St. Cloud State was selected to win the league in the NSIC Preseason Wrestling Coaches’ Poll. The Huskies had 64 points and all eight first-place votes (coaches cannot vote for their own team) to rank 11 points ahead of Upper Iowa, which was second with 53 points and received the other first-place vote.

Augustana and Minnesota State tied for third with 48 points while MSU Moorhead was fifth with 36 points. The Huskies have won six consecutive NSIC championships and have not lost a dual match in NSIC competition since Jan. 27, 2011.

St. Cloud State’s Brett Velasquez was voted by the league coaches as the preseason wrestler of the year. Velasquez was the 2016 national champion and finished third at nationals a year ago at 125-pounds. A resident of Bennington, Neb., Velasquez was ranked #2 at 125-pounds in the NCAA DII preseason poll for 2017-18. He is a two-time All-American and chalked up a 25-3 record for the Huskies in 2016-17. In two years at SCSU, Velasquez owns a 50-5 career record.

The six-time defending Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champions, SCSU placed second at the NCAA DII championships last year and also claimed first place finishes at the 2017 NCAA Division II Super 3 Regional and the 2017 NWCA Division II National Duals championships. SCSU was 17-1 in overall competiton and won the NSIC crown with an 8-0 record.

SCSU has charted a 47-0 dual meet record in NSIC competition over the past six seasons and they have not lost an NSIC dual match since a loss to Augustana on Jan. 27, 2011. Costanzo will begin his 12th season with the Huskies in 2017-18 and he currently owns a 169-28 overall record during his tenure in St. Cloud.

The Huskies will open their 2017-18 campaign on Nov. 2 by hosting the annual Black/Red Classic intrasquad meet at 7 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall. Of note, SCSU will also host the 2018 NCAA Division II Super 3 Regional meet at Halenbeck Hall on Feb. 23-24.

NSIC Preseason Wrestling Coaches’ Poll

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