Huskies Send Seven to NCAA Division II Championships
March 4, 2008
Huskies send seven to national tournament; Finish fourth in North Region:
In a season that has seen the emergence of St. Cloud State wrestling
as a national force, the Huskies continued to prove that they belong on
the country’s wrestling radar. The Huskies took fourth place at the
North Region Championships, qualifying seven individuals for the
national tourney in two weeks in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Josh Williams,
Gabe Suarez, John Sundgren, Tom Anderson, Derek Skala, Brad Padgett and
Nick Wilkes all finished in the top-four of their respective weight
classes to earn the trip to finals.
Padgett (Buckley, Wash.) led the Husky qualifiers as the squad’s lone
indvidual champion, as he took home the 184 lbs. championship. Padgett
avenged an early season loss to Augustana’s Beau Severtson by pinning
him in the semifinals before capturing the championship over Northern
State’s Cale Cornemann with an 11-4 decision.
Williams (Banks, Ore.) and Suarez (Las Vegas, Nev.) both finished
second at 133 lbs. and 141 lbs. respectively. Williams upset the No. 1
seed Kelly Janke with a pin in the semis to reach his finals, as Suarez
ran up against his old nemesis in Minnesota State’s Travis Elg. Suarez
and Elg each won a match over each other earlier in the season before
Elg took the rubber match with a 14-5 victory in the championship.
Sundgren (Blaine) and Wilkes (Onamia) took similar routes to
third-place finishes at 157 and 197lbs. The pair, both ranked third in
the tourney, both lost semi-final bouts to the second seed before
rebounding to win their next two matches to capture third place. For
Wilkes, it is his second straight trip to tournament, as he went 0-2 at
184 lbs. last season. Anderson (Belview) and Skala (Owatonna) rounded
out the qualifiers by finishing fourth at 165 and 174 lbs. The two both
won first round and quarterfinal bouts before falling in their
semi-final match. Both grapplers then went 1-1 in the wrestleback round
to claim their fourth-place spot. Anderson defeated two higher seeds in
his 3-2 day.
On Tap - NCAA Division II Championships:
SCSU will send its seven qualifers to the NCAA Division II National
Tournament March 14-15 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa. The seven grapplers qualifying is the most in the history of
Husky wrestling. The previous best was five individuals back in the
1983-84 season, when SCSU finished seventh in the team standings.
Head Coach Steve Costanzo:
Steve Costanzo enters his second season as head wrestling coach at
St. Cloud State. He is the 13th coach in the 58-year history of the
program and begins his ninth season overall as a head coach. He has an
overall record of 65-37-2 while coaching 75 National Qualifiers, 31
All-Americans and 2 National Champions at Dana College in Blair, Neb.
and here at SCSU.
In Costanzo’s first season, the Huskies finished with a 4-7 dual
record, qualifying Nick Wilkes for the Division II National
Championships. SCSU ranked 14th nationally with a 3.029 GPA as Tom
Messerli, Tom Anderson, Adam Hill and Matt Jackson were named to the
Division II All Academic Team Prior to coming to the Granite City,
Costanzo spent seven seasons at Dana College in Blair, Neb. where he
led the 2006 squad to NAIA tourney and dual national championships.
Costanzo’s teams improved their dual record every year he was with the
program, as he accumulated a 61-30-2 record. Costanzo’s success earned
him NWCA and NAIA Coach of the Year honors in 2006 along with Region
Coach of the Year honors in 2005 and 2006. Costanzo’s recruiting squads
while at Dana College, recognized by Wrestling USA Magazine, finished
15th in 2001, 4th in 2004 and 1st in 2005 for non-NCAA Division I
programs. Costanzo’s 2006 SCSU class recorded the tenth spot in that
same publication for non-NCAA Division I programs. This past summer,
Costanzo’s coaching staff was recognized by Intermat as having one of
the top NCAA Division II recruiting classes for 2007.