SCSU Wrestling earns #2 ranking in latest DII polls

The St. Cloud State University wrestling team (11-2, 2-0 NSIC) moved up to number two in the latest NCAA Division II national poll, which was released on Jan. 28. The Huskies were previously ranked fourth in the latest poll and moved up two notches thanks to NSIC victories last weekend over Northern State and Minnesota State, Mankato.

Maryville (Mo.) remained the unanimous No. 1 team in the NCAA Division II wrestling rankings, according to the poll released Wednesday by the Division II Wrestling Coaches Association. The Saints earned all eight first-place votes in balloting of head coaches from around the country to finish with 160 points. Maryville will host the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships March 13-14 in St. Louis, Mo.

St. Cloud State (Minn.) took over second place in the poll with 141 points, seven ahead of defending national champion Notre Dame (Ohio). Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) jumped from ninth to fourth with 110 points, one ahead of Western State (Colo.).

Rounding out the top 10 is Nebraska-Kearney, Mercyhurst (Pa.), Lake Erie (Ohio), Lindenwood (Mo.) and Upper Iowa. Lake Erie made the biggest leap, moving from a 15th-place tie to eighth after beating Notre Dame in a dual last week.

SCSU wrestlers ranked individually include #2 ranked Clint Poster at 157-pounds and #3 ranked Austin Goergen at 285-pounds. The Huskies' Mike Rhone moved up to number six in the nation at 133-pounds, while Josh Howk moved up number seven at 149-pounds. Another SCSU grappler moving up the charts was Gabe Fogarty, who went to number three in the country at 165-pounds.

The Huskies will return to action on Jan. 30 with a 7 p.m. match against the University of Mary. On Jan. 31, the Huskies will host Minot State University at 2 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall.

The match on Jan. 30 has been designated as Youth/Middle School/Prep Night with all students in grades K-12 getting into the match for just $1. The first 50 youth (grades K-12) at the match will receive a free water bottle at the match on Jan. 30. The match on Jan. 31 has been designated as Military Appreciation Day. All veterans and active military will be admitted to this match against Minot State for free. Call 1-877-SCSUTIX for all the details on these two matches.

The top 20 poll, with points and each team's last ranking, following by the individual rankings at each weight:
1. Maryville (Mo.)
2. St. Cloud State (Minn.)
3. Notre Dame (Ohio)
4. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)
5. Western State (Colo.)
6. Nebraska-Kearney
7. Mercyhurst (Pa.)
8. Lake Erie (Ohio)
9. Lindenwood (Mo.)
10. Upper Iowa
11. McKendree (Ill.)
12. Central Oklahoma
13. Colorado Mesa Kutztown (Pa.)
14. Fort Hays State (Kan.)
15. Newberry (S.C.)
16. Augustana (S.D.)
17. California Baptist
18. Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)
19. North Carolina-Pembroke

Others Receiving Votes: Central Missouri, Coker, Findlay, Minnesota State Mankato, San Francisco State, Shorter and Tiffin.

125 Pounds
1.         T.J. North, Augustana (S.D.)
2.         Matt Turek, Gannon (Pa.)
3.         Gerald Huff, Adams State (Colo.)
4.         Willie Bohince, Mercyhurst (Pa.)
5.         Garrett Evans, Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)
6.         Marco Tamayo, Lindenwood (Mo.)
7.         DeWayne Roberts, Minnesota State-Mankato
8.         Josh Kieffer, Indianapolis (Ind.)

133 Pounds
1.         Daniel DeShazer, Nebraska-Kearney
2.         Michael Labry, Ashland (Ohio)
3.         Nate Rodriguez, Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)
4.         Zak Hale, Anderson (S.C.)
5.         Dustin Reed, Central Oklahoma
6.         Mike Rhone, St. Cloud State (Minn.)
7.         Justin Forrest, Central Missouri
8.         Blake Bosch, Minnesota State-Moorhead

141 Pounds
1.         Josh Myers, Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)
2.         Daniel Ownbey, North Carolina-Pembroke
3.         Maurice Miller, Notre Dame (Ohio)
4.         Jeremiah Peterson, Augustana (S.D.)
5.         Kyle Webb, Lindenwood (Mo.)
6.         Sam Hanau, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)
7.         Darren Wynn, McKendree (Ill.)
8.         Peter Cunningham, California Baptist

149 Pounds
1.         Keenan Hagerty, Maryville (Mo.)
2.         Frank Cagnina, Central Missouri
3.         Terrel Wilbourn, Lindenwood (Mo.)
4.         Nick Goebel, Findlay (Ohio)
5.         Jeremy Landowski, Mercyhurst (Pa.)
6.         Destin McCauley, Nebraska-Kearney
7.         Josh Howk, St. Cloud State (Minn.)
8.         Zach Vargo, Lake Erie (Ohio)

157 Pounds
1.         Jon Rivera, Notre Dame (Ohio)
2.         Clint Poster, St. Cloud State (Minn.)
3.         James Martinez, Colorado Mesa
4.         Chase White, Nebraska Kearney
5.         Adam Cooling, Minnesota State-Mankato
6.         Jordan Rinken, Upper Iowa
7.         Francis Mizia, Mercyhurst (Pa.)
8.         Greg Hegerty, Maryville (Mo.)

