FOREST CITY, Iowa – The Minot State women's wrestling team opened its season in an unusual fashion Friday night, battling in a dual with host Waldorf prior to a Saturday tournament.

Returners Puakela Beebe and Haleigh Lematta, and newcomer Aliana Barnoski, led the way for the Beavers as each won by pin but it wasn't enough to upend the host Warriors as Minot State fell 32-16 in the dual.

"Opening with a dual is different, but it was a good warm-up to see where some of our girls are at," Minot State coach Brittney Mitchem said. "The good thing is we go right into an open tournament tomorrow where some of the girls who maybe didn't perform that well can go out and redeem themselves tomorrow.

"Our veterans did well," Mitchem added. "Half our team is still young and learning, we have some people still out with injuries, but we have room for growth, which is a positive thing.

"We are just going to get back to work and improve and trust in the process."

Minot State gets right back on the mats early Saturday as the Waldorf Open tournament gets underway at 9 a.m.

Beebe, who won 7 matches as a true freshman, opened her sophomore season with a win by pin in 1 minute, 51 seconds in her match with Emily Hibner at 138 pounds, cutting into a 22-1 deficit and starting a run of three straight wins by pin for Minot State.

Two-time national qualifier Haleigh Lematta then added the second win by pin of the opener for Minot State, pinning Niah Smith in 2:10 in their 145-pound match.

Then, junior-college All-American and transfer Aliana Barnoski made her Minot State debut in style with a win by pin in 52 seconds over Laura Merino at 160 pounds.

"Our leaders in the room stepped up and competed well," Mitchem said. "We have plenty to work on, but overall, our effort was there and conditioning looked great; we just have to clean up some technique, which can be expected for our first competition of the season."

True freshman Kaiya Lopes added the other point in the dual for the Beavers in her collegiate debut at 103 pounds, a point for scoring in an 8-2 decision loss to Alanis Serrano-Rios.