Steve Costanzo

St. Cloud State’s Steve Costanzo named NWCA DII Coach of the Year

The National Wrestling Coaches Association has selected St. Cloud State University’s Steve Costanzo as the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year Award winner for 2019-20.

Presented annually, this honor goes to a coach who has demonstrated outstanding effort in developing and elevating their program on campus and in the community. The coach of the year awards program is presented by Defense Soap, the official Hygiene partner of the NWCA.

This award was scheduled to be presented at the NWCA 2020 Jim Koch Division II Hall of Fame Banquet on the eve of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. Unfortunately, the event was canceled along with the Division II Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continue readingSt. Cloud State’s Steve Costanzo named NWCA DII Coach of the Year

SCSU Coach Steve Costanzo to enter Dana College Hall of Fame

St. Cloud State University wrestling coach Steve Costanzo will be inducted into the Dana College Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 5.

In 2006, Costanzo led Dana College (Neb.) to the NAIA National Championship (with a tourney record 193 points) and an NWCA National Duals Championship. His squads while at Dana College won Great Plains Athletic Conference titles in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In addition, his teams claimed Regional Championships in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006. The Vikings finished with top 10 finishes at the NAIA National Championships in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Continue readingSCSU Coach Steve Costanzo to enter Dana College Hall of Fame

How To Maintain Proper Hygiene

Tom Kuisle has watched a lot of wrestling matches in his 44-year career as an official.

Kuisle, who also coached high school wrestling for 35 years and is the current Mat Officials Director for Minnesota USA Wrestling, knows teams and traditions well. He’s officiated some of the top tournaments, dual meets, and individual matches for years.

When he heads to a tournament, enters the gym or gets on the mat, there are other patterns he sees too.

Some much more serious. Continue reading at www.teamusa.org

Listen to episode one of the Black and Red Edge SCSU Wrestling Podcast

On the first episode of the Black and Red Edge Podcast, John Peterson sits down with St. Cloud State University head wrestling coach Steve Costanzo and assistant head wrestling coach Brady Wilson to discuss what it takes to be a collegiate wrestling coach. They also talk about the recruiting process, collaborating as a coaching staff and what it takes to be an overall great team. Listen at scsuhuskies.com

Guillotine Grapevine Podcast: St. Cloud State head coach Steve Costanzo

St. Cloud State captured its third NCAA Division II wrestling championship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 8-9. On the latest episode of The Guillotine Grapevine, Huskies head wrestling coach Steve Costanzo joins the program to talk about his team’s rise to prominence in Division II and what went into the third championship in four years for St. Cloud State.

The Huskies had six All-Americans and return eight of its 10 qualifiers from 2018. What’s been the philosophy for Costanzo in his team’s titles and the 130 wins in the last 135 duals?

SUBSCRIBE TO THE GUILLOTINE GRAPEVINE
Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spreaker | Google Play Music | RSS

Continue readingGuillotine Grapevine Podcast: St. Cloud State head coach Steve Costanzo

GG13: Steve Costanzo, head coach of the back-to-back National Champion St. Cloud State Huskies

scsu-13St. Cloud State captured its second straight NCAA Division II Wrestling Championship last month in Sioux Falls, S.D. On Episode 13 of The Guillotine Grapevine, we’ll talk with St. Cloud State head wrestling coach Steve Costanzo about the performance.

St. Cloud State brought seven wrestlers to Sioux Falls and all seven placed, giving the Huskies an eight-point gap over second-place Notre Dame College. Brett Velasquez emerged as the lone individual champion, but the story there is much more than meets the eye. Velasquez had to beat returning Division II champion Tim Prescott in a wrestle-off twice just to earn the starting spot prior to the regional championship.

We’ll go weight-by-weight and also talk about the impact of St. Cloud State dropping six sports and limiting roster sizes will have on the wrestling program.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE GUILLOTINE GRAPEVINE
iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | Soundcloud | RSS

Continue readingGG13: Steve Costanzo, head coach of the back-to-back National Champion St. Cloud State Huskies