OPENING BOUT:
After suffering a loss to No. 10 Upper Iowa, the Southwest Minnesota State University wrestling team (6-7, 1-3 NSIC) will look to bounce back as it travels north to Minot State on Friday night for a 7 p.m. dual before playing U-Mary on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
 
SCOUTING MINOT STATE:
The Beavers are 5-11 overall and 2-3 in the NSIC entering Friday's dual as MISU suffered a pair of losses last weekend to top-10 ranked teams. No. 2, St. Cloud State, dominated the Beavers 44-2 and No. 10 Upper Iowa, 44-6 last week. Mitchell Eull (HWT) leads the Beavers with a 21-12 record with six falls. Tanner Crissler (141), who is ranked No. 10 in the Super Region 3, has tallied six falls and has a 14-12 record. Robin Ersland is in his 5th season as the head coach of Minot State.
 
SERIES HISTORY — MISU:
Southwest Minnesota State and Minot State will meet for the 5th time on Friday night with SMSU holding a 3-1 advantage in a series that started back in the 1970-71 season. SMSU has won the last two duals, with its only loss coming in back in the 1972-73 season.
 
SCOUTING U-MARY:
The Marauders are 1-11 overall and 0-4 in the NSIC entering Saturday's dual as U-MARY has lost the last eight duals with its last win coming from Minot State on Dec. 18. U-Mary will play Jonah Westbury (HWT) leads the Marauders with his 11-5 record. John DeVito (174) is ranked No. 10 in the Super Region 3 in his weight with his 20-10 record. Tom DeVito (197) is also ranked No. 10 in the Super Region 3 in his weight with a 9-9 recorded with three pins. Adam Aho is in his 3rd season as the head coach at U-Mary.
 
SERIES HISTORY — U-MARY:
Southwest Minnesota State and University of Mary will meet for the 7th time on Saturday with SMSU holding a 5-1 advantage in a new series that started back in the 2007-08 season. SMSU won the last dual a season ago but suffered a loss in the 2012-13 season.
 
NATIONAL AND REGION RANKINGS:
Southwest Minnesota State wrestlers Jacob Begin and Cole Wilson are individually ranked in the region rankings. Wilson is also ranked in the regular season NCAA Division II National Wrestling Coaches Association poll.
 
Jacob Begin, a senior from Anoka, Minn., is ranked fifth in the Super Region 3 ranking at 165 pounds and is 18-3 this season.
 
Cole Wilson, a senior from Fairbault, Minn., is ranked fifth nationally at 285 pounds and is third in the region rankings. He is 22-3 this season with 10 falls recorded.
  
As a team, SMSU is ranked 10th in the 15-team Super Region 3 rankings.
 
WRESTLER OF THE WEEK:
Southwest Minnesota State University wrestler, Cole Wilson was named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wrestler of the Week. The announcement came from the league office in Burnsville, Minn., last Monday.
 
Wilson, a native of Faribault Minn., went 2-0 last 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.
 
SMSU (6-7, 1-3 NSIC) will head north for a pair of duals versus Minot State on Friday and U-Mary on Saturday before returning home the following week to close out the regular 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 56-52-1. 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.
 
PROBABLE LINEUP:
125 pounds | Taylor Curtis (6-12)
133 pounds | Landyn VanOverbeke (5-6)
141 pounds | Trent Butcher (10-11)
149 pounds | Jake Slocum (9-10) or John Weeding (4-11)
157 pounds | Patrick Kelley (16-11)
165 pounds | Jacob Begin (20-3)
174 pounds | Colton Vekved (11-12)
184 pounds | Brody Goens (14-8) or Ashton Bartlett (8-10)
197 pounds | Tristan Ezell (8-13)
HWT | Cole Wilson (24-3)
 
­UP NEXT:
The Mustangs will return to the PE Gym and close off NSIC action and face No. 2 St. Cloud State and MSU Moorhead.