Brett Velasquez

St. Cloud State’s Velasquez receives NCAA postgraduate scholarship

St. Cloud State University’s Brett Velasquez, who finished his collegiate wrestling career in 2018-19, was recently awarded a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. He was one of just 21 NCAA men student-athletes to receive the award for winter sports in 2019.

The NCAA awards up to 126 postgraduate scholarships annually. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.

The one-time non-renewable scholarships of $10,000 are awarded three times a year corresponding to each sport season (fall, winter and spring). Each sports season there are 21 scholarships available for men and 21 scholarships available for women for use in an accredited graduate program.

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SCSU’s Brett Velasquez named NSIC Wrestler of the Week

St. Cloud State University senior Brett Velasquez (Bennington, Neb.) has been selected as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wrestler of the Week for the week of Dec. 31 through Jan. 6.

The nation’s number one ranked NCAA Division II wrestler at 125-pounds, Velasquez chalked up a 4-0 record at the 2019 NWCA Division II National Duals on Jan. 4-5 in Louisville, Kentucky. Velasquez helped SCSU win the NWCA DII National Duals title for the third consecutive season and improved his season record to 11-0 for the #2 ranked Huskies.

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Huskies earn number one ranking in preseason DII national poll

The defending national champion St. Cloud State University wrestling team received the number one ranking in the NWCA Division II wrestling coaches preseason poll for the upcoming 2018-19 season.

The Huskies scored 92 points in the poll with eight individually ranked wrestlers, while Nebraska-Kearney was second in the poll with 69 points and five ranked wrestlers and Notre Dame of Ohio was third with 67 points and five ranked wrestlers. The top 10 was completed by McKendree (59 pts), Wheeling Jesuit (48 pts), Upper Iowa (45 pts.), Pitt-Johnstown (45 pts.), Minnesota State (43 pts.), Western Colorado (38 pts.) and Newberry (33 pts.).

Individually, the Huskies led all DII teams with eight ranked wrestlers led by #1 ranked James Pleski at 149-pounds and #1 ranked Vince Dietz at 197-pounds. A junior, Pleski is a two-time All-American and finished second at 149-pounds for the Huskies in 2018. A senior, Dietz earned All-America notice for the Huskies after placing second at 197-pounds for SCSU in 2018 at the NCAA DII championships.

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Huskies’ Velasquez and Phillips Travel to Central Asia with “Athletes In Action”

ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN – St. Cloud State University wrestlers, Brett Velasquez and Lawrence Phillips, traveled to Central Asia this past summer representing and competing for the United States.

The trip was organized by “Athletes in Action”. Athletes in Action is a sports organization based in Xenia, Ohio in the United States. It was founded in 1966 by Dave Hannah. It is the sports ministry of Cru Ministries, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ.

Huskies wrestling volunteer coach, John Peterson, facilitated the event and coached Team U.S.A. Peterson earned an Olympic gold medal in the 180.5 pound freestyle class of wrestling in competition at Montreal in July 1976 and previously captured a silver medal at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Peterson has been volunteering for Huskies wrestling program since 2008. Continue reading at scsuhuskies.com

Lizak, Ream, Velasquez, Bennyhoff, and Gliva named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team

Five area wrestlers were named to the 2017-18 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Men’s At-Large Team, selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the playing field and in the classroom.

Ethan Lizak of Minnesota, Clay Ream of North Dakota State, Brett Velasquez of St. Cloud State, Sam Bennyhoff of Augsburg, and Victor Gliva of Augsburg have been selected as First-team Academic All-District® honorees.

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St. Cloud State wrestling earns six All-NSIC honors

The St. Cloud State University wrestling team (19-0, 8-0 NSIC) placed a total of six athletes on the 2017-18 All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wrestling team.

This group of honored athletes includes first-team selections #4 Brett Velasquez at 125-pounds, #6 Jarred Oftedahl at 141-pounds, #1 James Pleski at 149-pounds and #4 Vince Dietz at 197-pounds.

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