165 Pounds
1.         Chris Watson, Central Oklahoma
2.         Dimitri Willis, Maryville (Mo.)
3.         Gabe Fogarty, St. Cloud State (Minn.)
4.         Nick Haferkamp, McKendree (Ill.)
5.         Angelo Bortoluzzi, Mercyhurst (Pa.)
6.         Tyler Reinhart, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)
7.         Nick Fishback, Wisconsin-Parkside
8.         Colbey Vance, Upper Iowa

174 Pounds
1.         Joey Davis, Notre Dame (Ohio)
2.         Elliot Copeland, Western State (Colo.)
3.         Zeb Wahle, Maryville (Mo.)
4.         Terrence Zaleski, North Carolina-Pembroke
5.         Luke Cramer, Ashland (Ohio)
6.         August Mizia, Mercyhurst (Pa.)
7.         Payne Hatter, Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)
8.         Josh Rodriguez, Fort Hays State (Kan.)

184 Pounds
1.         Garrett Lineberger, Notre Dame (Ohio)
2.         Dallas Smith, Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)
3.         Nick Burghardt, Maryville (Mo.)
4.         Terrence Smith, Shorter (Ga.)
5.         Kyle Piatt, Western State (Colo.)
6.         Blake Sorensen, Upper Iowa
7.         Jon Inman, Fort Hays State (Kan.)
8.         Jacob Waste, California Baptist

197 Pounds
1.         Romero Cotton, Nebraska-Kearney
2.         Julian Smith, McKendree (Ill.)
3.         Kenny Breaux, Lindenwood (Mo.)
4.         Ryan Beltz, Maryville (Mo.)
5.         Jayd Docken, Augustana (S.D.)
6.         Sam Mangum, Western State (Colo.)
7.         Huston Evans, Newberry (S.C.)
8.         Andrew Reggi, San Francisco State (Calif.)

285 Pounds
1.         Ziad Haddad, Kutztown (Pa.)
2.         Garrett Gray, Tiffin (Ohio)
3.         Austin Goergen, St. Cloud State (Minn.)
4.         Donnell Walker, Maryville (Mo.)
5.         Trey Page, Fort Hays State (Kan.)
6.         Logan Hopp, Upper Iowa
7.         Chris Giddens, North Carolina-Pembroke
8.         Jordan Passehl, Colorado Mesa

St. Cloud State Wrestling Notes and News for Jan. 28, 2015

The St. Cloud State University wrestling team moved its record to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in the always rugged NSIC. On Jan. 24, the Huskies opened defense of its NSIC championship with a 47-0 shutout against Northern State University. On Jan. 25, the Huskies capped its weekend at home with a 20-12 victory over Minnesota State, Mankato in front of a large Alumni Day crowd at Halenbeck Hall.
The Huskies will continue their home stand on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31 with a pair of home dates at Halenbeck Hall against the University of Mary and Minot State respectively.
SCSU has won three consecutive NSIC championships and the Huskies have charted a 25-0 record in the NSIC competition since the 2011-12 season. SCSU has won 30 consecutive matches in NSIC competition. The last time the Huskies have suffered a loss in NSIC competition was an 18-13 setback on Jan. 27, 2011 at Augustana.
SCSU has won 20 consecutive home matches dating back to a 21-15 loss to Upper Iowa on Feb. 14, 2010 in St. Cloud, Minn.
Clint Poster
At 157-pounds, SCSU's #2 Clint Poster pushed his season record to 26-0 with a 3-0 win over MSU's Adam Cooling on Jan. 24. In his time at SCSU, Poster now owns a 95-13 career record. Of note, Tad Merritt owns the SCSU career record most wins in a career at 144 from 2008-12. Merritt (40-2 in 2010-11) and Shamus O'Grady (40-1 in 2012-13) both own the team record for most wins in a season at SCSU.
For the second consecutive week, SCSU's Gabe Fogarty scored a win over a nationally ranked opponent at 165-pounds. On Jan. 24, #5 Fogarty charted a 7-2 win over Minnesota State's #4 Cody Quinn. Fogarty now owns a 17-2 record this winter for the Huskies.
In nine seasons at SCSU, coach Steve Costanzo owns a 130-26 career record. His overall career record as a college coach over 16 seasons is 191-56-2.
In the latest NCAA DIvision II national poll, SCSU earned a fourth place ranking. Individually, Clint Poster led the Huskies with a #2 ranking at 157-pounds and Austin Goergen was ranked #3 in the nation at 285-pounds. SCSU's other nationally ranked wrestlers included Josh Howk (8th at 149-pounds) and Mike Rhone (7th at 133-pounds). Both Howk and Rhone collected wins for the Huskies in the dual match against Minnesota State, Mankato.
Former SCSU wrestling coach Jack Gause and Grant Nelson, a national champ for the Huskies n 1963, will both be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Minnesota Chapter in 2015. Gause was SCSU's first wrestling coach during the 1949-50 season.