ABERDEEN, S.D. – They've shone determination, hard work, and dedication all season and on Saturday, it all came out on the mat.

Minot State's men's wrestling team had arguably its most successful day as an NCAA Division II program as seven out of 10 Beavers in competition at the NCAA Super Region V Tournament hosted by Northern State earned a podium finish.

Highlighting those top finishes were consolation bracket champions Oscar Nellis, James Davis, and Jake Swirple who each punched their ticket to the NCAA National Tournament to be held March 10-11 and hosted by Upper Iowa.

"I am very proud of our team's effort today," Minot State head coach Evan Forde said. "We battled hard and it was a lot of fun. We had seven place-winners and had three individuals qualify for the National Tournament: That is a great accomplishment.

"I'm really happy for them and I'm looking forward to competing in Cedar Rapids (Iowa), March 10-11."

The three national qualifiers are the most in any single year for Minot State in its NCAA Division II era, and along with putting seven wrestlers on the podium, the Beavers finished sixth as a team in the standings with 71 points.

St. Cloud State won the Super Region V team title with 130.5 points.

Nellis, a sixth-year senior, earned his first trip to nationals with a 5-4 decision over Northern State's Landen Fischer in the 125-pound consolation final.

That wrapped up a successful day for Nellis who, after an opening loss in the championship bracket, went on a tear as he won a 16-0 tech fall over Clayson Mele of Minnesota State Moorhead, a 12-1 major decision over Southwest Minnesota State's Ben Emrich, and a 9-5 decision over Mary's Jaden Verhagen to earn a berth in the third-place match.

As for Davis, a former junior college All-American in his first season with the Beavers, he won a quarterfinal decision 10-4 over Upper Iowa's Kaden Anderlik, then dropped a 6-2 decision to eventual 133-pound champion Caleb Meekins of St. Cloud State.

Bouncing back strong in the consolation semifinals, Davis won a 10-3 decision over Troy Dolphin of Wisconsin-Parkside, then took the third-place match to earn a national berth with a pin in 6 minutes, 44 seconds of Augustana's Jack Huffman.

And competing at heavyweight, Swirple also scored a quarterfinal win, a 1-0 decision over St. Cloud State's Elijah Novak, before an overtime loss in the semifinals to Mary's Luke Tweeton who was the 285-pound runner-up champion. Minot State's sophomore responded with a 4-1 decision over Upper Iowa's Zach Ryg in the consolation semifinals, then won the third-place match with a 3-2 decision over Andre Baguma of MSU Moorhead.

All three now continue their season in two weeks at nationals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Almost joining them was Cannon Potts who after an opening loss, battled his way through the consolation bracket with a 7-4 decision over Michael Smith of Minnesota State, Mankato, and a 6-2 decision win over MSU Moorhead's Anthony Castro, earning a spot in the third-place match.

But the run ended there for Potts who settled for fourth place at 174 pounds after an 8-4 loss to Augustana's Kolby Kost.

Then came three sixth-place finishes for the Beavers as Kelby Armstrong went 2-3 on the day at 149 pounds and finished on the podium in sixth place, Cayden White went 1-3 on the day at 184 pounds and also made the podium, finishing sixth, and Dustin Swisher was 3-3 in the tournament at 197 pounds and added the final podium and sixth-place finish.

Also in action for Minot State were Ethan Wonser (141), who went 2-2 at the Super Region V Tournament on the day, Brendan Barnes (165), who was 1-2 in the tournament, and Nathan Baca (157), who was 0-2 on the day.