No. 1 St. Cloud State Wrestling Readies for NWCA National Duals

St. Cloud, Minn.- No. 1 St. Cloud State Wrestling (3-0, 3-0 NSIC) travel to Cedar Falls, IA this weekend for the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals. The Huskies are set to wrestle in the opening round against King University.

Follow the Huskies
All duals will be streamed live on Flo Sports (registration required). Live results will also be available on TrackWrestling. Links to both options can be found on the St. Cloud State Wrestling Schedule.

Top Dog
For the third consecutive NWCA poll, the Huskies were tabbed the No. 1 ranked team in Division II. SCSU accumulated 103.5 points in the latest ranking. Glennville State tallied 77 points to rank second and were followed by Wisconsin Parkside (75.5), Central Oklahoma (67), and Nebraska Kearney (65).

The Huskies hold 10 ranked wrestlers for the second straight poll after having nine in the preseason poll. SCSU is the only team in Division II to have a ranked wrestler at all 10 weight classes.

The individuals that are ranked for SCSU are as follows:

125 Pounds- No. 15 Conor Knopick (5-3 record (3-0 dual), four bonus point victories, 6^th place Wisconsin Open)
133 Pounds- No. 7 Sam Spencer (15-1 record (3-0 dual), nine bonus point victories, 1^st place Yellowjacket and Luther College Open, 3^rd place Wisconsin Open)
141 Pounds- No. 6 Alyeus Craig (11-2 record (2-0 dual), eight bonus point victories, 3^rd place Luther College Open, 4^th place Wisconsin Open)
149 Pounds- No. 1 Colby Njos (3-0 record (3-0 dual), three bonus point victories)
157 Pounds- No. 5 Joel Jesuroga (8-0 record (3-0 dual), five bonus point victories, 1^st place Luther College Open)
165 Pounds- No. 2 Nick Novak (11-1 record (3-0 dual), eight bonus point victories, 1^st place Wisconsin Open, 2^nd place Luther College Open)
174 Pounds- No. 5 Bryce Dagel (10-2 record (3-0 dual) five bonus point victories, 6^th place Luther College Open, 1^st place Wisconsin Open)
184 Pounds- No. 10 Bryce FitzPatrick (8-3 record (1-0 dual), four bonus point victories, 1^st place Luther College Open, 6^th place Wisconsin Open)
197 Pounds- No. 4 Dominic Murphy (10-0 record (3-0 dual), eight bonus point victories, 1^st place Luther College Open and Wisconsin Open)
285 Pounds- No. 2 La'Ron Parks (13-0 record (2-0 dual), five bonus point victories, 1^st place Yellowjacket Open, Luther College Open, and Wisconsin Open)

Rankings released 12/23/24

Last Time Out
St. Cloud State took to the mat last Saturday as they faced off against Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn. Deploying their full arsenal of 10 ranked wrestlers, the entire Huskies lineup came away with a bonus point victory in the rout. Starting at 125, No. 15 Conor Knopick got the party started with a 19-1 tech fall victory. No. 7 Sam Spencer and No. 6 Alyeus Craig followed Knopick as they each captured tech falls victories of their own as St. Cloud State burst out of the gates with a 15-0 lead. The newly touted No. 1 ranked wrestler at 149 Colby Njos tallied a 14-3 major decision against Jacob Messner to extend the Huskies lead to 19-0. No. 5 Joel Jesuroga and No. 2 Nick Novak wanted part of the tech fall action at 157 and 165 respectively as they each added five points to the scoreboard, putting SCSU up 29-0. No. 5 Bryce Dagel came away with a major decision at 174 in his bout against Noah Jensen. At 184, No. 10 Bryce FitzPatrick made his dual debut and came with a first period fall at the 2:01 mark. No. 4 Dominic Murphy and No. 2 La'Ron Parks closed out the dual with two tech fall victories as St. Cloud State erupted for 49 points in the sweep against Southwest Minnesota State.

No. 1 St. Cloud State 49, Southwest Minnesota State 0
125- No. 15 Conor Knopick TF Carlo Arreola, 19-1 6:35
133- No. 7 Sam Spencer TF Adam Polansky, 17-1 4:16
141- No. 6 Alyeus Craig TF Chase Murphy 18-0 2:50
149- No. 1 Colby Njos MD Jacob Messner, 14-3
157- No. 5 Joel Jesuroga TF Cade Lieman, 17-2 4:17
165- No. 2 Nick Novak TF Caden Young 17-1 6:16
174- No. 5 Bryce Dagel MD Noah Jensen, 14-3
184- No. 10 Bryce FitzPatrick fall Adam Sylvester, 2:01
197- No. 4 Dominic Murphy TF Kody Marschner, 23-6 6:22
285- No. 2 La'Ron Parks TF Evan Thompson, 18-2, 6:45
Extra 125- Dominic Ducato fall Preston Xayachak 2:42
Extra 133- Caleb Meekins dec Chase Hanson, 10-4

The Field
The NWCA National Duals will feature 16 teams with 15 of those teams ranked in the top 25 of the latest NWCA rankings poll. Of those 15 teams, nine of those teams land in the top 10 of the poll which includes St. Cloud State, Glennville State, UW-Parkside, Central Oklahoma, Nebraska-Kearney, McKendree, Augustana, Tiffin, and West Liberty.

