No. 5 St. Cloud State Wrestling Set to Wrestle at Don Parker Open

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 5 St. Cloud State Wrestling (11-1, 6-0 NSIC) will head to Eau Claire, Wis., to compete in the Don Parker Open on Saturday, Feb. 3. The tournament is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. CT at the McPhee Physical Education Center.

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Live results for the tournament will be available through TrackWrestling.

NOVAK NAMED NSIC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK

St. Cloud State junior 157-pounder Nick Novak (New Prague, Minn.) was named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Wrestler of the Week, as announced on Jan. 29. Novak earned a pair of wins in dual competition last week to extend his perfect junior season, helping SCSU beat two ranked opponents and improve to 6-0 on the season in NSIC competition.

Novak opened the week with a 5-2 win over No. 4-ranked Devin Bahr of Northern State, leading the way for a 25-13 win over the 18^th-ranked Wolves. The Husky junior then finished his week with a 16-1 technical fall (4:46) over Sean Howk in a 44-3 win over the No. 25-ranked Mustangs. The wins were SCSU's 17^th consecutive dual win against both squads, extending a win streak that dates back to head coach Steve Costanzo's first season in St. Cloud.

With the two victories, Novak improved to 15-0 on the season with bonus point victories in nine bouts (73.5 percent). The returning NCAA Champion at 157 pounds has one fall, one major decision and a team-leading seven technical falls on the season.

HUSKIES ROLL THROUGH RANKED OPPONENTS

St. Cloud State remained perfect in conference duals with its fourth and fifth consecutive dual wins, beating No. 18 Northern State, 23-15, on Jan. 25 and a dismantling of No. 25 Southwest Minnesota State, 44-3. Northern State pulled within three points of the Huskies following a win the dual's eighth match, but redshirt junior 184-pounder Bryce FitzPatrick (Mahtomedi, Minn.) stopped any momentum the Wolves had with a first period pin to seal the victory for SCSU. Against SMSU, the Huskies won nine of 10 matches and earned bonus points in eight victories to move to 6-0 in NSIC duals.

The wins were the 17^th consecutive victories for the Huskies against both programs dating back to the 2006-07 season, head coach Steve Costanzo's first season at the helm of St. Cloud State.

NWCA RANKINGS

The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) release its fourth Division-II Men's Coaches Poll on Jan. 22, with the Huskies checking in at No. 5 with 52 points. Central Oklahoma now holds the No. 1 spot all alone with 93 points, while Lander checks in at No. 2 with 71 points. Rounding out the top-five is West Liberty at No. 3 (55 points), IW-Parkside (54 points) and SCSU (52 points). Below is a look at the Huskies including in the individual rankings (top-12 for each weight class).

No. 1 – Nick Novak (157 pounds)
No. 4 – Dominic Murphy (197 pounds)
No. 7 – Conor Knopick (125 pounds)
No. 8 – Colby Njos (149 pounds)
No. 10 – Anthony Herrera (165 pounds)
No. 10 – Bryce FitzPatrick (184 pounds)
No. 12 – Alyeus Craig (141 pounds)

HUSKIES TAKE DOWN MAVERICKS

St. Cloud State cruised to a 31-6 win over in-state rival Minnesota State (3-3, 0-3 NSIC) on Jan. 18 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. Redshirt sophomore 125-pounder Conor Knopick (Omaha, Neb.) redshirt senior, 133-pounder Caleb Meekins (Livonia, Mich.), and redshirt junior 184-pounder Bryce FitzPatrick (Mahtomedi, Minn.) earned technical fall victories in the match, while junior 157-pounder Nick Novak (New Prague, Minn.) won by major decision.

SCSU SHUTS OUT SIOUX FALLS

The Huskies recorded eight bonus point victories and won all 10 matches in a 49-0 win over Sioux Falls (1-5, 0-3 NSIC) on Jan. 14 at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls. The Huskies recorded four falls, three technical falls and a major decision in the victory to improve to 3-0 in NSIC matches. The bout was the first-ever match between the two programs as this is Sioux Falls' first season of competition. The 49-0 win was the most points scored in a dual since the Huskies beat American International, 54-0 on Nov. 9, 2019 and the most in a conference dual since a 50-0 win over Minot State on Jan. 29, 2016.

HUSKIES FINISH THIRD AT NWCA NATIONAL DUALS

In its last time out, St. Cloud State went 3-1 at the 2024 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division-II National Duals in Cedar Falls to finish in third place. The Huskies defeated (RV) Newberry (28-9) and No. 15 Mary (26-9) before falling to No. 1 Central Oklahoma (24-10) in the semifinal match. In the third-place bout, SCSU rebounded to beat No. 3 Lander, 24-16.

With the third-place finish, the Huskies have now finished in the top-three at the NWCA National Duals for the 13th consecutive tournament dating back to 2011 (no tournament in 2021 due to pandemic). Since 2011, the Huskies have finished first seven times (2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023), second twice (2016, 2022) and third now four times (2011, 2014, 2015, 2024).

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