ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Third-ranked St. Cloud State (19-1, 8-0 NSIC) captured its third consecutive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship thanks to an impressive 28-6 victory against No. 6 Upper Iowa (14-2-1, 6-1 NSIC) on Alumni/Senior Day in SCSU's Halenbeck Hall.
This marks the first time in team history that the Huskies have captured three consecutive conference championships. In the Northern Intercollegiate Conference, SCSU won titles in 1963, 1974, 1975,1978 and 1979.
The Huskies have now posted three undefeated seasons in the always rugged NSIC and the last conference loss for the Huskies was an 18-13 setback against Augustana (S.D.) on Jan. 27, 2011. SCSU has now won 27 consecutive dual match victories in the NSIC.
In action against Upper Iowa, the Huskies quick made a statement with a 13-1 major decision victory by Tanner Johnshoy against UIU's Chris Paulus at 125. At 133, SCSU's No. 2 Andy Pokorny added extra points with an 18-3 tech fall win against Matt Paulus to make it 9-0.
At 141-pounds, SCSU's Mike Rhone continued the run with a 7-5 decision against UIU's Jordan Roths. The Peacock's broke the shutout at 149-pounds with a 4-2 win by No. 2 Edwin Cooper against SCSU's Jay Hildreth. In a tightly contested match, Cooper had to rely a late takedown to gain the win.
The Huskies got back on track quickly at 157-pounds as No. 6 Clint Poster posted a 6-2 decision against UIU's Zak Benitz. At 165-pounds, SCSU's Gabe Fogarty charted a strong 4-2 upset against No. 8 Dalton Westerlund to make the score 15-3.
At 174-pounds, SCSU's Clayton Jennissen chalked up a 10-1 major decision win against UIU's Trevor Duke to make it 22-3. SCSU continued to apply the pressure at 184-pounds as Dylon Braun carded a 4-2 victory against UIU's Brock Gobin.
In another closely contest bout, SCSU's Chris Brassell took No. 2 ranked Carl Broghammer to the limit before falling 3-1 at 197-pounds. To cap the day, SCSU's #3 Austin Goergen rolled to a 12-5 win at 285-pound against Upper Iowa's No. 6 Chris Hopp.
The match completed SCSU's dual match season. The Huskies will continue their 2013-14 season on Feb. 28 and March 1 with a trip to the 2014 NCAA Division II Super 3 Regional in Edmond, Okla. SCSU is the three-time defending regional champion and the Huskies have finished as the runner-up at the NCAA Division II championships in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
