SCSU's wrestling champion leads team to third-place finish

Nick Novak and the No. 5 St. Cloud State wrestling team have spent the past week accumulating accolades.

On March 16, five days after winning the DII championship at 157 pounds, the sophomore from New Prague was named the 2023 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wrestler of the Year. His team won bronze in the national tournament.

"Team-wise, to come away with a third-place trophy – we only brought six guys down here and got four All-Americans, a couple of national finalists and a national champion,” coach Steve Costanzo said. “It's definitely a team effort when you bring a trophy home. It's a reflection of not only the guys wrestling in this tournament but also a reflection of everyone involved in this program.”

At the national tournament March 10 and 11 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Novak and three of his teammates, 174-pounder Abner Romero, 197-pounder Dominic Murphy and 165-pounder Anthony Herrera, all finished in the top eight wrestlers at nationals in their weight class, qualifying for All-American status.

Romero was the 174-pound runner-up at nationals in his second time in the final. A redshirt senior, he transferred north this season from Lindenwood and ends his career with a 75-3 record, three All-American titles and a 2021 individual national championship.

Regularly in the thick of postseason team accomplishments, coach Steve Costanzo said this year “we’ve got some pretty special individuals in our program,” both on the mat and off.

The season started November 5 at Rochester Community and Technical College for the Yellow Jacket Open and included ranked team wins over No. 16 Western Colorado, No. 18 Mercyhurst, , No. 11 Mary, No. 1 Central Oklahoma, No. 9 Wisconsin-Parkside, No. 20 Northern State and Upper Iowa twice, when it was ranked No. 9 and No. 10.

On February 25 St. Cloud State won at the super region tournament as a team in Aberdeen, South Dakota, its seventh consecutive super region title and 10th under coach Steve Costanzo’s 17-year career.

Despite having only six athletes qualify for nationals, SCSU placed third overall, higher than six other teams which brought more qualifiers. The Huskies were bested by team winner No. 1 Central Oklahoma and runner-up No. 2 Lander. No. 23 Western Colorado, No. 8 Adams State, No. 4 West Liberty, No. 6 Indianapolis, No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney, No. 18 Glenville State and No. 11 Gannon rounded out the top 10 teams at the tournament. The National Wrestling Coaches Association has not updated its rankings to include the national meet.

Costanzo said the team knew it was sending quality, if not quantity, to the meet.

“Our region, out of the six regions in the country, had the most All-Americans at the NCAA tournament,” he said. “To only come out with six (wrestlers) -- we were hoping for all ten, but realistically maybe seven or eight – we came down with five regional champions and the sixth kid, he was a region champ last year.”

He said the team believes that “on any given day, any one of those other five guys could have won,” and that the expectations individually and for the team are just as high next year. SCSU had six All-American wrestlers in 2022.

Novak’s 9-2 decision win over Indianapolis’ Logan Bailey in the national tournament makes him the second Husky in three years to win an individual national wrestling championship -- Kameron Teacher earned the heavyweight title in 2021. Teacher was also named conference wrestler of the year that season.

Novak finished 27-0 individually this season defeating five ranked opponents, including three straight ranked wins over No. 2 Gabe Johnson, No. 12 Ben Durocher and No. 10 Miles Fitzgerald in early January.

Because of his character and hard work ethic, Costanzo said he is not surprised Novak came home with his second title.

Novak said he was a lot more confident in his skills with a year of experience under his belt.

“Through the offseason, I definitely did gain confidence because I knew I was working hard, and I feel like a lot of people aren't working as hard over the summer,” he said. “Then as I started just winning matches and feeling more confident in my abilities and just sharpening up as the year goes on, I’d say that was definitely a factor as well.”

Murphy, a redshirt junior took fourth in the tournament and Herrera, a redshirt senior wrapped up his college career with a seventh-place finish.

Redshirt senior Joey Bianchini and redshirt junior Caleb Meekins both qualified individually for the national championship tournament at 149 pounds and 133 pounds, respectively. They contributed team points but did not earn a spot on the podium.

“We're proud of our guys for the way they competed and the way that they represent the team,” Costanzo said. “When you bring home a team trophy, that says something about your program year after year.”

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: SCSU wins third at nationals