James Pleski

St. Cloud State’s Pleski named NSIC Wrestler of the Week

St. Cloud State University senior James Pleski, a resident of Stacy, Minn. and graduate of Forest Lake High School, has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wrestler of the Week for the week of Jan. 6-12.

Pleski charted a perfect 4-0 record as SCSU won its fourth consecutive NWCA DII National Duals title on Jan. 10-11 in Louisville, Kentucky. He opened the tournament with a 4-3 win over Maryville’s Tyler Stegall at 149 pounds and then carded a 3-2 victory over No. 5 ranked Chris Donathan of Tiffin in the second match on Jan. 10.

On Jan. 11, Pleski added a key 3-1 overtime win over Central Oklahoma’s Zach Moore at 149 and then finished his perfect tourney run with a critical 6-4 overtime win over #12 Juwan Edmond of McKendree in the championship dual on Jan. 11. The points posted by Pleski were needed as the Huskies narrowly defeated #5 McKendree 17-16 in the title bout.

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Pleski named the NSIC Wrestler of the Week

St. Cloud State University redshirt junior James Pleski (Stacy, Minn./Forest Lake H.S.) has been selected as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wrestler of the Week for Nov. Nov. 26-Dec. 2. Pleski was a leading force in the #1 Huskies (6-0, 1-0 NSIC) perfect 5-0 record over the last week, which included four wins at the Newberry Duals tournament and an NSIC season-opening win over Southwest Minnesota State.

Pleski posted a perfect 5-0 record in action at 149-pounds for the Huskies. The NCAA DII runner-up at 149-pounds last year, Pleski opened the week with a 5:51 fall against Jordan Biehn of SMSU on Nov. 29 in Marshall, Minn.

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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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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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St. Cloud State’s James Pleski named NSIC Wrestler of the Week

St. Cloud State University sophomore James Pleski (Stacy, Minn./Forest Lake H.S.) has been selected as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wrestler of the Week for the week of Jan. 1-7.

The nation’s fifth-ranked wrestler in the NCAA Division II ranks at 149-pounds this season, Pleski helped lead the No. 1 Huskies to a first-place finish at the 2018 NWCA DII National Duals in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Jan. 4-5.

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