MANKATO, Minn. – Minot State University sophomore Mitchell Eull (HWT, Buffalo, Minn.) powered his way into the semifinals of the NCAA Super Region 3 Championships Saturday at the Taylor Center.

Eull is one of two MSU wrestlers still alive at the regional as freshman Cody Haugen (149, Minot, N.D.) finished 2-1 on the day to make it to day 2 of the tournament. The second day is set to begin at Noon with the top four finishers in each weight class advancing to the NCAA National Championships in St. Louis, Mo., on March 13-14.

"I'm very happy with how today worked for Mitchell, getting to the semifinals is a big deal," said MSU head coach Robin Ersland. "It took him – and a bunch of our guys – a little while to get going. It really helps to get that first one, because once you been there, it doesn't seem like a as big of a deal, been there, done that, so to speak. I think winning early is really important, you can't wait a second in this event, you have to go right away and Mitch and Cody are starting to learn that."

The duo were the only ones to survive the meet's first day as MSU finished with five wins overall and sits in a tie for 11th place with 9.0 points. Maryville University and St. Cloud State are tied for the top spot with 61 points

"We probably did better than I feel right now because I feel we let a couple slip away," Ersland said. "But every coach here feels that way in a tournament like this. We did some good things and hopefully we can keep it rolling."

Eull and Haugen won their first match of the day in similar fashion as both earned takedowns late in the match to finish off opponents. Eull defeated Lindenwood's Jacob Borgmeyer 3-1 with the late takedown. He then rolled to an 8-0 major decision over Nader Abdullatif of Minnesota State University Moorhead in the quarterfinals. Abdullatif had upset Upper Iowa's Logan Hopp in the first round, but had no answer for Eull in the second round.

"Mitch settled in after getting things figured out in the first match," Ersland said.

He will face Southwest Minnesota State's Cole Wilson in an all Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference semifinal as Malcolm Allen of Minnesota State and Austin Goergen of St. Cloud State battle in the top half of the bracket.

Haugen also rallied late in the opening round, getting a takedown against Trent Williams of McKendree University, to earn a 4-3 win. Williams had defeated Haugen twice during the season, but Haugen finished him off in the first round. In the second round, He fell 12-4 to Terrel Wilbourn, the No. 3 ranked 149-pounder in the country. Haugen then topped Dane Fischer from rival University of Mary 10-4 to continue his tournament.

"I thought he was going to get a pin there against the Mary kid, he had it, but that's still a good win," Ersland said. "Cody had a decent match against the No. 3 guy in the country, a pretty darn good wrestler, and he beat a guy who beat him twice this season. It's pretty nice to beat a guy who has beaten you twice and to do it at this tournament."

Ricards Avakovs (Jr., 157, Riga, Latvia) earned the Beavers other win, topping Paul Michaelson of UMary in the consolation bracket, but fell in his final bout to go 1-2. MSU also had Tanner Crissler (Fr., 141, Belcourt, N.D.) in the night session after getting a bye in the consolation first round, but he had one of the toughest draws of the tournament and went 0-2.

Anthony Battle (So., 125, Wahiawa, Hawaii), Jason Huger (RFr., 133, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.), Devin Combs (Fr., 165, Marianna, Fla.), Jon Wilson (Sr., 174, Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Kobina Henriques (Sr., 184, Miami, Fla.) all went 0-2 for the Beavers.

Eull will look to clinch MSU's first spot on the NCAA National Championships with his semifinal bout starting at noon Sunday.

NCAA SUPER REGION 3
MINOT STATE RESULTS
125 – Anthony Battle (0-2): Lost by fall to Garrett Evans, Ouachita Baptist, 2:38; Lost by technical fall to Jeremy Dorrell, Truman State, 5:00 (18-2).
133 – Jason Huger (0-2): Lost by fall to Matt Paulus, Upper Iowa, 1:28; Lost by decision to Taylor Curtis, Southwest Minnesota State, 10-5
141 – Tanner Crisller (0-2): Lost by decision to Kyle Webb, Lindenwood, 10-3; Lost by major decision to Josh Howk, St. Cloud State, 18-4
149 – Cody Haugen (2-1): Won by decision over Trent Williams, McKendree, 4-3; Lost by major decision to Terrel Wilbourn, Lindenwood, 12-4; Won by decision over Dane Fischer, UMary, 10-5
157 – Ricards Avakovs (1-2): Lost by fall to Jordan Rinken, Upper Iowa, 7:49; Won by decision over Paul Michaelson, UMary, 7-4; Lost by fall to Josh Ballard, McKendree, 2:53
165 – Devin Combs (0-2): Lost by fall to Gabe Fogarty, St. Cloud State, 1:46; Lost by decision to Riley Nagel, UMary, 6-0
174 – Jon Wilson (0-2): Lost by major decision to Luis Alba, McKenree, 13-3; Lost by fall to Batchka Zulkhuu, Lindenwood, 2:39
184 – Kobina Henriques (0-2): Lost by fall to Blake Sorensen, Upper Iowa,  6:09; Lost by decision to John DeVito, UMary, 7-4
197 – Taylor Barstad (0-2): Lost by technical fall to Scott VanDeloo, Minnesota State, 6:51 (16-0); Lost by major decision to Tom DeVito, UMary, 12-3
HWT – Mitchell Eull (2-0): Won by decision over Jacob Borgmeyer, Lindenwood, 3-1; Won by major decision over Nader Abdullatif, MSU Moorhead, 8-0