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Minnesota Wildernes(NAHL) '98 forward Koby Bender announced via Twitter that he has verbally committed to Minnesota Duluth
Proud to announce that I've committed to play college hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth! Thanks to everyone who's supported me!
— Koby Bender (@KBend11) December 21, 2015
Bender is a native of Cloquet, Minnesota, about 20 miles southwest of Duluth. The speedy forward opted out of playing his senior year of high school with the Cloquet Lumberjack to play for the Cloquet-based Wilderness in the NAHL.
Bender has had a great season so far with the Wilderness, notching 9-14-23 in 28 games and putting himself on the radar for this summer's NHL Draft. Last weekend, Bender was called up to the USHL's Chicago Steel while the Steel were short players due to the World Junior A Challenge.