COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 2 St. Cloud State, the defending NCAA Division II national champions, recorded seven bonus-point wins in a 45-3 victory over Saint John's on Tuesday, Nov. 24, in Collegeville.

SCSU (1-0 dual record) started the dual with two pins before senior Ben Henle (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) put SJU (0-2 dual record) on the scoreboard with an 8-6 overtime win at 141 pounds. Henle, who is ranked fifth nationally by D3wrestle.com, scored a takedown with 33 seconds left in the first overtime (sudden victory) to improve to 8-3 on the young season. 

Henle's opponent, Travis Swanson, tied the match at 5-5 with a reversal to start the third period. Henle escaped with a minute remaining, but Swanson held a 1:19 advantage in riding time to send the match to overtime.

Senior Mike Pleski (Stacy, Minn./Forest Lake) suffered a tough 8-7 loss at 149 pounds. He entered the second period with a 7-3 lead, but allowed four points in the frame, including a technical violation for grabbing the edge of the mat. The deciding point was riding time in favor of the Huskies' Jay Hildreth.

Freshman Luke Dodd (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) just missed earning his eighth win of the season at 184 pounds. He led 2-0 in the third period, but allowed a reversal with 50 seconds remaining and then the deciding takedown 26 seconds later.

The two St. Cloud State wrestlers ranked No. 1 nationally, Clint Poster (165 pounds) and Austin Goergen (285 pounds), combined for 11 team points on the night. Poster earned a 22-6 technical fall and Goergen tallied a pin in 40 seconds to end the dual.

The Johnnies return to action against another Division II opponent, MSU-Moorhead, for a dual at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, Dec. 2, in Sexton Arena.

No. 2 (DII) St. Cloud State (SCSU) 45, Saint John's (SJU) 3
125: Brett Velasquez (SCSU) pinned John Wells, 3:36 [0-6]
133: Jarred Oftedahl (SCSU) pinned Chris Ortman, 2:39 [0-12]
141: Ben Henle (No. 5, SJU) dec. Travis Swanson, 8-6 OT [3-12]
149: Jay Hildreth (SCSU) dec. Mike Pleski, 8-7 [3-15]
157: Travis Holt (SCSU) pinned Branden Schorr, 1:51 [3-21]
165: Clint Poster (No. 1, SCSU) tech. fall Teddy Erickson, 22-6/6:48 [3-26]
174: Clayton Jennissen (SCSU) major dec. Muqkadeen Poole, 15-2 [3-30]
184: Garrett Miller (SCSU) dec. Luke Dodd, 4-3 [3-33]
197: V.J. Giulio (SCSU) pinned Glenn Castro, 1:45 [3-39]
285: Austin Goergen (No. 1, SCSU) pinned Nick Pegelow, 0:40 [3-45]