St. Cloud State University

The Steve Costanzo Story

Steve Costanzo is in his third season as the Husky head wrestling coach.  He is the 13th coach in the history of the St. Cloud State University wrestling program, which dates back to 1949-50.    
 
Costanzo begins his 10th season overall as a head coach.  He has an overall record of 78-39-2 while coaching 82 National Qualifiers, 34 All-Americans and 2 National Champions.
 
Last season, Costanzo’s Huskies finished their campaign with a 13-2 mark.  This was most wins produced by the Huskies in a season since 1972-73. The Huskies also advanced seven wrestlers to the NCAA championships and they saw three of those grapplers earn All-America stats (Brad Padgett, Nick Wilkes and John Sundgren). At the NCAA Division II championships, SCSU placed 12th as a team and it was ranked among the nation's top 10 squads in the Division II polls in 2007-08. In his first year with the Huskies in 2006-07, Costanzo charted a 4-7 record. His career record at SCSU now stands at 17-9 overall.    

2008-09 will mark Costanzo's debut in the Northern Sun Intercollegate Conference.  
 
In 2006, Costanzo led Dana College to the NAIA National Championship (with a tourney record 193 points) and a NWCA National Duals Championships.  His squads while at Dana College won Great Plains Athletic Conference titles in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and they won Regional Championships in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006.  The Vikings finished with top 10 finishes at the NAIA National Championships in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
 
Costanzo’s recruiting squads while at Dana College, recognized by Wrestling USA Magazine, finished 15th in 2001, 4th in 2004 and 1st in 2005 for non-NCAA Division I programs.  Costanzo’s 2006 SCSU class recorded the tenth spot in that same publication for non-NCAA Division I programs.  This past summer, Costanzo’s coaching staff was recognized by Intermat as having one of the top NCAA Division II recruiting classes for 2007.
 
Costanzo received the NWCA and NAIA Coach of the Year awards in 2006, and gained NAIA Regional Coach of the Year accolades in 2005 and 2006.  In 2005, Costanzo served as the NWCA All-Star team coach at Oklahoma State University.  In addition, he was credited with the 2003 NAIA Robert Bubb Coaching Excellence award which epitomizes the qualities and characteristics of a role model and mentor for developing young student-athletes.
 
A 1996 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Costanzo was a three-time All-American wrestler for the Mavericks from 1993-1995.  He was inducted into the Nebraska Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006 and still ranks as high as fifth on UNO’s all-time wrestling win list with 133 victories as a collegiate wrestler.  In 1994 and 1995, Costanzo earned NCC champion honors and he served as a team captain at UNO in 1995.  Costanzo was also named the Nebraska Collegiate Wrestler of the Year in 1994.
 
Costanzo earned his Bachelor’s degree in physical Education from UNO in 1996.  He is currently pursuing his Masters Degree through Emporia State University studying physical education. He and his wife Nancy have four children: Cassandra, Sam, Katie and Brock.

The Costanzo File

To reach Coach Costanzo, please call 320-308-2996 or e-mail him at sscostanzo@stcloudstate.edu.

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