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Huskies Look to Best Successful 07-08 Season

December 1, 2008

Typically after losing 19 straight duals over three seasons, a team isn’t supposed to win 13 the next year. Normally a team that sends just three individuals to Nationals in four years doesn’t send seven the very next season. Some might say it’s unheard of to witness a team that has placed no better than 30th at the NCAA Tournament in its last four seasons, sport a 12th place finish. The 2007-08 edition of St. Cloud State Wrestling did it all with class and a flair for the dramatic, as the Huskies shoot for bigger and better things in 2008-09.

“I am very excited to start the season,” said Head Coach Steve Costanzo. “We have had great preparation this past summer and pre-season from our young men. I expect a lot from this team both on and off the mat. The attitude and mind set is what will determine the success of the season for this team,” Costanzo added.


All-American Brad Padgett

2007-08 produced a plethora of highlights, headlined by the most dual wins since the 1972-73 season. SCSU started off the dual portion of its schedule with eight straight wins, marking the longest such streak since the 1980-81 season when that squad finished 12-2. Among the wins came two dominating performances against Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Southwest Minnesota. On Jan. 11 the Huskies took a bite out of the BluGolds 42-0, recording the first shutout of an opponent since 1984. Three weeks later, the feat was duplicated as SCSU blanked SMSU 50-0. The 50-pont margin of victory was the largest in the history of Husky Wrestling.

2008-09 St. Cloud State University Preview

125-Pounds
With last year’s starter in Westy Hanson (Jr. / Crookston) moving up to 133, it appears to be a two-man battle at 125 as Pat LeVasseur (FY / Buffalo Lake) and Dana College transfer Aaron Wilcox (So. / Pittsgrove, N.J.) are slated to duke it out. Wilcox went 17-4 last season at Dana, winning 13 of those matches by fall. LeVasseur ended his high school career with a 133-22 record, highlighted by a state championship and four places at the state tournament.

133-Pounds
133 lbs. is one of two, seven-deep weight classes for the Huskies, as national qualifier Josh Williams (Sr. / Banks, Ore.) returns to defend his starting spot. Williams posted 20 wins and was runner-up at the regional tournament. Last year’s 125-pound starter Westy Hanson will move up to provide a stiff challenge for Williams. Hanson was one win away from a berth at the Division II championships at 125 lbs. last season. Another veteran presence in Nick Wasche (Sr. / Cedar) will reside here, as he went 19-10 last season, and has 38 wins on his career. Adam Helgeson (RS-Fr. / Sauk Centre) and Brandon McVey (RS-Fr. / Mound) return and will vie for time after their red-shirt seasons. Two first year wrestlers make up the remainder of the wrestlers as Luke Mathe (Plover, Wis.) and Chad Schultz (Mauston, Wis.) will vie for mat time.

141-Pounds
141 will also feature seven wrestlers as Gabe Suarez (Las Vegas), returns looking for a repeat appearance at the NCAA II National Championships. Suarez went 32-6 and was a perfect 15-0 in duals, tied for the best mark in Husky history. He would go on to place second at the North Central Regional before bowing out of the NCAAs with an 0-2 mark. Suarez certainly won’t be lonely as Matt Jackson (Sr. / Oakdale), Jon Schiewe (RS-Fr. / Chicago, Ill.) and Jake Horn (RS-Fr. / Ephrata, Wash.) all return from last year. Transfer Ross Lefebvre (So. / Otsego) will provide depth and experience after a year at Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The two first years in the mix are Jacob Bowland (Foley), who won 177 HS matches and placed four times at state, and Matt Piersak (Shoreview), a 67-match winner and two-time state qualifier his last two high school seasons.

149-Pounds
The Huskies will feature yet another 20-match winner at the 149 slot with sophomore Chad Kubasch (New Germany). Kubasch posted an 8-5 mark in duals and was one of two wrestlers to finish one win away from a trip to Cedar Rapids for the national tournament. Like most of the weights, there will be plenty of competition as three other returnees and two newcomers will vie for time. Three red-shirt freshmen and one red-shirt junior make up the 149-pound vets, as they wrestled unattached last season, combining for a 25-12 record. Jacob Roberts (Jordan) led the red-shirt crew by recording a 14-7 mark while Joe Andersen (Bemidji) put up a 7-1 record. Jake Tabbert (Inver Grove Heights) went 4-4 in limited action as well. The two first years on the scene include Jacob Cardenas (Bellevue, Neb.), who recorded 102 falls out of his 131 high school victories, and Alex Kontz (Canby), who won 166 matches during his prep tenure.

