The Voice - St. Cloud State Wrestling Newsletter Feb. 2011

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Volume 2, Issue 6 March 3, 2011

The Husky Voice St. Cloud State University Husky Wrestling COACHES CORNER FROM THE DESK OF COACH COSTANZO Wow! What an exciting season of wrestling it has been for the Huskies.

This year has been full of twists and turns. Here’s a recap from my perspective.

Preseason started with a bunch of young, new freshman training hard to make an impact into the program.

The upper classmen led the way by their outstanding leadership qualities. Unfortunately, preseason also brought the loss of senior Derek Skala due to a shoulder injury. While he was not able to compete this season, we have applied for a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA. With high hopes, Derek will be back competing for the Huskies next season.

Early tournaments showed good results from the Harold Nichols Open, Auggie/Brute/Addidas Open and the Husky Open.

Our first dual meets showed promise as we started off to a 3-0 start including a nice win against NCAA DIII #2 University of Wisconsin La Crosse. In early January, the Huskies went to the southwest and took on some top NCAA DII foes. They returned to the North Pole by going 4-0 on the weekend. The Huskies competed in the NWCA National Duals for the third year in a row and earned a team high, third place finish. January continued to be a good month for Husky wrestling as we defeated NCAA DII #1 University of NebraskaOmaha 19-18 in front of their home crown. Some called the win “One lucky shot”. Maybe so, but a win was a win!

In February, the Huskies were flawless in dual meet action as they went 4-0 for the month. The month of February was also very special to the Husky wrestling as they claimed their first region championship in school history defeating defending region champion Augustana College 131-120 in the team score.

The Huskies set a school record for dual meet wins in a season as they went 19-2. The win total was also the highest number of victories by any NCAA DII team for 2010-11. Now it’s time to step it up as we head to the NCAA DII Championships in Kearney, Neb. Will you make the journey to Nebraska to cheer on your Huskies?

We hope to see you there to join us in the season that finally shows the Division II wrestling world that St. Cloud State University wrestling has returned!!

ONWARD AND UPWARD!!!

Visit us on:  http://www.stcloudstate.edu/athletics/sports/wrestling/  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=1696340987  http://www.youtube.com/user/SCSUWrestling  http://www.flowrestling.com

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UPCOMING EVENTS Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, 2011 - @ NCAA DII National Championships, Kearney, Neb.

WRESTLNG: HUSKIES WIN 2011 NCAA REGIONAL CROWN Sunday, February 27, 2011 Sioux Falls, S.D. - The St. Cloud State University wrestling team (19-2) captured first place honors at the 2011 NCAA Division III Super Regional #3 on Sunday, Feb. 27.

SCSU tallied 131.0 team points, which edged second place Augustana (120.0 points) - the defending regional champion.

SCSU head coach Steve Costanzo was named the Super Regional #3 Coach of the Year and sophomore Shamus O'Grady (Coon Rapids) was named the Super Regional #3 MVP for his first place finish at 174-pounds.

The Huskies gained the top spot thanks to three first place finishes at the Regional.

SCSU's first title was scored by junior Tad The 2011 NCAA DII Regional Champions from SCSU. Merritt (Canby), who won the championship with a 4-2 decision over Gavin Nelson of Augustana in the title bout at 165-pounds.

Merritt was the top seeded wrestler and was ranked #2 in the latest DII poll.

O'Grady added SCSU's second title of the tournament with a 13-3 major decision over Minnesota State's Ben Becker in the championship bout at 174-pounds. O'Grady entered the tournament as the #5 seed and advanced to the title match with a 10-7 decision over the nation's #1 ranked wrestler Luke Rynish of UWParkside in the semi-finals.

The Huskies triple crown of champions was topped by sophomore Jake Kahnke (Shakopee/Prior Lake H.S.), who ended his run in the 285-pound bracket with a 6-4 victory over Matt Meuleners of Northern State in the title match. This match feature the nation's top two ranked 285-pound wrestlers (#1 Kahnke and #2 Meuleners).

All three of the SCSU champions will now advance to the 2011 NCAA Division II championships, which will be held in Kearney, Neb. on March 11-12.

