ABERDEEN, S.D. – On Friday, Head Coach Kris Nelson boldly predicted that junior Brady Schneeberger and the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons would surprise many at the Super III Regionals in Aberdeen, S.D. His prediction came true, as Schneeberger will join four other Dragons who qualified for the national tournament.

The Dragons came into the regional tournament with many skeptics in a conference widely considered to be the best in NCAA Division-II wrestling. While Augustana College came away with the team title, the Dragons met and exceeded expectations, placing fifth with a team total of 73 points.

The Dragons sent five wrestlers to the nation tournament in 2009, and did so again in 2010. Sophomore Corey Ulmer (125 pounds), juniors Derek Bomstad (149 pounds) and Schneeberger (141 pounds) will each make their first trip to nationals while seniors Tim Johnson and Jarret Hall will make a return. Johnson and Hall both finished the regionals with a third place finish, the same finish both wrestlers had at last year's regionals.

The night would start at 125 pounds as Ulmer picked up a 6-2 decision over Trent Herold of St. Cloud State but fell in a 4-6 decision to No. 1 Tyler Mumbulo who would later win the weight class. Ulmer gained a bye in the third place bracket and defeated Matt Garcia in an 8-6 decision. In the third place match Ulmer lossed to No. 3 Alex Meger of Augustana in a 2-3 decision. Ulmer finished the night with a fourth place finish and advances to nationals.

Not many eyebrows were raised until Schneeberger took the mat at 141 pounds against No. 3 Robby Fischer of Minnesota State Mankato. Schneeberger caught a lot of attention after he stunned Fischer with an 8-6 decision. After Benton Crow of Northern State upset No. 2 Gabriel Suarez of St. Cloud State, Schneeberger schooled Crow in a 17-1 technical fall at the 4:39 mark of the semi-final match.

Schneeberger would not lose sight of his goal, as he took on his toughest opponent on the season in his biggest match of the season, No. 1 Jay Scherer of Augustana in the championship match.

Schneeberger held a slight edge over Scherer as the match went into the third period. Scherer took down Schneeberger with only 26 seconds to go, giving him a 7-5 lead.

Scherer, instead of riding out Schneeberger, got overconfident and decided to go for the pin. Schneeberger crafted a daring move and flattened Scherer's shoulders and pinned the favorite at the 6:45 mark of his match. The unranked and underrated Schneeberger stunned the NSIC and will move onto the national tournament as the regional champion at 141 pounds.

Defeating unlikely opponents became a trend for the middle weight classes as Derek Bomstad followed Schneeberger's momentum in the 149-pound weight class. Bomstad, after a bye in the opening round, took on No. 2 Derek Stolarzyk of Upper Iowa. Bomstad would also pull off an upset as he defeated Stolarzyk in a 4-3 decision to advance to the finals. There he would face his toughest opponent on the season, Augustana's No. 1 ranked Nate Herda.

Late in the third period, Herda and Bomstad traded takedowns and escapes but Herda's takedown in the final period forced Bomstad to begin looking for a shooting attempt to takedown Herda but couldn't get his late chances to capitalize and Bomstad finished with a second place finish, again as an unranked wrestler in a bracket that featured five ranked opponents.

Hall looked to return to the national tournament after qualifying last season with a third place result. Hall, with only four matches under his belt before this year's regionals (3-1 record), looked to make more noise for the Dragons.

No. 5 Hall took the early match against No. 4 Ben Becker of Minnesota State Mankato. Hall busted out early and dominated Becker with a 12-0 major decision. Hall ran into No. 1 Mitch Norton of Upper Iowa who came off a 22-4 technical fall over Phillip Downs of Northern State in the first round. Hall and Norton battled through two periods but Norton gained a slight edge over Hall and was granted the pin at the 6:10 mark.

Hall would not lose after that match. Hall took out frustrations of an early defeat on William Fate of Southwest Minnesota State. Hall earned a 6-2 decision over Fate to advance to the third place match. There Hall would find himself in a rematch of the opening round against Becker, and the results didn't change by much. Hall again shut out Becker with a 5-0 decision to advance to the national tournament for the second straight time as a Dragon.

Johnson came into his opening match as the No. 3 ranked wrestler at 285 pounds. Johnson disposed of Aaron Cramer of Upper Iowa, pinning Cramer at the 3:43 mark of the match. In the semi-finals, Johnson locked up against No. 2 Jake Kahnke of St. Cloud State. Johnson got an early escape but could not get more as Kahnke moved on with a 9-1 major decision.

Johnson, as Hall did at 174 pounds, would not lose again. Johnson took on No. 5 Lance Peters of Augustana in the semi-finals of the third place bracket. Johnson pinned Peters at the 3:46 mark to move on to the third place finals against No. 4 Brian Rodas who also came off a pin in the previous round. Johnson would outwork Rodas as he did when the two faced off in the regular season when Johnson won 5-2. Johnson would take his third place match over Rodas with a 5-3 decision.

The Dragons surprised many with their resiliency and toughness. At one time, the Dragons had seven wrestlers in position to qualify for nationals. The Dragons now set their sights on the national tournament where first year Head Coach Kris Nelson will take Ulmer, Schneeberger, Bomstad, Hall and Johnson as qualifiers to the NCAA Division-II National Championships on March 12-13 inside Sapp Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

FINAL RESULTS
125 – Corey Ulmer (4th)
•    6-2 Dec. over Trent Herold (SCSU)
•    Lost 6-4 Dec. to Tyler Mumbulo (UIU)
•    8-6 Dec. over Matt Garcia (Mary)
•    Lost 3-2 Dec. to Alex Meger (Augie)
133 – Evan Forde
•    Lost 13-4 MD to Adam Jennings (SMSU)
•    5-2 Dec. over Cody Schmidt (Mary)
•    Lost 14-2 MD to Shane McQuade (SCSU)
141 – Brady Schneeberger (1st)
•    8-6 Dec. over Robby Fischer (Mankato)
•    17-1 Tech. Fall over Benton Crow (NSU) (4:39)
•    6:45 fall over Jay Scherer (Augie)
149 – Derek Bomstad (2nd)
•    4-3 Dec. over Derek Stolarzyk (UIU)
•    Lost 7-12 Dec. to Nate Herda (Augie)
157 – Tallen Wald
•    Lost 1-4 Dec. to Justin Decker (UIU)
•    3-2 Dec. over Wade Granger (SMSU)
•    Lost 3-5 Dec. to Justin Turek (Mankato)
•    Lost 4-6 Dec. to Collin Engelhardt (Mary)
165 – Tyler Kivel
•    Lost 2-13 Maj. Dec. to Travis Eggers (UIU)
•    Lost 1-6 Dec. to Tel Todd (Mankato)
174 – Jarret Hall (3rd)
•    12-0 MD over Ben Becker (Mankato)
•    6:10 Fall to Mitch Norton (UIU)
•    6-2 Dec. over William Fate (SMSU)
•    5-3 Dec. over Ben Becker (Mankato)
184 – Tayler Yliniemi
•    Lost 2-8 Dec. to Derek Skala (SCSU)
•    Lost 1-9 Maj. Dec. to Nick Henning (Augie)
197 – Jon Swart
•    Lost 0-6 Dec. to Lucas Munkelwitz (SCSU)
•    Lost 1-3 Sudden Victory Dec. to John Makabe (Mankato)
HWT – Tim Johnson (3rd)
•    3:43 Fall over Aaron Cramer (UIU)
•    Lost 1-9 Maj. Dec. to Jake Kahnke (SCSU)
•    3:46 Fall over Lance Peters (Augie)
•    5-3 Dec. over Brian Rodas (SMSU)