St. Cloud State University

The Steve Costanzo Story

Steve Costanzo is in his fourth 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 11th season overall as a college head coach.  He has a career record of 86-44-2 while coaching 90 National Qualifiers, 37 All-Americans, 2 National Champions and 28 NWCA All-Academic recipients.  His overall record at SCSU currently stands at 25-14

Last season, Costanzo’s Huskies finished their campaign with an 8-5 (5-2 NSIC) mark.  The Huskies also advanced eight wrestlers to the NCAA Division II Championships and they saw three of those wrestlers earn All-American status (Tad Merritt, Brad Padgett and Derek Skala).  At the 2009 NCAA Division II Championships, SCSU placed 8th as a team.  Their national finish was the Huskies best team finish since the 1986 campaign when they also finished eighth in the country.

In 2006, Costanzo led Dana College to the NAIA National Championship (with a tourney record 193 points) and a NWCA National Duals Championship.  His squads while at Dana College won Great Plains Athletic Conference titles in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.  In addition, his teams claimed 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 student-athletes have enjoyed success off the mat as well.  In the last four seasons, his wrestling teams have recorded top-20 grade point averages nationally - as recorded by the NAIA and NCAA Division II National Wrestling Coaches Association.  In 2005-06, while at Dana College, his team finished in 2nd place with a team grade point average of a 3.175.  In 2006-07, his SCSU wrestler’s finished in 14th place with a GPA of 3.029.  In 2007-08, the Huskies finished in 8th place with a GPA of 3.219.  During the 2008-09 campaign, the SCSU Huskies finished in 19th place with a GPA of 3.088.       

In 2003, Costanzo was credited with the NAIA Robert Bubb Coaching Excellence Award which epitomizes the qualities and characteristics of a role model and mentor for developing young student-athletes. In 2005, he served as the NWCA All-Star team coach at Oklahoma State University. Costanzo received the NWCA and NAIA Coach of the Year honors in 2006, and gained NAIA Regional Coach of the Year accolades in 2005 and 2006.  

Costanzo was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American and two-time North Central Conference champion for the University of Nebraska-Omaha.  He placed seventh in 1993, third in 1994 and third in 1995 at the NCAA Championships.  Costanzo was named native Nebraskan Collegiate Wrestler of the Year in 1994.  He currently ranks as high as seventh on UNO’s all-time win list with 133 career victories as a collegiate wrestler.

For his wrestling accomplishments as a student-athlete, Costanzo was inducted into the 2006 NSWCA - Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

A native of Bennington, Nebraska, Costanzo has a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a master’s degree in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation from Emporia State University.  He and his wife Nancy have five children: Cassandra, Sam, Katie, Brock and Lacey.

The Costanzo File

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

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