Beavers add four to wrestling program
Minot State announced Monday that the school gained four wrestling commitments for next season.
Californians Devon Flores and Jack Murphy join Baton Rouge, La., native Andrew Allemond and Latvia's Richards Avakovs for the Beavers' first season as a full NCAA Division II member.
Avakovs is a junior national freestyle champion and a cadet national freestyle champion, who will have to adjust to a different style of wrestling in the U.S. He will likely wrestle in either the 149- or the 157-pound weight class.
"That will dictate how well he does," MSU coach Robin Ersland said in a press release. "If he can make the necessary changes, I think he will be a tough one for us."
Allemond finished third at last year's Louisiana state meet for St. Amant High School. He is projected to wrestle in either the 174- or 165-pound weight class.
Flores was a two-time Masters qualifier and three-time league champion during his career at Olympian High School in Chula Vista, Calif. Ersland expects him to wrestle at 184 pounds.
"We watched Devon wrestle on tape and were extremely impressed with his skills and athletic ability," Ersland said.
Murphy attended Frontier High School in Bakersfield, Calif., where he first picked up wrestling as a freshman. A two-time state qualifier, he will wrestle at 197 pounds.
MSU also announced the hiring of Steven Swenson as compliance director and assistant athletic director.
- Daily News Staff
-
Vistas end road trip with split
MITCHELL, S.D. - The Minot Vistas ended a seven-game road trip with a doubleheader split at Mitchell, S.D., Monday.
Minot (6-7) lost the first game 7-4 despite out-hitting Mitchell 12-5. The Vistas walked seven hitters and committed four errors in the field.
The Vistas rebounded in the second game thanks to four solid innings from Caleb Fornshell, who allowed two unearned runs and limited Mitchell to six hits.
"It all starts with him," Vistas coach Todd Larson said. "We continued to hit the baseball. We got some extra-base hits to move hitters around. We played well in that last game."
Micah Holmen went 5-6 on the day, recording four doubles and driving in five runs. Hunter Oothoudt, Kolton Larson, Austin Berntson and Marcus Quist also had multi-hit games.
"We've got a couple guys swinging the bat real well right now," Larson said. "If we can just get the starting pitching going, I think we'll be all right."
- Daily News Staff