One-on-One with Steve Costanzo

Steve Costanzo is a program changer. His college head coaching career began in 1999 at Dana College, where he built the program into an NAIA national wrestling power. After leading Dana to top 10 finishes at the NAIA Championships in 2004 and 2005, Costanzo delivered a national championship to Dana in 2006. He then took over a struggling St. Cloud State wrestling program that had gone 2-36 in dual meets over the previous four seasons. Since taking over at St. Cloud State in 2006, he has continued to improve the program every season. He has taken the program from 32nd at the NCAA Division II Championships in his first season, to 12th in his second season, to eighth in his third season, to seventh last season. The Huskies have been ranked in the top five all of this season and finished third at the 2011 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals.

InterMat caught up with Costanzo and talked to him about winning a national championship at Dana, coaching against Mike Denney, building St. Cloud State's program, Notre Dame's move to Division II, and much more.

Steve Costanzo

You spent seven seasons as a head coach at Dana College prior to taking over at St. Cloud State in 2006. In your final season at Dana, you not only led the program to an NAIA national title, but you broke the all-time NAIA national tournament scoring record. What did that national title do for you as a coach?

Costanzo: I think it gave me confidence as an individual in the profession that I can help lead a team to a national championship. I think it also made me a little more marketable when looking for jobs. It was a great year, a great experience. I had a lot of help. I had a great coaching staff. Our administration was very much behind what we were doing at the time. We had a great group of alumni down there at the time that was very much engaged with our program. They had a lot to do with it as well. There were a lot of people behind the scenes that deserve the credit as well. We were just fortunate to put a good tournament together that weekend.

After that historic season, you left Dana to take over a struggling program at St. Cloud State in 2006. That move opened some eyes in the wrestling world at that time. What went into the decision to leave Dana for St. Cloud State?

Costanzo: There were a lot of things going on at Dana College at the time. I had a great relationship with Dana's athletic director at the time, Jim Krueger. He and I sat down and discussed the opportunity at St. Cloud State. He felt like St. Cloud State was a great opportunity for me. I felt like it was a pretty good time to start looking in a new direction. I always wanted to get back into Division II. I wrestled at Nebraska-Omaha, a Division II school. We were a part of that old North Central Conference. It was very appealing to me. I wrestled up here as an athlete. I thought this could be a very successful program. Minnesota is one of the top states in wrestling. I thought it was just a no-brainer. So I came up here, took a look at the job, had an opportunity to get an interview, and I was fortunate to get the job. I think it was a good move for me professionally. No regrets about it. I'm very happy with my decision.

When you took over at St. Cloud State, I imagine that you had goals for the program and a timetable for accomplishing those goals. You're now in your fifth season. Are you on track with where you thought you would be at this point?

Steve Costanzo (Photo/SCSU Sports Information)

Costanzo: Yeah. I always take things day to day, year to year. I really try not to look too far ahead on things and put a timetable on things. As long as we're continuing to get better year after year, that's really all I care about ... that we're showing progress and we're getting people on board, we're getting our alumni more engaged in the program, continuing to get top-level recruits to our school. That's really all I look at. Winning a national championship is always the goal. It's always the goal of mine to be the best. But the main thing right now is continuing to make progress. I think if we continue to make progress every year, we're going to be at the top. We're showing progress year after year. We have been consistent with that over the last five years. We'll see what happens this year, but things have continued to move forward year after year for us. I'm happy about that.

You wrestled under Mike Denney at Nebraska-Omaha. Now you're competing against him as a coach. What's that like?

Costanzo: It's just business. I have a great relationship with Coach Denney. He did a lot for me. He's another father-like figure for me ... all the things that he did for me as a person, as an athlete. He was just the right type of coach for me. I learned a lot from him. To this day as a coach, I use a lot of the same type of things that he does. They continue to be successful for him ... Now they're starting to be successful for us. But when you compete against him, it's just business. I don't look across the way and see Coach Denney as one of my father figures. I just look at him as another coach, another team that we want to have another great performance against. That's really it. There's nothing more to it.

Steve Costanzo (Photo/SCSU Sports Information)

You have served as a head coach in both the NAIA and Division II. What are the biggest differences in coaching at the NAIA level compared to coaching at the Division II level?

Costanzo: The biggest difference is compliance with all the NCAA rules. I've always had to ask a lot of questions to make sure we're doing the right things. As far as the two levels are concerned, they're both great levels. There are great NAIA wrestlers that could wrestle at any level, including at the Division I level. As far as Division II vs. NAIA, whether it's better or not better ... I think the organization might be a little bit better. It seems to be a little bit more organized. But NAIA is a great division. They're doing a great job. They continue to add programs year after year. That's showing something there ... when you have a division that continues to add wrestling programs. It says a lot about the work behind the scenes. As far as the levels go, both divisions are very good. A lot of those kids in NAIA could wrestle in any division.

Notre Dame College is ranked No. 1 in NAIA and will be moving to Division II with the start of the 2012-13 season. What are your thoughts on Notre Dame moving to Division II?

Costanzo: I think it's great for Division II to have another quality team like that moving up. I think they're going to find success immediately in Division II. They've dominated NAIA over the last few years. This year looks to be one of the strongest teams they've ever had. I think them moving up is just going to make Division II a lot tougher. You have to look out for Notre Dame. I think it's great for their program as well and what they're doing, winning national titles in NAIA. Now they're going to be in the mix for Division II titles. Good for their program, good for Division II wrestling.

Derek Sikora, a former Division III national champion, joined your coaching staff this season. What has he brought to the table?

