MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons wrestling team finishes the dual season with an NSIC showdown against No. 10 Upper Iowa Peacocks on Thursday. The Dragons will showcase their annual Senior Night to honor seniors Evan Forde, Brady Schneeberger, Tallen Wald and Jon Swart.
THE DRAGONS
The Dragons are currently on a three-dual winning streak, which includes wins over Minot State (N.D.), Northern State (S.D.) and Dickinson State (N.D.). The Dragons currently reside one spot outside the top-20 rankings despite winning three of the last four duals since the previous polls were released on Feb. 3.
The Dragons are lead by two ranked wrestlers, Corey Ulmer who leads the Dragons with 20 wins, one short of his win total from last season. Ulmer currently is ranked third in the nation at 125 pounds, one spot behind his opponent Thursday night, Trevor Franklin. Also ranked No. 3 is senior Brady Schneeberger at 141 pounds.
Schneeberger became ranked No. 6 in the nation after defeating Augustana’s (S.D.) Jay Sherer, last year’s NCAA Division-II National Champion, for the second straight time on Jan. 15. Since then Schneeberger has moved up three spots and is 1-1 since returning to the mat on Feb. 10 after missing three weeks of action.
UPPER IOWA
After getting thwarted by Minnesota State Mankato, the Peacocks have gone 2-2, including losses in their last two duals against Augustana and St. Cloud State. The Peacocks currently hold a 5-5 record (3-3 NSIC) on the season but are 1-2 away from Fayette, Iowa.
Almost all of the Peacocks upper weights currently hold a national ranking with Mark Meuller (174 pounds), Mitch Schultz (184 pounds) and Carl Broghammer (197 pounds) all sitting at the last ranking, No. 8 in the nation. In all, six Peacocks have a spot in the national rankings, including heavyweight Zach Rosol (No. 4) and 133-pounder Kyle Pedretti (No. 4).
The dual’s biggest match up puts Upper Iowa’s Trevor Franklin (No. 2) against the Dragons’ Corey Ulmer (No. 3) at 125 pounds. Franklin and Ulmer met at the Brute-Adidas Auggie Open at the University of Augsburg back on Nov. 20 in a match that came down to the wire. Ulmer will look to avenge his four-point championship loss and match his win total from 2009-10.
THE SENIORS
Seniors Evan Forde (Fargo, N.D.), Brady Schneeberger (Elbow Lake, Minn.), Tallen Wald (Montevideo, Minn.) and Jon Swart (Fargo, N.D.) will be honored Thursday night prior to the dual. Forde and Wald were both named team captains coming into this season with Wald returning as one of the national qualifiers from 2009. The four seniors have totalled 55 wins as a group so far this season, all with .500 records or better in the NSIC.
The dual is set to begin at 7 p.m. inside Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse. The Dragons will send a starter from each weight class to the NCAA Division-II Super III Regionals on Feb. 27 in Sioux Falls, S.D. on the campus of Augustana College.