No. 1 Ranked Huskies Advance to Semifinals in NWCA National Duals After Day One

Friday, January 10

Cedar Falls, IA.

10 A.M.

St. Cloud State

King University

No. 1 Ranked Huskies Advance to Semifinals in NWCA National Duals After Day One

1/10/2025 4:51:00 PM | Wrestling

St. Cloud State beats King and #9 Tiffin

Cedar Falls, IA- No. 1 Ranked St. Cloud State Wrestling (5-0, 3-0 NSIC) advanced to the semifinals of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals Friday afternoon after defeating King University in the first round and then No. 9 Tiffin in the quarterfinals.

In round 1 against King, the Huskies got off to an electric start as Dominic Ducato and Caleb Meekins both captured falls in sub-50 seconds to put the St. Cloud State on the board with a 12-0 lead. Ashtan Hendricks of King halted the momentum for SCSU as he pinned No. 6 Alyus Craig to cut St. Cloud State's lead in half. The Huskies responded well as they won the next four bouts, three of which in bonus point fashion. Nolan Throne got St. Cloud State back on track with a 13-4 major decision against Brennan Watkins at 149. No. 5 Joel Jesuroga stayed perfect on the year as he beat Trent Mahoney 10-1 to give SCSU a 20-6 lead. Derek Johnson made his duel debut this season as he shutout Joe Bertrand with a 12-0 major decision. Logan Vaughan strung together the fourth consecutive win for St. Cloud State as he won his bout at 174 14-7. King picked up their final points of the dual as a takedown by Ethan Lopez on Tyson Meyer with 10 seconds remaining gave him an 8-5 decision victory. The Huskies closed out the dual with a pair of decision wins as No. 4 Dominic Murphy won 5-1 at 197 and then Jadon Mims shutout Jacob Telles with a 6-0 win. St. Cloud State ultimately advanced to the quarterfinals with a 33-9 victory over King.

Moving to the quarterfinals, the Huskies faced off against No. 9 Tiffin. Conor Knopick got it started for the Huskies as he captured a 14-4 major decision. At 133, No. 7 Sam Spencer wrestled against No. 4 Max Shore. The two-ranked wrestlers battled to a stalemate in the first period as neither wrestler scored a point. Spencer had his choice to start the period as he would defer. Shore chose down and came away with an early escape to take a 1-0 lead. 20 seconds later, Spencer was able to grab Shore's leg and finished his takedown opportunity to now lead 3-1. He racked up 1:07 of ride time before Shore escaped to set the score at 3-2. The third period saw Spencer choose the down position as Shore ate into his ride time. With 40 seconds left in the match, Shore allowed Spencer to escape to allow himself an opportunity to win off a takedown. The No.7 ranked wrestler was stout in defending himself from all attacks. Shore created an offensive opportunity with four seconds remaining, but was unable to score the takedown before time expired as Sam Spencer came up with a big win against the No. 4 ranked wrestler at 133. Moving to 141, No. 6 Alyeus Craig responded to his loss in the last dual by pinning Christopher Oleksiak in 56 seconds. No. 1 Colby Njos would win by forfeit to now put the Huskies up 19-0. No. 5 Joel Jesuroga captured his second win of the day as he defeated #14 Casey Barnett. Moving to 165, No. 2 Nick Novak faced off against No. 3 Nolan Gessler. The first period was a battle as neither wrestler scored any points. Novak would be awarded choice of position to start the second period and would defer. Gessler chose to start down as he worked his way to a reversal in 23 seconds to take a 2-0 lead. Novak would earn an escape point as he now trailed by one. Now in the third period, Novak started down and came away with a quick escape to tie the match 2-2. Neither wrestler was able to score points the rest of the period as the match now went into overtime. In the first overtime period, Novak created a scoring opportunity as he nearly grabbed ahold of Gessler's left leg. Now headed to the mat, both wrestlers fought for possession, but Gessler ultimately worked his to a takedown as he defeated the No. 2 ranked Novak 5-2 in sudden victory. That match was the only one that Tiffin would win as No. 5 Bryce Dagel and No. 10 Bryce FitzPatrick each came away with 17-1 tech falls to put St. Cloud State up 32-3. Dagel would defeat the 15^th ranked wrestler at 174 in Jakob Hurley. No. 4 Dominic Murphy picked up his second win of the day as he beat No. 11 Lucas Salmon 5-2. Closing with 285, No. 2 La'Ron Parks came back from being taken down early as he defeated Jake Powell 6-3. St. Cloud State advanced to the semifinals with a 38-3 win against No. 9 Tiffin.