157-Pounds
Sophomore John Sundgren starts the season as the top candidate to head the 157-pound corps. The Blaine native was an All-American last season with an eighth place finish at nationals and a third place finish at the North Central Regions. Sundgren was equally impressive in the classroom as he garnered NCC and NWCA All-Academic awards. Joining Sundgren at 157 will be two first years in Josh Joriman (Lino Lakes) and Cameron Jurgenson (Boyd). Joriman was a state placer his senior season, while Jurgenson accomplished that feat twice while putting up 155 career wins. Fifth-year junior Adam Minette returns to the Huskies after a year overseas with the United States National Guard. In 2005 and 2007 Minette was one win away from an NCAA berth, as he fell in the true-fourth place match both seasons.

165-Pounds
After the graduation of Tom Anderson last year, the heir apparent looks to be red-shirt freshman Tad Merritt (Canby) who was the Husky Red-Shirt Wrestler of the Year for 2008. Merritt put up a 23-3 mark wrestling unattached, including three individual titles at the Cobber, Dragon and Worthington Opens. Another returnee in red-shirt junior Justin Jones (Onamia) will be pushing for time here, and two freshman in red-shirt Mitch Altermatt (Wabasso) and first year Shamus O’Grady (Coon Rapids) are slated for 165 as well. Altermatt is a transfer from South Dakota State and O’Grady comes to the Granite City after one state championship and one runner-up in high school. O’Grady will also compete on the SCSU Cross Country team.

174-Pounds
Despite the youth, the 174-pounders have already seen some great success on the mat. Sophomore Derek Skala (Owatonna) returns after qualifying for his first NCAA Division II tournament. Skala won 30 matches and finished fourth at the North Central Regional for SCSU. Red-shirt freshman Lucas Munkelwitz (Forest Lake) showed loads of promise after going 16-6 wrestling unattached last season, while two first year competitors will attempt to gain minutes on the mat. Ryan Dougherty (Stoughton, Wis.) leads off that group, as he is coming off 156 wins and two places at the state tourney, and Calvin Ferguson (Jackson) was a part of the 2008 state champ Jackson County Central

184-Pounds
All-American Brad Padgett (Sr. / Buckley, Wash.) returns at 184 for the Huskies. Padgett was the Huskies top finisher last season with a fourth place mark at the NCAA Tournament and 35 wins on the season. Two other wrestlers will occupy this class, as junior Adam Hill (Sauk Rapids) returns after a red-shirt season and Josh Conrath (FY / Waseca) will try to break the veteran hold here, as he is coming off a 33-win season his senior campaign at Waseca High.

197-Pounds
Two-time NCAA participant Nick Wilkes is gone, and with the departure the competition for the 197 slot is set to be fierce. Sophomore Erik Rogness (Buffalo) is the elder statesman of this weight, as he enters his third season as a member of the 197-pound crew. Ted Saatzer (RS-Jr. / Jordan) posted five wins wrestling unattached last season and junior transfer Brad Salveson (Maple Lake) comes in from Ridgewater CC after an NJCAA Academic All-America nod in 2007. First year Nick Olson (Maplewood) will look to ride the momentum from a state runner-up finish this past spring.

Heavyweight
The 285-pound class features two returnees and one newcomer to the fold. Sophomore Bobby Ross (St. Peter) will make the jump from 197 lbs. after going 2-10 last season. Logan Atkins (Magnolia, Ohio) also returns after a red-shirt season in which he went 1-4. Sophomore Jason Terres is also back in 2008-09. Joel Godfredson (Armstrong, Iowa) will join the Husky Wrestling family for the first season after spending the past two seasons with the SCSU Football squad. He qualified for the Iowa State Tournament after winning the conference, district and sectional championships in high school.

TEAM NOTES: 2008 SCSU national qualifiers Nick Wilkes and Tom Anderson will both serve as assistant coaches for the Huskies in 2008-09. They will join second year assistant coach Matt Lowers, third season volunteer assistant Jeremy Lang and first year graduate assistant coach Chris Heilman on Coach Constanzo’s staff this winter...SCSU will host the annual Husky Open on Dec. 13. This tournament features some of the nation’s top collegiate wrestlers, and the action will start in Halenbeck Hall at 9 a.m...SCSU has been invited to participate in the Division II National Duals on Jan. 10-11, in Cedar Falls, Iowa...the Huskies will venture west on Jan. 4, for a date at the Menlo College Invitational in Atherton, Calif.