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THIS WEEK: Minot State makes its longest Northern Sun road trip of the season as they travel south to Mankato, Minn. to take on the No. 9 Minnesota State University Mavericks on Saturday, January 19th. On Sunday, January 20th the Beavers head to Fayette, Iowa to face No. 5 Upper Iowa University.

RECORDS: MISU is 1-9 overall, 0-2 in the NSIC. Minnesota State is currently 3-2 overall. The Mavericks have yet to wrestle in NSIC play. Upper Iowa is currently 4-2 overall and like the Mavericks, they are yet to wrestle in NSIC competition.

COACHES CORNER: Robin Ersland is in his 3rd season as the Minot State head coach and sports a 10-14 overall record with the Beavers. Ersland, a NCAA Division II Hall of Fame inductee, is 217-267-7 overall in a stellar career. Minnesota State is coached by Jim Makovsky. Makovsky is in his 20th season as the helms of the Maverick wrestling program. He currently has a record of 228-90-3. Over his career at MSU, he has coached 10 NCAA Division II National Champions and 81 All-Americans. The Peacocks are led by head coach Heath Grimm. Grimm is in his 12th season at UIU, leading them to a 99-34-2 record. Grimm has coached four NCAA Division II National Champions and 25 All-Americans.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: MISU provides live video and live stats at msubeavers.com/stayconnected. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with all feeds accessible through the home page.

RANKINGS: Minot State was not ranked in the latest NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Top 25 Poll. Minnesota State is currently ranked 9th and Upper Iowa is ranked 5th in the most recent NCAA Division II National Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: The Beavers wrestled in their first ever NCAA Division II National Wrestling Coaches Association Duals in Springfield, Ill. on January 12th. MISU lost three duals on the trip, two of the loses were to nationally ranked teams (No. 3 Central Oklahoma & No. 13 Augustana College). The Mavericks and Peacocks competed in the NWCA duals as well. MSU went 1-2, losing to No. 8 Findlay and No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney before defeating UNC-Pembroke. Upper Iowa placed sixth at the NWCA duals, going 3-2 on the weekend. UIU lost to No. 4 St. Cloud State before falling in the fifth place match to No. 2 Newberry College.

OVERALL SERIES: Since reinstating the wrestling program in 2010, Minot State has not faced Minnesota State or Upper Iowa on the wrestling mat.

NOTING THE MAVERICKS: Minnesota State University wrestling has one of the most storied programs in all of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Mavericks are a frequent visitor of the NCAA Division II National Championships, placing sixth in 2009- 2010 and tenth in 2010-2011. Minnesota State has some solid wrestlers at every weight, but maybe none more reliable than Alphanso Vruno at 133 pounds. The freshman is off to a stellar start in his collegiate career, with a 22-4 record this season. Earlier this year, Vruno took home the title at the Wisconsin Open, going 4-0 on the day.

NOTING THE PEACOCKS: After placing sixth at last year's NCAA Division II National Championships, Upper Iowa University wrestling is looking to prove they are better in 2012-2013. The Peacocks bring back five National Qualifiers from last year's squad, including National Champion Trevor Franklin. Franklin was dominant at 133 pounds, going a perfect 28-0 on his was to earning NCAA Division II Wrestler of the Year honors. The Peacocks also bring back National Qualifier and All-American Mitch Schultz at 184 pounds. Schultz looks to have another strong season as he is 9-3 so far in 2012-2013.

MISU STRETCHES ITS LIVE COVERAGE: Minot State University, in conjunction with the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live video feeds for all home contest, all away NSIC games and select non-conference away games. Stretch Internet is an industry leader is live streaming video and offers live chat and On Demand replay video for select games. Log on to msubeavers.com/stayconnected for more information and to view live video.

SNAPPING THE STREAK: Minot State is currently on a nine match losing streak dating back to Dec. 5 against the University of Mary. The Beavers lost that contest 28-16 at home. During those nine duals, MISU has given up an average of 38.8 team points to their opponents.

PUTTING ON THE MILES: The Beaver wrestling team has travelled many miles this winter season including trips to Phoenix, Ariz. and Springfield Ill. The MISU wrestling bus will add 1,500 more miles this weekend to get to Mankato, Minn., Fayette, Iowa and then back to Minot.

INJURY BUG BITES: Injuries and departures have played a key role in the Beaver's wrestling season thus far. At the Grand Canyon duals (Jan. 5), MISU was forced to take five forfeits, four at 125 and one at 197. Also, at the GCU duals, Jean Augustin (Jr., 165, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) went down with an injury. Augustin is planned to be inactive for this weekend's duals.

FOLLOW THE LEADER: Junior Matt Fetterley (Jr., 174, Muskegon, Mich.) is currently leading the Beavers in every major statistic category. Fetterley has the most wins (12), the most takedowns (20), the most wins by fall (4), and the most team points (24). Fetterley will look to improve those numbers as well as his NSIC dual record of 1-1 as he leads the Beavers back into NSIC play.

WELCOME BACK TO THE NSIC: The last NSIC dual the Beavers wrestled in was to No. 3 St. Cloud State University. The Huskies took it to the Beavers in a 49-0 win in St. Cloud, Minn. on Dec. 15. Minot state gets welcomed back to conference play with two more nationally ranked teams on the road. The NSIC is arguably the best wrestling conference in all NCAA Division II and this being of the toughest three-match stretches of any team has faced in the league.

“PINNING” THEIR EARS BACK: In the last two duals at the NWCA National Duals, the Beavers were much more aggressive on the mat. MISU totaled three pins in those two matches, matching half of their season total to that point (6 pins). Bobby Bartz (So., 285, Harvey, N.D.) and Marcus Polak (So., 165, Minot, N.D.) each tallied a pin in the loss to Limestone College. Joshua Douglas (So., 133, Kissimmee, Fla.) pinned his opponent from Augustana College in the last dual at the NWCA's.

NEW FACE: The winter break brought one new face to the Minot State wrestling team. Eric O'Neill (Fr., 165, Winter Springs, Fla.) has begun competition with the team. He was a two-time State Champion in Florida and a three-time State Qualifier. O'Neill has wrestled in two matches, losing both at the Grand Canyon Duals (Jan. 5).