Derek Sikora

Costanzo: He's a tireless worker. I try to outwork that guy, but he's a tireless worker. He does a lot of things behind the scenes. A lot of times I don't even know what he's doing, but he's always trying to make our program better in some way or another. He always tries to make my job easier, which I really appreciate. Things are just run really smoothly here. Things are organized. He's a very personable individual. He has a great sense of humor. I think our guys really like him. He's a hands-on type of guy, so he's another guy that gets on the mat and works hard with our kids and has developed great relationships with those guys. So bringing him in has just been a great move for us and things have worked out really well.

When you're recruiting student-athletes to St. Cloud State, what traits are you looking for?

Costanzo: Well, obviously everybody looks at the traits of being a successful wrestler on the mat with statistics and credentials. But really I'm looking for a combination of things. First and foremost, I look at their academics. If they don't have the academic accolades to go along with the accolades they have on the wrestling mat, then we won't go any further with them. But when you get to meet them and find out about their personalities they have ... Are they an individual that you feel like can fit well in the program with the current student-athletes? Also, I look at their character. What kind of character do they have? I feel like I'm a pretty good judge of character. So those are some of the basic traits I look for when recruiting a student-athlete.

Jake Kahnke, who started his collegiate wrestling career at Old Dominion, is the nation's No. 1-ranked Division II heavyweight and has positioned himself to challenge for a national title. The defending national champion, Elijah Madison, recently transferred from Nebraska-Omaha to Oklahoma. What's the difference in Kahnke's wrestling this season compared to last season?

Jake Kahnke

Costanzo: Well, last year was his first year wrestling heavyweight. He wrestled 197 his redshirt year at Old Dominion. He wrestled 215 in high school. So I think last year was kind of a learning curve for him as far as adjusting to that weight class. Now he has a lot more confidence and he knows the positions he needs to be in at that weight class. I think that's really the difference. He has a different mindset, I believe, as well. He has developed some confidence. He understands how to wrestle in that weight class. He stays in great position when he's competing. He's hard to take down. He's fast. He's super strong for that weight class. I think that has been the difference this year ... his mindset, confidence, ability to understand how to wrestle in that weight class. That's why he's 16-1 right now.

In addition to Kahnke, you have coached other student-athletes who have transferred from Division I programs … wrestlers like Willie Parks and Burke Barnes. Is it different coaching student-athletes who come from Division I as opposed to coaching kids who come directly into your program from high school?

Costanzo: I really don't think so. The training is very similar. I don't think it's any different at all. I think it's a huge advantage getting guys like that in the room. It not only helps take the program to another level, but it also takes the room to another level when you have wrestlers with that type of athleticism. But I don't think the training is any different with them. Wrestling is wrestling. I think we're doing a lot of things that a lot of quality Division I programs are doing to be successful. We just keep plugging along here and trying to get these guys to wrestle at a high level in Division II.

Steve Costanzo (Photo/SCSU Sports Information)

St. Cloud State entered the NWCA/Cliff Keen Nationals Duals as the No. 2 seed. You opened with two victories before losing to Augustana, 18-15, in the semifinals. What was the difference in that dual meet loss to Augustana?

Costanzo: Overtimes. We lost four overtime matches. In addition to that, there are seven minutes on the scoreboard. You can't wrestle for six minutes and fifty seconds. You can't wrestle for six minutes and fifty eight seconds. Regardless of whether we were dominating them for six minutes and fifty seconds, you have to wrestle seven minutes. That's what they did. They finished the matches. They wrestled in their positions and took us out of our positions. That was really the difference. When we got into those overtime situations, they attacked us. We kind of sat back. I don't know if we were thinking that things were going to work out in our favor if we were just patient. They attacked us and went after the win immediately ... and they got it. They got four overtime victories. I have to give those guys credit. We knew they were tough. But they're a super tough team. They're one of the teams to beat right now. They have a great shot to win a national championship.

Your coaching career has been marked by continued improvement every season. Now that you're in the top five, how much emphasis is put on winning a trophy or capturing the national title? Is it something you talk much about?

Costanzo: We have talked about it. There's no doubt. We have it in the back of our minds. But it's not something we blow out of proportion either. We just have to continue doing the little things right. Not putting such an emphasis on the winning part, but putting more of an emphasis on performing to the best of our ability. That's what I try to get these guys to believe ... Don't put a focus so much on the winning part. Put a focus on just going out and performing your best. If you do that, you don't have to worry about the wins and the trophies ... That stuff will come. Right now we're just focused on staying healthy and bringing our best performance to the mat match after match. That's all you need to focus on.

If there is one thing that you want people to know about what is happening with the St. Cloud State wrestling program right now, what would that be?

Costanzo: I think a lot of the reason why we have gotten to where we are so fast is because of our alumni engagement. When I got here five years ago, there was a rumor that St. Cloud State might be dropping its wrestling program. I kind of knew that going into it. But at the same time, I thought, 'How can they do that in Minnesota?' I just think the difference in our program right now, and maybe a lot of programs across the country right now, is just getting the alumni more engaged in the program. That's one of my goals as a coach ... just to continue to get more and more alumni on board. Our president is aware of that. Our athletic director is aware of that. They know the type of support we have received here. It's really hard to drop a program when you have that type of alumni support and backing ... and that's what we have here. It continues to get stronger and better year after year. I really give credit to our alumni. If it wasn't for those guys, we wouldn't be where we are right now. We had a core group of alumni when I got here. There were probably about four or five of them that were just consistently willing to help get this program to another level. From there, we just continued to get more and more alumni on board, friends, and family members. We have a lot of support behind the scenes right now. That is really helping us and giving us an advantage.

This story also appears in the Jan. 28 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. Subscribe to The Guillotine.

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