A LOOK AT THE WEEK: Minot State will travel to Augustana University and Southwest Minnesota State University on February 5 and 6, respectively. The dual against Augustana is scheduled for 7 p.m. while SMSU is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.  

RECORDS: The Beavers are 4-9 after splitting their duals last week with a win against Jamestown and a loss against conference foe St. Cloud State. The Vikings are 15-3 and have won eight of the last nine duals they have competed in. The Mustangs are 6-8 and have split their four conference duals including two last week with a win against Northern State and a loss at Upper Iowa.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State head coach Evan Forde is in his first season at the helm of the wrestling team. He is the eighth coach in MSU history and the second coach since the reinstatement of the team and the move to NCAA Division II. Forde comes to Minot State after spending last season with fellow NSIC member Minnesota State University Moorhead where he competed as a wrestler from 2006-11. Before returning to his alma mater, Forde was an assistant coach at Southwest Minnesota State, also a Northern Sun member, for three seasons. As a college athlete he compiled 63 wins and earned NCAA Division II Academic All-American honors four times. Jason Reitmeier is in his 13th season as the head coach at Augustana. Reitmeier has coached at least one wrestler to earn All-American honors in all of his 12 previous season and has gone 135-63 in his career with the Vikings. Reitmeier wrestled for Augustana for two seasons and was named to the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Jesse Nelson is in his ninth season as the head coach of Southwest Minnesota State. Nelson has coach 18 national qualifiers and six All-NSIC wrestlers during his time with the Mustangs. With an overall 46-50-1 record, Nelson has coached SMSU to its highest conference win mark, six, in the 2013-14 season.

RANKINGS: Neither Minot State nor Southwest Minnesota State were ranked in any national rankings. Augustana did not make it to the ranks of the NCAA Coaches Poll, but did receive some votes in the d2wrestle.com poll.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers have yet to record wins against the Vikings or Mustangs in the years since they have been members of Division II. Augustana holds a 4-0 record against Minot State while Southwest Minnesota State is 3-0.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State lost 38-9 against Augustana last season, almost a full year ago. Mitchell Eull (HWT. Jr., Buffalo, Minn.) was one of two Beavers to record a win against the Vikings when he defeated Lane Lettau 6-0. Lettau is now the 197-class competitor for Augustana. Minot State better against Southwest Minnesota winning half of the match ups, but still lost 25-15. Current wrestlers Tanner Crissler (141, So., Belcourt, N.D.) and Cody Haugen (149, So., Minot, N.D.) earned two of those wins with 3-1 and 3-2 victories, respectively.  

NOTING THE BEAVERS: Minot State broke a seven-game skid last week against Jamestown, but are still looking for its first win over a conference opponent. The Beavers have not won a conference match since January 10 last year. Including these upcoming duals, MSU has four chances to earn head coach Evan Forde's first conference win of his career.

NOTING THE VIKINGS: Augustana has seen success this season with a 15-3 record so far and a 4-1 conference record. Aero Amo, the 184-pound wrestler for the Vikings, is the No. 4 competitor in his class. As a sophomore, Amo has gone 22-1 so far this season. Tim Weber (174) and Michael Lowman (HWT) also have good records as they have gone 15-7 and 14-6, respectively. The Vikings have rotated many of their wrestlers this season in duals as they have only had four weight classes in which a single wrestler has competed in at least 15 of their 18 duals.  

NOTING THE MUSTANGS: Despite being 6-8, Southwest Minnesota State has competed well this season with two wrestlers well over .500 and a schedule filled with tough competition. The Mustangs sport two athletes with over 20 wins in Kegen Fingalsen (165) and Cole Wilson (HWT). Wilson, with 20 wins has only suffered three losses the entire season while Fingalsen is 21-10 overall.

HEAVY HART: Originally listed as a heavyweight, Hunter Hart (Fr., Gallatin Gateway, Mont.) is now competing in the 197 weight class. He did not compete at Minot State until January 16 at the Midwest Duals where he earned his first win against Colorado State-Pueblo. Hart now holds a 2-4 record and is projected to make his second start against a Northern Sun opponent this weekend.

PIN UP: Minot State sophomore Cody Haugen (149, Minot, N.D.) earned his second pin of the year last week against Jamestown and also earned the praise of head coach Evan Forde who is looking for his team to win more matches by pins. Haugen is the sixth Beaver this season to record two or more pins. Five Beavers have a total of two pins total with only one having gained more than two.

EULL BE THERE: Junior heavyweight Mitchell Eull (Buffalo, Minn.) has had a successful season so far in the 2015-16 season. Already with a career-high in team points earned and close to tying his career-high in pins, Eull has been able to be a reliable standard in the Minot State lineup. Eull did not compete last week as he was recovering from an injury.

Eull in his three seasons (2013-2016)        

Year	Wins	Losses	Falls	Team Points
2013-14	11	22	2	13
2014-15	26	15	6	42
2015-16	18	7	5	43
Total	55	44	13	98

SUPER REGION III: Minot State moved down one spot in the Super Region III poll to No. 13 with Mitchell Eull (HWT. Jr., Buffalo, Minn.) ranked as the No. 6 wrestler in his weight class. With Augustana ranked No. 7 and Southwest Minnesota State sitting at No. 14 the Beavers will face tough conference competition this week. The Mustangs and Vikings rank just above Eull with heavyweight wrestlers Cole Wilson and Michael Lowman sitting at No. 3 and 4, respectively. Augustana's Aero Amo is also ranked as the No. 1 wrestler in the 184-pound class in Super Region III.

BY THE NUMBERS

3: Weight classes forfeited by Minot State in its last dual against St. Cloud State. MSU is projected to forfeit the 125 weight class this weekend.

4: Beavers who have recorded more than 20 team points in the 13 duals the team has competed in.

13: Wins recorded by both Tanner Crissler (141, So., Belcourt, N.D.) and Marcus Polak (157, Sr., Minot, N.D.). That is the second most wins by any Beaver this season.