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    St. Cloud State finishes second to UNO in Division II

    KEARNEY, Neb. -- The St. Cloud State University wrestling team capped off a record-setting season with a second place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships, as Blaine native and senior John Sundgren turned out a stunning tournament to win the National Championship in the 157-pound division Saturday, March 12 at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Health and Sports Center.

    The second place finish (90.5 points) is the best in school history after the Huskies placed seventh in last season’s championships as head coach Steve Costanzo was named NCAA Coach of the Year in a unanimous decision.

    The wrestling squad is also just the second team in SCSU athletics history to finish second nationally in NCAA tournament. The 1983 SCSU men’s cross country team was the first second place finisher in a NCAA tournament.

    John Sundgren (16-3) shut out Dillion Bera (26-8) of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in a 4-0 decision in the championship round to claim the first SCSU wrestling national title since Gene Hanemann took the podium in 1995. Before Hanemann, the last Husky wrestler to win a title was Mike Rybak in 1967.

    "It was really big for our program, but more importanly it happended to a guy like John. He is a fifth year senior and there's nobody more deserving than him," said Costanzo of his national champ.

    In the final match of the tournament, sophomore Jake Kahnke (Shakopee) (28-2) lost a heartbreaking 4-3 championship match to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe Matthew Meuleners of Northern State. Meuleners recorded a takedown in the final minute of the third and held on to revenge two regular season losses to Kahnke.

    Costanzo was named NCAA Wrestling Coach of the Year after leading the Huskies to a runner-up finish in the national tournament and a school record 19 dual wins during the 2010-11 regular season.

    Costanzo has now coached 47 All-Americans and three national champions in his head coaching career. Sundgren was Costanzo’s first recruit at SCSU and is his first individual national champion.

    The University of Nebraska at Omaha won their third straight national title with 102.5 points in part to three individual national champships.

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