MINOT, N.D. – "I was ecstatic."
 
Those were the words Tiger Paasch used to describe how he felt after the Minot State University wrestling team earned a home victory over its rival foe, the University of Mary.
 
Going into the final two matches of the night it was Paasch (197, So., McMinnville, Ore.) who gave the Beavers a chance to win after the team was down 16-9. A pin from Paasch set up the final match with his team trailing by just one point.
 
"We lost a few close matches at 174 and 184 which got me pretty fired up to go out there and wrestle," Paasch said of his thoughts going into his match.
 
Just 43 seconds into his match against Mary's Jonathan Pelach, Paasch pinned his opponent setting up Mitchell Eull (HWT, Jr., Buffalo, Minn.) to take home the victory for Minot State.
 
"I always like to get that first takedown," Paasch said. "Coach [Evan Forde] always talks about getting that first take down. From there I was able to break him down, turn him over and get the pin."
 
In the final match against Travis Smith, Eull knew it would be close. Having wrestled several times before, pinning Smith in their first competition, Eull said every match had been close. This one was not the exception as the score read 1-1 after the first three periods. In overtime, with a takedown, the junior heavyweight was able to secure the win for his team.
 
"It was pretty nerve racking going into it," Eull said. "Getting down to the last couple matches there I wasn't sure how it was going to shake out. It was great."
 
The Beavers were able to gain a 9-7 lead over the Marauders with wins from Jason Huger (125, So., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.), Cody Haugen (149, So., Minot, N.D. ) and Marcus Polak (157, Sr., Minot, N.D.) before Mary took the next three matches at 165, 174 and 184 making it 16-9 in favor of the visitors. With Paasch and Eull's combined nine points Minot State came out on top with a final score of 18-16.
 
That victory was the first at home for the new head coach of the Beavers. Forde now has a 3-1 record as the leader of Minot State and was pretty happy with his team's performance.


 
"It feels pretty good," Forde said. "This is one we really wanted. We were hoping it wouldn't be that close going into the last match, but we had to dig out of a little bit of a hole and win those last two."
 
Forde may be new to Minot and North Dakota, but he fully understand the rivalry between the two schools and how much it means to his team.
 
"Our rivalry is a good thing for the program," Forde said. "It's an exciting thing and creates a lot of excitement around North Dakota wrestling. I think there were eight former North Dakota high school wrestlers in the dual tonight. That's pretty exciting for people around the state to be able to follow that. It's fun for both teams."
 
The Beavers were able to gain a 9-7 lead over the Marauders with wins from Jason Huger (125, So., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.), Cody Haugen (149, So., Minot, N.D. ) and Marcus Polak (157, Sr., Minot, N.D.) before Mary took the next three matches at 165, 174 and 184 making it 16-9 in favor of the visitors.
 
About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.