No. 6 St. Cloud State Wrestling Advances to NWCA National Duals Semifinals with Wins over Newberry, Mary

Friday, January 5

Cedar Falls, Iowa

2:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Newberry

No. 6 St. Cloud State Wrestling Advances to NWCA National Duals Semifinals with Wins over Newberry, Mary

1/5/2024 5:59:00 PM | Wrestling

SCSU will face No. 1 Central Oklahoma on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – No. 6 St. Cloud State Wrestling (6-0, 2-0 NSIC) cruised to a pair of wins to open the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division-II National Duals on Friday in Cedar Falls, Iowa, defeating (RV) Newberry, 28-9, and No. 15 Mary, 26-9, to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. St. Cloud State won 14 of 20 bouts in the two duals with seven bonus-point victories. Redshirt sophomore 141-pounder Alyeus Craig (Wichita, Kan.) led the way for the Huskies, recording bonus point wins in both his matches with a fall and major decision.

With the win, SCSU advances to the semifinals against No. 1 Central Oklahaoma on Saturday as the seek their sixth NWCA National Duals title in the last seven tournaments and eighth title overall.

Against Newberry, the Huskies opened the dual with six consecutive victories to jump out to a 24-0 lead. Craig was the first Husky to post bonus points, as he put Zach Harrington on his back near the end of the first period to record a six-point fall. Two bouts later, junior 157-pounder Nick Novak (New Prague, Minn.) dominated Patrick Wunderlich with a 15-0 technical fall. Redshirt freshman 165-pounder Ethan Hendrickson (Menahga, Minn.) and redshirt senior 197-pounder Dominic Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) both earned major decisions in their victories, while redshirt junior 149-pounder Colby Njos (Anoka, Minn.) provided the only ranked win of the match, winning 3-1 over No. 9 Devan Moore.

In the second round, SCSU and Mary traded decisions in the first two matches before Craig came to the mat to wreak havoc, defeating Kaden DeCoteau 15-3 to give the Huskies a four-point cushion. Redshirt junior 149-pounder Nolan Throne followed with a 15-5 major decision over Kaden Renner, continuing a streak of four consecutive wins for SCSU. At 184 pounds, redsrhit junior 184-pounder Bryce FitzPatrick (Mahtomedi, Minn.) put the match away for good, pinning Sam Bruss in the second period to give SCSU a 23-6 lead. Murphy recorded a top-10 win of his own against the Marauders, defeating No. 8 Matt Kaylor, 10-3.

No. 6 St. Cloud State Wrestling 28, (RV) Newberry 9
Jan. 5, 2024 | UNI-Dome | Cedar Falls, Iowa
125: Conor Knopick (SCSU) dec. Zach Schupp (NEW), 8-2
133: Caleb Meekins (SCSU) dec. Ben Guilliam (NEW), 13-6
141: No. 12 Alyeus Craig (SCSU) Fall Zach Harrington (NEW), 3:00
149: No. 8 Colby Njos (SCSU) dec. No. 9 Devan Moore (NEW), 3-1
157: No. 1 Nick Novak (SCSU) TF Patrick Wunderlich (NEW), 15-0
165: Ethan Hendrickson (SCSU) MD Asa Walton (NEW), 11-1
174: Andrew Reed (NEW) dec. Jude Link (SCSU), 7-2
184: Jacoby Benjamin (NEW) dec. Tyson Meyer (SCSU), 3-1
197: No. 3 Dominic Murphy (SCSU) MD John Parker-Wilson, 16-3
HWT: No. 10 Devon Rice (SCSU) dec. Elijah Novak (SCSU), 5-1

No. 6 St. Cloud State Wrestling 26, No. 15 Mary 9
Jan. 5, 2024 | UNI-Dome | Cedar Falls, Iowa
125: Conor Knopick (SCSU) dec. Jaden Verhagen (MARY), 6-5
133: No. 7 Reece Barnhardt (MARY) dec. Sam Spencer (SCSU), 5-0
141: No. 12 Alyeus Craig (SCSU) MD Kaden DeCoteau (MARY), 15-3
149: Nolan Throne (SCSU) MD Kaden Renner (MARY), 15-5
157: No. 1 Nick Novak (SCSU) dec. Braydon Huber (MARY), 3-0
165: No. 7 Anthony Herrera dec. Sam Bruss (MARY), 9-5
174: No. 5 Max Bruss (MARY) dec. Bryce Dagel (SCSU), 5-4
184: No. 11 Bryce FitzPatrick Fall Wyatt Lidberg, 4:21
197: No. 3 Dominic Murphy (SCSU) dec. No. 8 Matt Kaylor, 10-3
HWT: No. 7 Luke Tweeton (MARY) dec. Donnie Hidden (SCSU), 9-2

UP NEXT

SCSU will now face No. 1 Central Oklahoma in the semifinals on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT. The two teams met in National Duals finals last season, where the Huskies won 19-16 on Jan. 7 in Louisville, Ky. The match will be streamed on FloWrestling (subscription required), while live results are available on TrackWrestling.

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