OPENING BOUT:
After dropping a pair of duals in the final home stand last week with losses to No. 1 St. Cloud State and MSU Moorhead, SMSU will looked to close out the regual season on a high note as it heads to Concordia-Moorhead on Thursday for a 7 p.m.
 
SCOUTING CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD:
The Cobbers are 12-5 overall and ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division III entering Thursday's dual as Concordia-Moorhead has won the last two duals. Sebastian Gardner (174) is ranked No. 8 and leads the Cobbers with a 21-6 record with eight falls and nine decisions. Jake Krogstad (165), who is ranked No. 4, has tallied six falls and six decisions for an 18-8 record. Matt Nagel is in his 1st season as the head coach of Concordia-Moorhead.
 
SERIES HISTORY — CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD:
Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-Moorhead will meet for the 12th time on Thursday night with SMSU holding an 8-3 advantage in a series that started back in the 1992-93 season. SMSU is 6-1 while playing in the Moorhead, Minn., with its last lost in the series coming a season ago at home. SMSU head coach Jesse Nelson is 2-3 all-time versus Concordia-Moorhead.
 
NATIONAL AND REGION RANKINGS:
Southwest Minnesota State wrestlers Jordan Biehn, Jacob Begin and Cole Wilson are individually ranked in the region rankings that were announced today.
 
Jordan Biehn, a freshman from Jackson, Minn., is ranked 10th in this week's region ranking at 133 pounds and is 18-8 this season with four pins.
 
Jacob Begin, a senior from Anoka, Minn., is ranked third in in this week's Super Region 3 ranking at 174 pounds and is 22-3 this season with nine falls and four tech. falls.
 
Cole Wilson, a senior from Fairbault, Minn., is ranked third in the region rankings at 285 pounds and is leading the Mustangs with a 26-3 record with 10 pins and 10 decisions.
 
As a team, SMSU is ranked 10th in the 15-team Super Region 3 rankings with eight points.
 
WRESTLER OF THE WEEK:
Southwest Minnesota State University wrestler, Cole Wilson was named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wrestler of the Week on Feb. 2. The announcement came from the league office in Burnsville, Minn.
 
Wilson, a native of Faribault Minn., went 2-0 that week as Southwest Minnesota State defeated Northern State 31-10 and lost to No. 10 Upper Iowa 30-9. Wilson started the week with a 10-2 major decision over Dustin Caspers of Northern State. Then last Friday versus No. 10 Upper Iowa, Wilson took down the No. 6 ranked heavyweight wrestler the nation. Wilson pinned the Peacock's Logan Hopp for a dramatic overtime win at 7:55 for a sudden victory. Wilson earned his 11th fall of the season in the victory and improved his record to 25-3.
 
This marks the second time in his career that he has been named to the honor and the first Mustang this season.
 
HEAD COACH:
Jesse Nelson is in his eighth season as head wrestling coach at Southwest Minnesota State. During his tenure, Nelson has led the program to an overall record of 58-54-1. Last season he led the mustangs to a 6-2 record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference—most wins since joining the conference in 2000 and highest finish since winning the title that same season. Nelson was named the fourth coach in the history's program on Aug. 22, 2007.
 
SMSU PROBABLE LINEUP:
125 | Taylor Curtis (5-14) or Landyn VanOverbeke (7-9)
133 | No. 10 / NR Jordan Biehn (18-10)
141 | Trent Butcher (12-11) or Cody Reed (7-8)
149 | John Weeding (6-12)
157 | Patrick Kelley (15-16)
165 | Colton Vekved (12-15)
174 | No. 3 / No. 8 Jacob Begin (24-3)
184 | Brody Goens (14-11) or Ashton Bartlett (7-13)
197 | Tristan Ezell (8-15)
285 | No. 3 / No. 7 Cole Wilson (27-4)
 
*region ranking / national ranking
 
CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD PROBABLE LINEUP
­125 pounds | Jacob Stageberg (22-10)
133 pounds | Gabe Foltz (11-10)
141 pounds | Jacoby Bergeron (30-6)
149 pounds | Jake Kostik (9-12)
157 pounds | Ben Cousins (16-19)
165 pounds | Jake Krogstad (17-8)
174 pounds | Sebastian Gardner (20-6)
184 pounds | Dane Ringquist (7-13)
197 pounds | Danny Pike (5-9)
285 pounds | Justice Davis (21-9)
 
UP NEXT:
The Mustangs will prepare to start regional playoffs at Minnesota State in Mankoto, Minn., on Feb., 27.