On the eve of the 2019 NCAA Division II wrestling championships, KSTP TV Sports featured a segment on the #1 ranked St. Cloud State University wrestling team (20-0, 8-0 NSIC).
The Huskies open defense of their NCAA DII title on March 8-9 in Cleveland, Ohio at the 2019 NCAA DII championships. SCSU will be sending nine wrestlers to this years’ championships, which is the most of any team in all of Division II wrestling this season. The contingent of SCSU wrestlers headed to nationals this year includes Brett Velasquez (125), Garrett Vos (133), Travis Swanson (141), James Pleski (149), Jake Barzowski (157), Devin FitzPatrick (165), Kolton Eischens (174), Chance Helmick (184) and Vince Dietz (197).
Velasquez is a four-time national qualifier three-time All-American, while Pleski is a three-time qualifier and the runner-up at 149 pounds in 2018. Vince Dietz will be returning to the nationals after finishing second place in 2018 and Devin FitzPatrick, Chance Helmick and Kolton Eischens are also two-time NCAA qualifiers.
SCSU was won eight consecutive NSIC titles and has won NCAA DII championships in 2015, 2016 and 2018 under the leadership of head coach Steve Costanzo. In 2018-19, the Huskies won the NSIC title, the NWCA DII National Duals title and the 2019 NCAA DII Super V Region crowd.
Fans can follow the NCAA Championships at the link below:
KVSC Sports Stream Coverage with John O. Peterson
TrackWrestling VIdeo/Stats
Tournament Brackets
Check out the KSTP story below.
Check out Huskies Wrestling at scsuhuskies.com and on Twitter and Facebook.