The bracket also seeds the top eight teams, the Huskies took the top seed in the tournament. Teams two through eight are seeded as follows; Central Oklahoma, Nebraska-Kearney, Glenville State, McKendree, Augustana, UW-Parkside, and Tiffin.

The full bracket can be found here.

NWCA National Duals History
St. Cloud State will be looking to capture their eighth title at the National Duals. The most recent title came in 2023 after SCSU defeated Mercyhurst, Upper Iowa, UMary, and Central Oklahoma. The other titles for the Huskies came in 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. The Huskies have had a dominant stretch at the NWCA National Duals as they have accumulated 13 consecutive top three finishes.

At last year's National Duals, St. Cloud State opened the event by defeated RV Newberry and #15 UMary to advance to the semifinals. The Huskies then faced-off against the eventual National Duals Champion and NCAA National Champion Central Oklahoma who defeated SCSU 24-10. St. Cloud State secured third place with a 24-16 victory over Lander.

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

No. 1 Central Oklahoma 24, No. 6 St. Cloud State 10
Jan. 6, 2024 | UNI-Dome | Cedar Falls, Iowa
125: Conor Knopick (SCSU) MD Garrett Steidley (UCO), 11-3
133: Sam Spencer (SCSU) SV-1 Shaun Muse (UCO), 5-2
141: No. 2 Dylan Lucas (UCO) dec. No. 12 Alyeus Craig (SCSU), 5-0
149: Dylan Brown (UCO) dec. Nolan Throne (SCSU), 8-0
157: No. 1 Nick Novak (SCSU) dec. No. 4 Gabe Johnson (UCO), 4-1
165: No. 12 Hunter Jump (UCO) SV-1 No. 7 Anthony Herrera (SCSU), 13-6
174: No. 12 Anthony Desvigne (UCO) MD Bryce Dagel (SCSU), 15-4
184: No. 3 Garrett Wells (UCO) dec. No. 11 Bryce FitzPatrick (SCSU), 7-0
197: No. 1 Dalton Abney (UCO) dec. No. 3 Dominic Murphy (SCSU), 5-2
HWT: No. 8 Braedon Morgan (UCO) MD Elijah Novak (SCSU), 12-2

No. 6 St. Cloud State 24, No. 3 Lander 16
Jan. 6, 2024 | UNI-Dome | Cedar Falls, Iowa
125: No. 2 James Joplin (LAND) SV-1 Conor Knopick (SCSU), 7-4
133: Caleb Meekins (SCSU) TF Kaden Kuenzi (LAND), 15-0 (7:00)
141: No. 9 Isham Peace (LAND) dec. No. 12 Alyeus Craig (SCSU), 8-2
149: No. 8 Colby Njos (SCSU) Fall Junior Downing (LAND), 0:57
157: No. 1 Nick Novak (SCSU) dec. Jack Tangen (LAND), 3-0
165: No. 1 David Hunsberger (LAND) dec. No. 7 Anthony Herrera (SCSU), 5-3
174: Bryce Dagel (SCSU) MD Ryan Dobbs (LAND), 11-3
184: No. 11 Bryce FitzPatrick (SCSU) Fall Jack Bond (LAND), 2:57
197: No. 10 Anthony Yacovetti (LAND) dec. No. 3 Dominic Murphy (SCSU), 8-6
HWT: No. 4 Juan Edmond-Holmes (LAND) MD Donnie Hidden (SCSU), 15-5

Scouting King
The King University Tornados come into this dual as the lone team that is not ranked out of the field of 16. King currently holds a 5-2 record with a 4-1 record in conference play.

The Tornados do not hold any ranked wrestlers in the NWCA poll, but in the Open Mat poll, King has two ranked wrestlers in Trent Mahoney (#18 at 165) and Clint Morrisette (#13 at 174). Mahoney is 16-3 on the year with 11 bonus point victories. He is also 0-1 against ranked opponents as he was defeated 8-2 against #9 Guy Deleonardis of Glenville State. Morrisette has accumulated a 16-2 record with 11 bonus point wins as well. He has not wrestled a ranked opponent yet this season.

Head Coach Blaze Shade enters his second season with the Tornados in the 2024-25 season. Shade's inaugural season saw King tally a 9-7 record. The team placed eight wrestlers at Super Region II while qualifying two for the NCAA Tournament. Prior to King, Shade was the Head Coach at Bluefield State University and was the first coach in program history.

Round 2
In round 2 of the tournament, St. Cloud State will wrestle the winner or loser of the dual between #9 Tiffin and #25 Maryville. That dual will take place at 12:00 p.m.

Tiffin holds six ranked wrestlers in Anthony Aniciete (#6 at 125), Max Shore (#4 at 133), Casey Barnett (#14 at 157), Nolan Gessler (#3 at 165), Jakob Hurley (#15 at 174), and Lucas Salmon (#11 at 197).

Maryville has two ranked wrestlers in Cole Ritter (#11 at 174) and Ryan Herman (#2 at 285).

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