Notables

Dominic Ducato moves to 12-3 on the year and picked up his first dual win of the season (1-0). The pin by Ducato was his third of the year and ninth bonus point victory.
Caleb Meekins captured his eighth bonus point victory of the season and sixth victory by fall. He is now 9-3 overall and 1-1 in duals.
No. 6 Alyeus Craig split the day and is now 12-3 on the year with a 3-1 dual record. The pin by Craig was his second of the year and ninth bonus point win of the season.
Nolan Throne secured his sixth bonus point win of the season and second major decision. Throne sits at 12-1 on the year.
No. 5 Joel Jesuroga remains unbeaten after a pair of victories to sit at 10-0 on the season. He tallied his second major decision and sixth bonus point win. Jesuroga is now 5-0 in duals.
Derek Johnson earned his first dual victory of the season (1-0) as he moves to 13-3 on the year. Johnson secured his third major decision and sixth bonus point win.
Logan Vaughan also won his first dual match of the season (1-0) and is 4-1 on the season.
No. 4 Dominic Murphy stayed perfect on the year with two victories to sit at 12-0. He is 5-0 in duals.
Jadon Mims won his second dual match of the season (2-0) and is 14-3 on the year.
No. 15 Conor Knopick moved to 6-3 on the year and won his fourth dual match (4-0). Knopick captured his fifth bonus point victory and second major decision.
No. 7 Sam Spencer is now 16-1 on the season and remains perfect in duals with a 4-0 record.
No. 5 Bryce Dagel secured his sixth bonus point win of the season and his second tech fall. He is now 11-2 overall and 4-0 in duals.
No. 10 Bryce FitzPatrick won his ninth match of the season and is 9-3 overall with a 2-0 dual record. FitzPatrick captured his fifth bonus point victory and second tech fall.
No. 2 La'Ron Parks remains perfect with a 14-0 record and 3-0 dual record.

No. 1 St. Cloud State 33, King University 9
125- Dominic Ducato fall Tyson Upchurch, 0:48
133- Caleb Meekins fall Alex Fernandez III, 0:44
141- Ashtan Hendricks fall No. 6 Alyeus Craig, 4:21
149- Nolan Throne MD Brennan Watkins, 13-4
157- No. 5 Joel Jesuroga MD Trent Mahoney, 10-1
165- Derek Johnson MD, Joe Bertrand, 12-0
174- Logan Vaughan dec Clinton Morrisette, 14-7
184- Ethan Lopez dec Tyson Meyer, 8-5
197- No. 4 Dominic Murphy dec Nathan Coley, 5-1
285- Jadon Mims dec Jacob Telles, 6-0

No. 1 St. Cloud State 38, No. 9 Tiffin 3
125- No. 15 Conor Knopick MD Cael Woods, 14-4
133- No. 7 Sam Spencer dec No. 4 Max Shore, 4-2
141- No. 6 Alyeus Craig fall Christopher Oleksiak, 0:56
149- No. 1 Colby Njos wins by forfeit
157- No. 5 Joel Jesuroga dec No. 14 Casey Barnett, 6-0
165- No. 3 Nolan Gessler dec No. 2 Nick Novak, 5-2 SV-1
174- No. 5 Bryce Dagel Tf No. 15 Jakob Hurley, 17-1
184- No. 10 Bryce FitzPatrick TF David Davis, 17-1
197- No. 4 Dominic Murphy dec No. 11 Lucas Salmon, 5-2
285- No. 2 La'Ron Parks dec Jake Powell, 6-3

Up Next
St. Cloud State will compete in the semifinals of the NWCA National Duals tomorrow at 11:00 A.M. as they wrestle No. 6 McKendree. The Bearcats hold eight ranked wrestlers in Jason Strope (14 at 125), Ronan Schuelke (3 at 141), Joey Semerad (12 at 149), Corey Peterson (6 at 165), Matt Ortiz (2 at 174), Zeke Waltz (11 at 184), Logan Kvien (2 at 197), and Tyler Haynes (15 at 285). The winner will face-off against either No. 4 Central Oklahoma or No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney in the championship which will take place at 3:00 p.m. For all the latest on St. Cloud State Wrestling, stay tuned to scsuhuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.