The trio will be joined at the NCAA championships by five other Huskies in 2011. This group includes junior Eric Ellington (Fairview Heights, Ill./East St. Louis H.S.) at 133-pounds, senior Gabe Suarez (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron H.S.) at 141-pounds, sophomore Jacob D. Horn (Ephrata, Wash.) at 149-pounds, senior John Sundgren (Blaine) at 157-pounds and junior Luke Munkelwitz (Forest Lake) at 197-pounds.

Ellington punched his ticket to nationals with a second place finish at 133-pounds. In the title match, Ellington lost a close 3-1 decision against UW-Parkside's Cody Zimmerman. A transfer from Rend Lake C.C. this season, Ellington will be making his first trip to the NCAA nationals this winter.

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At 141-pounds, Suarez gained his fourth consecutive trip to nationals with a third place finish at the regional.

In the bout for third place, Suarez scored a big 4-3 decision against MSU Moorhead's Brady Scheenberger. Of note, Suarez was ranked #8 in the latest DII poll and Scheenberger was ranked #3.

At 149-pounds, Horn lost a close 4-3 decision against Nate Herda of Augustana in the semi-finals before coming back to win the third place match by a 4-1 decision over Jesse Westphal of Minnesota State. This is Horn's first NCAA bid.

At 157-pounds, Sundgren also earned his 4th trip to nationals with a second place finish at the regional. In the title match, Sundgren lost a tough 9-6 decision to Dillon Bera of UW-Parkside.

At 197-pounds, Munkelwitz gained his 3rd bid to nationals with a fourth place finish.

This marks the top finish at the regional for SCSU during the Costanzo era, as the Huskies have finished in second place in 2010 and 2009. SCSU will be looking forward to the upcoming NCAA championships with hopes of improving on the Huskies' 7th place finish at the 2010 championships.

The complete list of matches and results are listed below.

NCAA Division II Super Regional #3 FINAL 1 - 131.0 St. Cloud State 2 - 120.0 Augustana T3 - 99.0 Minnesota State Mankato T3 - 99.0 Upper Iowa 5 - 74.0 Wisconsin-Parkside 6 - 49.0 Minnesota State Moorhead 7 - 42.5 Indianapolis 8 - 38.5 Southwest Minnesota State 9 - 34.0 Northern State 10 - 21.5 University of Mary 11 - 16.0 Newman NCAA Qualifiers for St. Cloud State (8 qualifiers): Eric Ellington -133, Gabe Suarez - 141, Jacob D. Horn - 149, John Sundgren - 157, Tad Merritt - 165, Shamus O'Grady - 174, Lucas Munkelwitz - 197 and Jake Kahnke - 285.

HUSKY PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: JACOB R. HORN

Q/A: Why did you choose to attend SCSU? Wrestling/Major/Price/Confirmed through prayer.

Q/A: Who do you most admire? Dad and his leadership in my family.

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Q/A: Favorite food when not watching your weight? Pasta Q/A: Favorite sport other than wrestling? Football Q/A: Favorite athlete to watch in another sport? Shamus O’Grady – Track/Cross Country Q/A: Favorite wrestler and why? Coach John Peterson. He continues to influence people even after wrestling is done.

Q/A: What kind of advice would you give another wrestler who is just taking up the sport? Commit to it!

Don’t start if you’re going to quit.

Q/A: Best moment as a wrestler so far? Pinning Travis Elg (MSU – Mankato) at Coach Costanzo’s 100th career victory.

Q/A: Favorite quote? “It’s not about eliminating fear, it’s about acting in spite of it.”

NOTE: Jacob D. Horn is currently a sophomore from St. Michael, Minn. He is an engineering major and has been a SCSU Husky wrestler over the past two years.

WRESTLING: SCSU TO OFFER YOUTH WRESTLING CAMPS IN SUMMER 2011 Friday, February 25, 2011 St. Cloud State University will be offering two youth wrestling camp opportunities during the summer of 2011.

On June 20-21, the Husky High School Commuter Camp will be held each day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This camp is open to all youth wrestlers going into grades 7-12. On June 2728, the Husky Youth Commuter Camp will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. This camp is open to youth wrestlers in grades K-6.

Both camps will be held at SCSU’s Halenbeck Hall Wrestling Room. The cost for the High School Camp is $75 per wrestler ($65 per person if you sign up with five or more people from the same team) and the Youth Camp is $65 per person ($55 per person if you sign up Tad Merritt with five or more people from the same team).

