FULL PDF RELEASEA LOOK AT THE WEEK: Minot State came up empty this past weekend as Southwest Minnesota State and No. 17 Augustana came to town but they'll look to end the regular season on a positive note this Thursday, Feb. 12 when Minnesota State Moorhead takes on the Beavers in the MSU Dome. The dual is schedule to begin at 7 p.m.
RECORDS: After falling in both of their duals this past weekend, Minot State's overall record moved to 5-13 on the season while their conference record currently sits at 2-5. MSU Moorhead is 4-5 overall for the 2014-15 season and have yet to win a dual in the Northern Sun. They're 0-4 in the conference.
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. Kris Nelson is currently in his sixth season as the head coach of the Moorhead wrestling program. Nelson was a heralded wrestler coming out of North Dakota State as he won a national championship and was a three-time All-American. During his time with the Dragons, Nelson has coached three All-Americans, several national qualifiers and six NSIC All-Academic selections.
RANKINGS: Neither Minot State nor MSU Moorhead found themselves ranked in the latest top 20 poll released by the NCAA on Jan. 28.
NOTING THE BEAVERS: Minot State faced a strong test this past weekend when Southwest Minnesota State and No. 17 ranked Augustana came to the MSU Dome. On Friday, the Beavers fell to SMSU 25-15 despite winning five of the individual matches in the dual. MSU found themselves down early as they lost four of the first five duals, two by fall, and they were never able to recover despite going on a four match winning streak, all by decision. The following day, Minot State looked to pull off an upset against No. 17 ranked Augustana and
Jon Wilson (Sr., 174, Colorado Springs, Colo.) did his best to get Minot State started on a positive note. With the dual beginning at the 174 weight class, Wilson recorded a pin late in his match to give the Beavers an early 6-0 lead. Augustana's depth proved to be too much the rest of the way, though, as they pulled out a 38-9 win.
Mitchell Eull (So., HWT, Buffalo, Minn.) was the only other Beaver to record a win the rest of the way (6-0 decision).
NOTING THE DRAGONS: Minnesota State Moorhead has had an up-and-down season so far in 2014-15. The Dragons have yet to win a dual in the Northern Sun but they have a non-conference record of 4-1. This past week the Dragons fell to No. 2 ranked St. Cloud State by a score of 45-0. Blake Bosch and Michael Joseph recorded solid performances but were unable to pull out wins in their individual matches. Moorhead has flip-flopped wins in loss the entire year beginning with a loss against Concordia College (Minn.) back on Nov. 11.
RECAPING LAST YEAR: Minot State fell to the Dragons last season 30-12 in an NSIC dual in Moorhead, Minn.
Jon Wilson (Sr., 174, Colorado Springs, Colo.),
Ricard Avakovs (Jr., 157, Riga, Latvia) and
Mitchell Eull (So., HWT, Buffalo, Minn.) all recorded wins for the Beavers in the loss. Minot State won 4 of the 10 matches but won all of them by decision while Moorhead won 4 of their six matches by fall.
USING HIS TIME EFFECTIVELY:
Jon Wilson (Sr., 174, Colorado Springs, Colo.) has only wrestled in 13 matches for the Beavers this season due to a nagging shoulder injury but he's made the most out of his time out on the mat. Despite limited wrestling opportunities, Wilson has the fifth-most takedowns (20) for the Beavers this season. Every wrestler with more takedowns than Wilson has wrestled in at least 19 matches this season.
IMPRESSIVE STREAK ENDS: Minot State's
Tanner Crissler (Fr., 141, Belcourt, N.D.) had won four straight matches going into his match against Augustana's Jeremiah Peterson where he lost by technical fall. Crissler's winning streak was the longest streak by any Beaver during dual matches this season. Crissler currently has the most takedowns on the team with 40.
REVERSING THE TREND: Similarly to last season, Minot State heads into the final week of the season in a tough spot. Towards the end of last season the Beavers lost three straight conference duals but ended the season with two straight wins against U-Mary and Northern State. The Beavers will look to end the season this year with a win as they head to Regionals Feb. 28.
DOUBLE FIGURES X4: With just one dual remaining in the regular season, the Beavers have reached their peak for the amount of wrestlers they can get in double figure wins in 2014-15. Wilson, Crissler, Eull and
Cody Haugen (Fr., 149, Minot, N.D.) have all produced double digit wins season for Minot State this season.
BY THE NUMBERS5: Minot State has received big contributions from five different wrestlers in duals this year as five wrestlers have recorded 30 or more team points.
3: Minot State needs to pick up a win against MSU Moorhead to surpass their total conference wins from 2013-14.
22: Mitchell Eull's (So., HWT, Buffalo, Minn.) 22 wins this season are the most since Marcus Bausman recorded 29 wins back in the 2011-12 season.
— GO BEAVERS —