MINOT, N.D. – Just a few minutes before the Minot State University wrestling team was scheduled to begin its match against Northern State, senior Marcus Polak was making an important phone call.

On the other end of the call was the father of Polak's girlfriend. Polak was asking permission to marry his daughter and with the go ahead he proposed in front of the 513 in attendance.

One forfeit and three matches later it was his turn to wrestle. Going into the final period Polak (157, Minot, N.D.) was trailing 6-9 after earning an escape and two takedowns the match was tied at 11-11 looking like it was headed for overtime. But with 10 seconds to go Polak earned one more takedown to outlast his opponent and win 13-11.

"It's a night I'll never forget, that's for sure," Polak said.

With that win, and his final appearance in the MSU Dome, Polak is now tied for the seventh most career victories in school history with 67.

Tanner Crissler (141, So., Belcourt, N.D.) and Carlos Toledano (165, Jr., Duvall, Wash.) also came out on top in exciting fashion, both winning by just one point each.

Crissler won his match with a reversal in the final period to tie and earned the bonus point for riding time to win 5-4. Toledano went into the final period up two and held off his opponent in the final two minutes to win 4-3.

Overall head coach Evan Forde was pleased with how his team performed despite ultimately losing 24-21.

"I thought we fought pretty hard tonight," Forde said. "We had good effort and went after those guys pretty hard. It was a fun dual to be a part of, but like so many duals this season we just didn't have quite enough."

Minot State will wrestle in individual competition at the NCAA Division II Super Region Three tournament on February 27 in Sioux Falls, S.D.

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.