ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State, the nations top wrestling program, celebrated Military Appreciation night with a 30-10 dual win over cross-town rival St. John’s University in front of 897 fans at Halenbeck Hall Thursday night.
The Huskies remain a perfect 19-0 this season and have not lost a dual match since January 27th of last year with the win, while the Johnnies drop to 8-7 this season.
Junior heavyweight Jake Kahnke (Shakopee) flexed his No. 1 ranked muscles in the first match of the night, as he pinned his opponent in 2:16 to make it a quick 6-0. Kahnke is now 27-1 this season.
Sophomore Dylan Wright (Inver Grove Heights) kept things going with a pin of his own at the 6:38 mark in the 125-pound match to improve his record to 14-9 and push the lead to 12-0.
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wrestler of the Week Andy Pokorny (Bennington, Neb.) remained solid with a 5-3 win in the 141-pound class. He is now 15-4 on the season.
Freshman Jay Hildreth (Council Bluffs) made it a 19-0 match after recording a 10-0 major decision over his opponent. Hildreth is now one win from 20 on the season (19-10).
Then before intermission, redshirt freshman Josh Howk (Oak Grove, Missouri) posted an 18-1 technical fall in 3:56 in the 149-pound match to jump out to a 24-0 lead, which SJU could not come back from. Howk is now 22-12 overall this season.
The Huskies earned two more decisions on the night to take points in seven of 10 matches in the dual.
St. Cloud State will now have some time off before facing No. 3 ranked Upper Iowa University at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12 in Halenbeck. It is the last home dual match for SCSU this season.
No. 1 (DII) St. Cloud State 30, No. 8 (DIII) Saint John’s 10
285 Jake Kahnke, SCS, pinned John Scepaniak, SJM, 2:16
125 Dylan Wright, SCS, pinned Brian Waldron, SJM, 6:38
133 Andrew Pokorny, SCS, dec. Chad Henle, SJM, 5-3
141 Jay Hildreth, SCS, maj. dec. Alex Peck, SJM, 10-0
149 Josh Howk, SCS, tech. fall Joseph Hessing, SJM, 3:56 18-1
157 Chris Stevermer, SJM, maj. dec. Jacob R. Horn, SCS, 8-0
165 Nicholas Schuler, SJM, dec. Dan Dick, SCS, 10-6
174 Tad Merritt, SCS, dec. Mathew Pfarr, SJM, 12-5
184 Derek Skala, SCS, dec. Mitchell Hagen, SJM, 8-3
197 Dustin Baxter, SJM, dec. OT Michael Berg, SCS, 5-3