MINOT, N.D. – After a tough loss on Friday night, the Minot State wrestling team responded with a more competitive showing Saturday night in the Minot State Dome.

Three Beavers picked up wins on the night, including a big pin by Bobby Bartz (Sr., HWT, Harvey, N.D.) in the duals finale. However, it was No. 7 Upper Iowa University (12-1-1 Overall, 4-0 NSIC) that won the dual 34-15 over Minot State (1-11 Overall, 0-5 NSIC).

Bartz wasted little time as it took him just thirty-three seconds to pin the Peacocks' Logan Hopp. It was Bartz's second win by fall this season and his fifth overall victory of his senior year.

"The Upper Iowa guy is known for wrestling," said Minot State head coach Robin Ersland. "He was probably a wrestler before a heavyweight which isn't too common. He was a good wrestler and he has beaten some people we've lost to so that's a nice win for Bobby."

Also picking up wins for MISU was Tiger Paasch (Fr., 174, McMinnville, Ore.) at 174 pounds and Ricard Avakovs (So., 157, Riga Latvia) at 157 pounds. Paasch won his match due to an injury to Upper Iowa's Colbey Vance after a Paasch takedown. The match was stopped as Vance could not continue.

Avakovs win was an exciting one as he trailed by one with thirty seconds remaining in the bout. It was then that the sophomore made a nice move for a two-point takedown and three point near fall to secure the 9-5 win over UIU's Zac Benitz, who was ranked in the top eight in the NCAA Division II Central Region at 157 pounds.

"Ricard did a good job of staying loose and staying ready," said Ersland. "I think if he can be within a point in every match, he has a shot to win because he can get takedowns. The problem is he makes everyone wait until the end of the match to do it, but that was a huge with for Ricard."

In the end, it was three Upper Iowa wins by fall that doomed the Beavers. Two of them came in the first period but the one the hurt MISU came at 184 pounds. Matt Fetterley (Sr., 174, Muskegon, Mich.) was pinned with just seconds remaining in the bout and the score tied 1-1.

 "The match at eight-four was tough tonight," said Minot State head coach Robin Ersland. "It's been tough on Tiger and Matt flipping them around but that's what we have to do to try to win some matches. It was one to one with a few seconds left and the kid bear hugs us, takes us down and pins us. We were in the match and were probably thinking overtime so that one was tough to take."

The Beavers will have two more Northern Sun duals next weekend, both coming on the road, as they take on Minnesota State University Moorhead on Thursday Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. and rival University of Mary on Friday Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.

No. 7 Upper Iowa 34 , Minot State 15
125– Chris Paulus, Upper Iowa, pinned A.J. Patterson 1:09 (0-6)
133 – Matt Paulus, Upper Iowa, defeated Joshua Douglas 8-2  (0-9)
141 – Jordan Roths, Upper Iowa, defeated Zachary Cummings (15-2) (Maj. Dec.) (0-13)
149 – Edwin Cooper, Upper Iowa, defeated Jon Wilson, 10-3 (0-16)
157 – Ricard Avakovs, Minot State, defeated Zac Benitz, 9-5 (3-16)
165 – Dalton Westerlund, Upper Iowa, pinned Donovan Williams 0:50 (3-22)
174 – Tiger Paasch, Minot State,  defeated Colbey Vance, (Injury Default)  (9-22)
184 – Brock Gobin, Upper Iowa, pinned Matt Fetterley, 6:46 (9-28)
197 – Carl Broghammer, Upper Iowa, pinned Mitchell Eull 0:32 (9-34)
HWT – Bobby Bartz, Minot State, pinned Logan Hopp, 0:33 (15-34)