KENOSHA, Wis. -- No. 5 St. Cloud State Wrestling (12-1, 7-0 NSIC) completely dominated No. 4 Parkside (9-1, 7-1 NSIC) and moved into first place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) standings with a 27-6 win on Saturday afternoon in Kenosha, Wis. The Huskies won eight of 10 matches in the dual, including two of three bouts in ranked vs. ranked matches. Redshirt senior 133-pounder Caleb Meekins (Livonia, Mich.) and redshirt sophomore 141-pounder Alyeus Craig (Wichita, Kan.) provided the momentum SCSU needed to grab control of the dual with back-to-back upsets right before intermission.

With the win, SCSU now sits in sole possession of first place in the NSIC standings at 7-0, ahead of Parkside (7-1) and Augustana (6-1). The Huskies now have two regular season duals remaining as the hunt for their 12th NSIC regular season championship under head coach Steve Costanzo and 16th overall regular season conference title. SCSU is now 10-2-1 all-time against Parkside, avenging its 20-19 loss by criteria on Jan. 12, 2023, which snapped SCSU's 53-match home win streak and 88-match NSIC win streak.

The dual began at 197 pounds with redshirt senior Dominic Murphy (Evergreen, Ill.), as he started the Huskies off on the right foot with a 7-2 win over Chase Stegall. Sophomore Elijah Novak (Foley, Minn.) then avenged his loss to Lloyd Reynolds from a season ago with a 4-3 win to double SCSU's lead to 6-0.

Parkside earned a win at 125 pounds before the Husky tandem of Meekins and Craig came to the mat. First up, Meekins scored a takedown just seconds into his match against No. 6 Matthew Chi and controlled the majority of the match before catching Chi on his back near the end of the second period. Meekins was able to secure a pin at the 4:52 mark of the match and sent the SCSU bench into much excitement. Next, Craig squared up against No. 2 Cayden Henschel and did not back down. Craig's takedown in the third period gave him a 5-4 lead and he was able to hold on and fend off a reversal attempt from Henschel to secure the 5-4 win.

The back-to-back wins started a six-match win streak for the Huskies in the dual, as redshirt junior 149-pounder Colby Njos (Anoka, Minn.), redshirt junior 157-pounder Nick Novak (New Prague, Minn.), graduate 165-pounder Anthony Herrera (Stansbury Park, Utah) and freshman 174-pounder Cole Glazier (Kasson, Minn.) followed with decision victories to seal the match for the Huskies. Njos beat No. 12 Jalen Spuhler via 4-2 decision while Novak improved to 16-0 on the season with a 13-6 win over Ben Durcoher. In just his second dual of the season and first against a ranked opponent, Glazier notched a 5-1 win over No. 6 Brody Hemauer, arguably his best win of the season as he improves to 21-1 in his freshman campaign.

Results:
197: No. 4 Dominic Murphy (SCSU) dec. Chase Stegall (UWP), 7-2
HWT: Elijah Novak (SCSU) dec. Lloyd Reynolds (UWP), 4-3
125: No. 3 Shane Corrigan (UWP) SV-1 No. 7 Conor Knopick (SCSU), 6-3
133: Caleb Meekins (SCSU) Fall No. 6 Matthew Chi (UWP), 4:52
141: No. 12 Alyeus Craig (SCSU) dec. No. 2 Cayden Henschel (UWP), 5-4
149: No. 8 Colby Njos (SCSU) dec. No. 12 Jalen Spuhler (UWP), 4-2
157: No. 1 Nick Novak (SCSU) dec. Ben Durocher (UWP), 13-6
165: No. 10 Anthony Herrera (SCSU) dec. Brady Schuh (UWP), 8-1
174: Cole Glazier (SCSU) dec. No. 6 Brody Hemauer (UWP), 5-1
184: Reece Worachek (UWP) dec. No. 10 Bryce FitzPatrick (SCSU), 6-5
Exhibition 133: Elon Rodriguez (UWP)dec. Sam Spencer (SCSU), 13-9
Exhibition 174: Bryce Dagel (SCSU) MD Crosby Schlosser (UWP), 11-2

UP NEXT

SCSU will conclude regular season competition next weekend with a pair of NSIC duals. First, the Huskies will wrestle No. 14 Augustana in Sioux Falls on Friday, Feb. 16. Then, SCSU will close the regular season at home against No. 13 UMary on Sunday, Feb. 18. The Huskies will look to clinch an NSIC championship with a pair of victories.