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A LOOK AT THE WEEKEND: After participating in the Argo Duals and the Battle of the Rockies Open this past Friday and Saturday, Minot State is set to begin Northern Sun duals this Thursday, Dec. 11 when they welcome rival U-Mary to the Minot State Dome. The meet is set for 7 p.m. and is also the first NSIC dual for U-Mary.

RECORDS: The Beavers' hot start came to a halt last Friday when they dropped three dual meets moving their overall record to 2-3 in the 2014-15 season. U-Mary has competed in just two duals so far this season and have dropped both of them, therefore giving the Marauders a 0-2 record.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State head coach Robin Ersland is in his fifth season at the front of the Beaver wrestling program. Ersland, a 2010 inductee into the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame, has a career record of 220-285-7 in 31 seasons as a head coach. He has coached ninety-nine NCAA Division II National Qualifiers and forty-seven Division II All-Americans. At Minot State, Ersland has compiled an overall record of 13-35. Adam Aho is in just his second season with the U-Mary wrestling program. A relatively young head coach, Aho graduated from North Dakota State from 2009 and was a four-year starter with the Bison. Aho went on to be an assistant coach at Minnesota State from 2011-2013 where he coached four All-Americans and six All-Conference players.

RANKINGS: Neither Minot State nor U-Mary appeared in the latest national or regional rankings released by the NCAA.

NOTING THE BEAVERS: Minot State is coming off a relatively disappointing weekend where they dropped all three of their dual meets on Friday, Dec. 5 at the Argo Duals in Great Falls, Mont. The Beavers fell to Chadron State (30-9), McKendree University (40-12) and Northwest College (30-18). Mitchell Eull (So., HWT, Buffalo, Minn.) led the Beavers on Friday winning all three of his matches and recording a dual against Chadron State. Tanner Crissler (Fr., 141, Belcourt, N.D.) and Ricard Avakovs (Jr., 165, Riga, Latvia) each recorded two wins in the three duals as well to help the Beavers. The following day at the Battle of the Rockies Open, the Beavers rebounded nicely as they had four different wrestlers place in the open. Eull once again led the way as he went 5-1 on the day and placed third in the heavyweight division. Chris Warf (Fr., 133, Marianna, Fla.), Cody Haugen (Fr., 149, Minot, N.D.) and Devin Combs (Fr., 157, Marianna, Fla.) each placed sixth in their respective divisions.

NOTING THE MARAUDERS: The University of Mary wrestling team is coming off a week where they dropped two duals to the University of Jamestown (25-18) and Concordia College (Minn.) (39-12). Alex Lindsey led the way for the Marauders in the team's first dual against the Jimmies as he pinned his opponent and won by fall at 2:22. Going 2-0 on the day for the Marauders were Paul Michaelson and John DeVito. This past Saturday, the Marauders competed in the Dragon Open at MSU-Moorhead. Travis Smith placed the highest for the Marauders as he placed sixth in the heavyweight division. Thursday will be the first Northern Sun dual for the Marauders this season.

EULL TAKE EIGHT PLEASE: Mitchell Eull (So., HWT, Buffalo, Minn.) continued his impressive season this past weekend as he went 8-1 overall and didn't drop a match in the team's three dual meets on Friday. Eull recorded one pin in the duals and went 5-1 at the Battle of the Rockies Open which was good enough for third place in the heavyweight division. Eull improved to 14-6 on the season, which gives him three more wins than he finished the 2013-14 season with.

THE RECENT SERIES: The duals between Minot State and U-Mary the past couple of seasons have been extremely close and this year will more than likely follow suit. In the 2012-13 season, U-Mary came away with a 28-16 road victory against the Beavers in the opening dual of NSIC play. Minot State rebounded strongly though in 2013-14 as they squeaked out a 21-18 victory against the Marauders down in Bismarck. The teams split 5-5, but pins from Jon Wilson (Sr., 174, Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Joshua Douglas (Sr., 133, Kissimmee, Fla.) were ultimately the deciding factor.

LAST YEAR'S MOMENTUM: Dating back to last season, the Beavers are on a two-match conference winning streak as they ended last season with an away win at U-Mary followed by a home win against Northern State to conclude the 2013-14 dual season. The two wins were the only conference victories for the Beavers in 2013-14 so the team is looking to get on the winning side of things early in the conference season in 2014-15.

BACK-TO-BACK: Thursday's dual against U-Mary will be the first of back-to-back meets between the two schools. The following Thursday, Dec. 18, the Beavers will travel down to Bismarck to face-off with the Marauders once again. Following the meet on Dec. 18, neither team will see competition again until Jan. 9 when the Beavers travel to Minnesota State for a 7 p.m. dual meet.

BY THE NUMBERS
2: With the Beavers beginning conference play this Thursday against the University of Mary, Minot State has only two remaining non-conference dates left on their 2014-15 schedule.

5-0: In the team's five duals so far this season, Minot State's Mitchell Eull is undefeated with a 5-0 record. Three of his wins have come by fall.

21: After the Beavers square-off against U-Mary this Thursday and the following Thursday, the Beavers will not face competition again for 21 days.