The camp will feature expert instruction in all facets of the sport from the camp staff, which includes SCSU head wrestling coach Steve Costanzo, SCSU assistant wrestling coaches Derek Sikora and Cy Wainwright and camp instructor Mike Farrell - a former NCAA Division I wrestling standout at Oklahoma State. In addition, members of the nationally ranked SCSU wrestling squad will be on hand to serve as camp counselors.

The camps will offer complete insight into takedowns, defense and counter attacks, top techniques, bottom techniques and drilling along with games and live wrestling.

For complete information on the camp, please call Derek Sikora at 320-828-4617 or the SCSU wrestling office at 320-308-2996. You can also e-mail djsikora@stcloudstate.edu for camp information.

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WRESTLING: NO. 3 HUSKIES ROLL OVER NO. 8 MAVERICKS Thursday, February 17, 2011 ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The No. 3 St. Cloud State men’s wrestling team won seven of 10 matches in a 25-9 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win over Minnesota State University, Mankato Thursday night in Halenbeck Hall.

The Huskies celebrated senior night by ending the regular season with a 19-2 overall record, while finishing 6-1 in the conference. MSU drops to 9-5 overall and 5-2 in the NSIC with the loss.

Senior's Westy Hanson (Crookston), Chad Kubasch (New Germany), Erik Rogness (Buffalo), Gabe Suarez (Las Vegas, Nev.) and John Sundgren (Blaine) were all honored Thursday night.

SCSU seniors and their parents.

No. 8 ranked Suarez won his 141-pound match 5-4 and No. 2 Sundgren won his 157-pound match 7-1 in their final matches at Halenbeck Hall.

The Mavericks earned a close 5-4 win in the 125-pound match, before the Huskies recorded victory in the next six matches to take a commanding 19-3 lead into the final three matches.

Junior and No. 2 ranked Tad Merritt (Canby) posted the only major decision of the day with a 15-4 win in the 165-pound match. Merritt is now an impressive 31-3 on the season.

Minnesota State then recorded their second and third one-point victories of the evening with a 2-1 and 3-2 win in the 185 and 197-pound matches to bring the score to 19-9 heading into the heavyweight match.

The final match of the evening did not take long as the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in the country Jake Kahnke (Shakopee) needed just 1:57 to pin his appoint and put an exclamation point on the match.

WRESTLING: HUSKIES CHART 21-12 VICTORY AT UIU Sunday, February 13, 2011 The #3 St. Cloud State University scored a 21-12 victory at #11 Upper Iowa University on Sunday, Feb. 13. The victory improved SCSU's record to 18-2 on the season and the Huskies will conclude their regular season on Thursday, Feb. 17 with a 7 p.m. home match against #8 Minnesota State at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud.

The match at UIU scored a win in the opening bout with a 6-1 decision by #2 Trevor Franklin over SCSU's Dylan Wright at 125-pounds. The Peacocks gained their second win of the afternoon with a 3-1 decision by #1 ranked Kyle Pedretti over SCSU's Eric Ellington at 133-pounds.

John Sundgren

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The Huskies kicked it into gear at 141-pounds with a 12-6 victory by #8 Gabe Suarez over UIU's Blake Hilmer. At 149-pounds, SCSU Jacob D. Horn posted a big 14-4 major decision over UIU's Colby Kriegel to give the Huskies' their first lead of the match.

At 157-pounds, #2 ranked John Sundgren of SCSU collected a 15-0 major decision at 3:40 of his match against UIU's Winston Robbins. At 165-pounds, #2 Tad Merritt helped push SCSU's lead to 15-6 with a 7-3 victory over UIU's Bryce Lumzy.

The Huskies' run was halted at 174-pounds as UIU's Mark Mueller posted a 3-2 victory over #8 Shamus O'Grady of SCSU. Upper Iowa added its final win of the match with a 3-1 victory by Wade Gobin over SCSU's Mic Berg at 184-pounds.

Up 15-12, SCSU got back on track at 197-pounds with a 3-2 win by #6 Lucas Munkelwitz over UIU's #8 Carl Broghammer.

The285-pound match was the highlight match of the afternoon as it pitted two of the nation’s top four wrestlers in SCSU’s Jake Kahnke (#1 NCAA) and UIU’s Zach Rosol (#4 NCAA). Both wrestlers fought off strong takedown attempts in a scoreless first period. The match moved to the final period without a score, but Kahnke put two minutes of ride time on the board. The Husky heavyweight scored a reversal and a takedown in the final period and claimed a 6-2 victory.

