No. 6 St. Cloud State Wrestling Takes Down Minnesota State, 31-6

Thursday, January 18

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:00 P.M.

St. Cloud State

Minnesota State-Mankato

No. 6 St. Cloud State Wrestling Takes Down Minnesota State, 31-6

1/18/2024 10:51:00 PM | Wrestling

SCSU records four bonus point victories, including three technical falls in conference victory

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 6 St. Cloud State Wrestling (9-1, 4-0 NSIC) cruised to a 31-6 win over in-state rival Minnesota State (3-3, 0-3 NSIC) on Thursday evening at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud. The Huskies won eight of 10 matches with four earning bonus point victories and three doing so by way of technical fall victories. The win keeps St. Cloud State in a deadlock tie for first place in the NSIC standings with No. 4 UW-Parkside, who also sits at 4-0.

The Huskies jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the dual thanks to back-to-back technical fall victories from its 125- and 133-pounders. First on the mat, Redshirt sophomore 125-pounder Conor Knopick (Omaha, Neb.) wrestled his way to a 15-0 victory early in the third period over Lucas Ryan. Knopick scored a takedown and two four point near-falls in the first period, then rode out his opponent for the entire second period before earning an escape and takedown early in the third period to close the match. Then, at 133, redshirt senior 133-pounder Caleb Meekins (Livonia, Mich.) made quick work of Andrew Weiss, recording a 16-0 technical fall just 3:58 into the match. Meekins scored a takedown, a two-point near-fall and a four-point near fall in the first period, and then continued his control in the second period with a takedown and near-fall to clinch the victory.

At 157 pounds, junior 157-pounder Nick Novak (New Prague, Minn.) controlled the pace of his match against Caleb Meunier en route to a 10-0 major decision. He scored a takedown and two-point near-fall in the first period to take a 5-0 lead before earning a reversal and two-point near fall in the third period. Redshirt junior 184-pounder Bryce FitzPatrick (Mahtomedi, Minn.) had arguably the most impressive performance of the night, earning a 15-0 technical fall in the first period over Grant Cook. FitzPatrick took Cook down quickly in the first period and then put him on his back for three sets of four-point near falls for the win at 2:50.

Redshirt junior 157-pounder Colby Njos (Anoka, Minn.), graduate 165-pounder Anthony Herrera (Stansbury, Utah), redshirt senior 197-pounder Dominic Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) and sophomore heavyweight Elijah Novak (Foley, Minn.) all earned wins by decision in the match for the Huskies.

No. 6 St. Cloud State 31, Minnesota State 6
Jan. 18, 2024 | Halenbeck Hall | St. Cloud, Minn.
125: Conor Knopick (SCSU) TF Lucas Ryan (MSU), 15-0 (5:15)
133: Caleb Meekins (SCSU) TF Andrew Weiss (MSU), 16-0 (3:58)
141: Trayton Anderson (MSU) dec. No. 12 Alyeus Craig (SCSU), 7-6
149: No. 8 Colby Njos (SCSU) dec. Max Schwabe Kain Sanders (MSU), 4-1
157: No. 1 Nick Novak (SCSU) MD Caleb Meunier (MSU), 10-0
165: No. 7 Anthony Herrera (SCSU) dec. Kole Marko (MSU), 4-2
174: Drake Hayward MSU) SV-1 Bryce Dagel (SCSU), 4-1
184: No. 11 Bryce FitzPatrick TF Grant Cook (MSU), 15-0 (2:50)
197: No. 3 Dominic Murphy (SCSU) dec. Shane Gibson (MSU), 7-3
HWT: Elijah Novak (SCSU) dec. Tanner Gaffey (MSU), 5-2

UP NEXT

The Huskies will continue its three-dual home stretch with a pair of home matches against ranked opponents next week. First, St. Cloud State will host No. 18 Northern State on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7:00 p.m. CT, followed by a dual against No. 24 Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 2:00 p.m. CT.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Wrestling, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.