for three straight days,” Artz said. “I thought that was a huge advantage for me being here for three days and show them who I was. You have to show a little bit of work ethic, it’s not just you show up for one day and run a forty[yard dash] and do some drills.”

Artz got a Preferred Walk-On offer from NDSU that June, quickly accepting and committing to the program in August.

Following a redshirt his freshman season, Artz spent the majority of the 2023 season off the field, only contributing in a handful of contests.

“You have to put your time into a program like NDSU,” Artz said. “It’s different than even a lot of other college programs where you see a lot of freshmen starting. That’s very rare here. They usually say around here that until year three, you start to figure it out.”

Instead of entering his name into the transfer portal and going to another school in hopes of more playing time, Artz stuck with the grind. He bought into the program that preaches patience, and did everything he could to find a role on the roster.

In 2024, his hard work didn’t go unnoticed.

Artz got the opportunity to play on special teams for the Bison. Appearing in all but two games and totaling nine tackles, Artz became a contributor for a team that eventually won the Division I FSC National Championship.

“A lot of guys go to another program and transfer out to go somewhere where they can be a starter faster,” Artz said. “Maybe they aren’t as interested in playing special teams, but for me, I love it. I thought it was a dream come true getting to play in the national championship game.”

Artz carries the same mentality as before entering the upcoming fall season. While already established as an important piece to the Bisons’ special teams unit, Artz looks to take on a bigger workload on the field.

“Definitely looking to expand my role,” Artz said. “Probably going to be a special teams player for sure, but obviously looking to expand on that. I’m just looking to expand my role in any way possible. I think it gets easier when you show the coaches you can do one thing, so they trust you to do the next. That’s my goal.”