MINOT, N.D. - On a night when the Minot State University wrestling program honored seven seniors, it was a junior that came through with the dual-winning moment as Jordan Will (285 lb.) defeated Jacob Dykes by pin to give the Beavers a 20-17 win over Southwest Minnesota State on Senior Night at the MSU Dome.

The Beavers (1-5) earn their first victory of the short dual season in comeback fashion on senior night at home. Junior Jordan Will and Head Wrestling Coach Evan Forde spoke after the match. Click the play icon in the image above to watch. 

MSU had an early major-decision victory by Oscar Nellis (125 lb), who earned another significant win at that weight class 10-1 over Ben Emrich to get off to a good start and put the home team in front 4-0.

SMSU (1-4) fell for the fourth consecutive week but got back into the match with a major-decision of its own by Jackson Stauffacher (24-11) over Logen Fischer. The victory for the Mustangs evened up the dual at 4-4. 

MSU and SMSU went back and forth with Lincoln Stormer earning his third consecutive win with a 12-7 decision over Justin Sampson. Next at the 149-pound class, Gabriel Ojeda dropped a hard-fought 16-4 major decision and Nathan Baca defeated Sean Howk by major decision 8-0. It marked another win for Baca moving his record to 3-3 on the year. 

Alex Sandoval, Jr. earned his first NSIC dual win with an 11-5 decision over Carter Marx in one of the turning points for the Beavers in the match. After the 165 lb. dual the Beavers held a 14-8 lead in the match and were confident going into the heavier weights with the nation's No. 14 wrestlers at 184 pounds, Keegan Berry, still to come. 

Noah Gallardo fought tooth and nail but fell to Hayden Voxland by a 7-4 decision cutting the Beavers' lead to 14-11. Berry stepped onto the mat and found a tough go of it against Caden Steffen. Steffen, a transfer to SMSU out of the University of Minnesota, made it tough on Berry to get inside and bring him to the ground which kept Berry off-balance for much of the match resulting in a tough loss for the senior. 

At 197 pounds, Noe Garcia was called into action and gave Jackson Ryan all he could handle but fell 3-1 by decision putting SMSU up 17-14 going into the heavyweight (285 lb.) bout. 

Jordan Will, who is ranked No. 10 nationally at 285 pounds, faced Jacob Dykes knowing that he needed at least five points to give the Beavers a comeback victory and he got it. Will pinned Dykes at 3:24 and pushed the Beavers in front with six points to earn a 20-17 win. 
 

Wt.	Summary	Minot St.	SMSU
125	Oscar Nellis (Minot State (N.D.)) over Ben Emrich (Southwest Minnesota State) (MD 10-1)	4	0
133	Jackson Stauffacher (Southwest Minnesota State) over Logen Fischer (Minot State (N.D.)) (MD 24-11)	0	4
141	Lincoln Stormer (Minot State (N.D.)) over Justin Sampson (Southwest Minnesota State) (Dec 12-7)	3	0
149	Luke Peterson (Southwest Minnesota State) over Gabriel Ojeda (Minot State (N.D.)) (MD 16-4)	0	4
157	Nathan Baca (Minot State (N.D.)) over Sean Howk (Southwest Minnesota State) (MD 8-0)	4	0
165	Alex Sandoval, Jr. (Minot State (N.D.)) over Carter Marx (Southwest Minnesota State) (Dec 11-5)	3	0
174	Hayden Voxland (Southwest Minnesota State) over Noah Gallardo (Minot State (N.D.)) (Dec 7-4)	0	3
184	Caden Steffen (Southwest Minnesota State) over Keegan Berry (Minot State (N.D.)) (Dec 7-4)	0	3
197	Jackson Ryan (Southwest Minnesota State) over Noe Garcia (Minot State (N.D.)) (Dec 3-1)	0	3
285	Jordan Will (Minot State (N.D.)) over Jacob Dykes (Southwest Minnesota State) (Fall 3:24)	6	0
Score:		20	17

The Beavers now await postseason seeding and competition in the NCAA Tournament. The Super Regional Five will take place on Feb. 27 in Aberdeen, South Dakota and Minot State expects multiple grapplers to represent the program in the postseason.