With the win, St. Cloud State took the NSIC dual by a final score of 21-12.

WRESTLING: SCSU'S KAHNKE EARNS NSIC WRESTLING OF THE WEEK HONORS Monday, February 7, 2011 St. Cloud State University sophomore Jacob Kahnke (Shakopee/Prior Lake H.S.) was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wrestler of the week on Feb. 7.

Kahnke, the #1 ranked NCAA Division II heavyweight in the nation, improved to 21-1 with a pair of victories on Feb. 4-5 for the #3 ranked St. Cloud State Huskies (17-2).

Kahnke opened his weekend on February 4 with a quality 5-4 decision over #2 ranked Matt Meuleners of Northern State.

Kahnke’s big win at 285-pounds helped the Huskies gain a 39-0 shutout against the Wolves at Halenbeck Hall.

Jacob Kahnke To complete the weekend, Kahnke post a 4:32 pinfall against the University of Mary’s Austin Woo. This was Kahnke’s third pin of the season and it helped the Huskies gain a 40-3 win over Mary.

This marks the second time this season that Kahnke has been named NSIC Wrestler of the Week.

The Huskies will continue their 2010-11 season on Feb. 13 with a road match at #11 Upper Iowa in Fayette, Iowa. Husky wrestling fans should mark Feb. 17 on their calendars, as SCSU will finish its 2010-11 dual season with a 7 p.m. home match against #8 Minnesota State. This match will mark Senior Day at Halenbeck Hall.

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WRESTLING: HUSKIES SET SCHOOL RECORD FOR WINS! Friday, February 4, 2011 ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The No. 3 St. Cloud State University wrestling team set a new school record for dual meet victories with a dominating 39-0 win over Northern State University Friday evening at Halenbeck Hall.

The Huskies are now an impressive 16-2 this season and set a new bench mark for wins after the 1964-65 squad set the standard 45 years ago with 15 victories.

The Huskies earned five decisions, three major decisions and one fall that happened in the 174-pound match as Shamus O’Grady (21-7) recorded a quick pin just 1:03 into the match.

No. 1 ranked Jake Kahnke earned a 5-4 decision Friday night.

In the biggest matchup of the evening between No. 1 and No. 2 heavyweights in the county, Jake Kahnke made it clear he was the top-seeded wrestler with a 5-4 decision in the final match of the night.

Kahnke (20-1) was down 3-2 to start the final period, but made an escape three seconds into the period and earned the victory with a takedown at the 1:42 mark to help the Huskies record their second shutout of the season.

John Sundgren (8-2) earned a major decision victory with a 16-2 win in the 157-pound match and No. 2 ranked Tad Merritt (28-3) followed it with a major decision of his own in the 165-pound match with a 15-3 victory.

Michael Berg (15-11) posted the final major decision of the evening in the 184-pound match with a 12-3 win.

TAKEDOWN WRESTLING CLUB Become a Takedown Club Member today!

We are excited to be entering into the 60th year of collegiate wrestling at St. Cloud State University. St. Cloud State University has a long and proud tradition of wrestling dating back to the 1950’s. Over 60 All-Americans have competed at St. Cloud State including 11 national champions and 3 Olympic team members.

The 2010-11 season will bring a variety of new faces and changes to the program. In addition to an abundance of returning talent, the coaching staff has diligently worked hard to bring in a successful recruiting class. Over thirteen new student-athletes will join the Husky Wrestling program this fall!

To continue our rich tradition, Husky wrestling is requesting your help. Currently, the SCSU wrestling program is in the process of raising money for the 2010-11 wrestling season. Funds raised will go directly to supplement the wrestling operational budget and to help the program remain competitive with the top NCAA DII wrestling programs in the country.

Here are some of the benefits that your contribution will help us accomplish: • Hosting and sponsoring annual parent, alumni and friend socials.

• To improve training equipment.

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• To enhance wrestling training facilities.

• To improve Husky wrestling recruiting efforts.

• To cover expenses for the end of the season wrestling awards banquet.

• To cover additional expenses that a strict college budget cannot.

Thanks in advance for your support and consideration. We will see you on the mats! http://www.stcloudstate.edu/athletics/support/documents/WrestBrochureHLowRez.pdf

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