KEARNEY, NEB.- The Minot State men's wrestling team took to the mat in one of the biggest wrestling events in the country. The Younes Hospitality Open featured almost 50 schools and almost 600 wrestlers. Some schools participating are division one members Air Force, Colorado State, Nebraska, and Wyoming along with top teams from division two in Augustana, Central Missouri, Colorado School of Mines, Nebraska-Kearney (host), and Western Colorado to name a few. There were also some division three, NAIA, and junior colleges participating as well. 
 
MSU held their own against the stiff competition. 20 out of 27 wrestlers walked away scoring points for the Beavers on the day by winning at least one respective match. The day was split amongst the elite division who consisted of juniors and seniors, and of the amateur division who consisted of freshmen and sophomores. The Beavers had two wrestlers place on the podium as Brandon Meikel placed 6th in his bracket and MSU did have a champion in the amateur heavyweight bracket in Jake Swirple. 

"We had a pretty good day overall," MSU men's wrestling head coach Evan Forde said. "Jake Swirple was 5-0 and won the tournament at 285 pounds in the amateur division just one week after his last football game. That was pretty impressive. Brandon Meikel had a pretty good tournament placing 6th in the elite division at 133 pounds."
 
Elite division- 125 pounds
The Beavers had two representatives in the elite division 125 pound bracket. Logen Fischer led the charge scoring six points on the day with wins over Seth Lisowski of Western Colorado by a technical fall of 18-0 and Marco Herrera of Colby Community College with a fall at the 1:46 mark. Rounding out the elite division 125 pound bracket was Oscar Nellis who scored two points with a 7-4 decision over Colorado Mesa's Christian Lopez. 
 
Elite division- 133 pounds
MSU's Meikel was the sole competitor in this bracket, but that didn't stop him from shining. Meikel scored nine points starting out with a huge win over Wyoming's Job Greenwood with a fall at the 55 second mark. He followed that up with a 14-5 decision over Bakers' (Kansas) Dominick Arellano, which Meikel rounded out with a 5-2 win over Morningsides' (Iowa) Taylor Vasquez. 
 
Elite division- 141 pounds
Lincoln Stormer was the Beavers' sole wrestler in this bracket. He came away with four points for a fall over Teague Dilbeck of Colorado School of Mines. 
 
Elite division- 149 pounds
Shadi Mitwalli secured 2.5 points for the Beavers for a 10-3 decision over Air Forces' Garrett Bowers, which he followed with a 15-4 major decision win over James Yarbro of Schreiner. 
 
Marco Ramirezlazos walked away with four points on the day for a fall over Yarbro at the 5:42 mark. 
 
Elite division- 157 pounds
The sole Beaver Nathan Baca walked away with four points on the day thanks to a 11-4 decision over Ryan Wilson of Western Colorado. He followed up that performance with a fall over Central Christian College of Kansas' Jerome Cannon at the 2:16 mark. He rounded out his day with a 6-2 decision over Hunter Bleakneyof Air Force. 
 
Elite division- 174 pounds
Alex Sandoval took home half of a point thanks to his sudden victory over Riley Mitchell from rival Mary. 
 
Isaac Bertalotto led the way for MSU in this bracket as he secured 1.5 points from a 7-3 decision over Mark Rausch of Colby Community College, which he even upped in his next match: an 8-3 win over Morningsides' Kaimana McCreadie. 
 
Elite division- 197 pounds
The sole Beaver to have a "top finish" at the Bison Open last weekend; Dustin Swisher also added a bit more to his resume today. Swisher walked away grabbing 3.5 points on his way out thanks to a 2-0 decision over Hunter Tobiasson of Adams State and was able to advance due to a medical forfeit over Angel Verduzco of Baker. 
 
Elite division- 285 pounds
Football star Jordan Will took home three points in his first match of the year as he advanced due to a medical forfeit over Jake Miller of Baker. 
 
Amateur division- 141 pounds
The Beavers had four representatives in this bracket as Isaac Ortega, Ethan Wonser, Kelby Armstrong, and Davian Cardoso all walked away with points to help build the dam that is Minot State wrestling. 
 
Ortega took down NSIC foe Mohamed Siidow of Wayne State (Neb.) to take home the 2.5 points from his day. 
 
North Dakota native Wonser continues to impress in his freshman campaign as he takes home four points on the day. Wonser took down Jacob McCarley of Western Colorado at the 1:42 mark to secure the fall. 
 
Armstrong led the way for this group, as he had 4.5 points on the day thanks to his 8-2 decision over Pratt Community Colleges' Jacob Mitchell. Armstrong continued with a win via fall at the 5:56 mark over Grayson LeCompte of Adams State. Armstrong rounded out his day with a 4-2 decision over Hunter Gilmore of Chadron State. 
 
Cardoso also had himself an impressive performance taking home four points on the day. Cardoso started out with a 9-8 victory over Siidow. He followed that victory up with another fall at the 58 second mark over Jacen Hansen of Western Colorado. 
 
Amateur division- 149 pounds
Gabriel Ojeda started out his his day over John 'Beau' Hostler of host Nebraska-Kearney with a 6-5 decision. He then continued his streak with a sudden victory over Carson Dulitz of Colorado School of Mines. 
 
Amateur division- 174 pounds
Cayden White comes back to Minot with one more point added to his resume. White received that point from a 12-7 decision over Lennorise Echols of York (Neb.). 
 
Freshman Cannon Potts is also another name to watch in the upcoming years for MSU, as he continues to build himself a solid start to his collegiate career. He walked away from Nebraska with a 6.5 score on the day thanks to a fall only 37 seconds in over Colton Horne of Midland (Neb.), which he followed up with another fall at the 1:38 mark over teammate White. 
 
Amateur division- 184 pounds
Noah Gallardo is another name that Beavers fans should get familiar with. Gallardo took home four points with a 15-0 technical fall over Hastings' (Neb.) Trent Nafzinger. Gallardo wrapped up his day with a 7-4 decision over Aiden Warren of Air Force Prep. 
 
Amateur division- 285 pounds
The Beavers champion of the day comes from football player and wrestler Swirple. Swirple took first in his respective bracket and scored 18 points to make a huge splash in his first match of the season. Swirple started out with 9-3 and 5-3 decisions over Gavin Peitzmeier of Chadron State and Jacob Telles of Concordia (Neb.) respectively. Swirple followed that up with a major decision of 10-1 over Marce Vasquez of York. In the semifinal match Swirple's 5-2 decision over Alton Allen of Briar Cliff (Iowa) launched him to the 1^st place match against Devon Dawson of Pratt Community College. Swirple slipped past Dawson by a 3-2 score to secure the Beavers only champion of the day. 
 
The Beavers will now head back to Minot to prep for the opening of NSIC play, as the Beavers play host to the Northern State Wolves Friday Dec. 3^rd with the match time starting at 7 p.m. at the MSU Dome.