St. Cloud State Huskies
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The St. Cloud State Huskies are the athletic teams for
St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Its enrollment in 2020 was approximately ...
. The university is primarily a member of the
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...
(NSIC), and currently sponsors 18
NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
teams. SCSU also sponsors a women's
Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the Ski binding, binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe ...
team through membership in the CCSA, as well as men's and women's Division I
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
teams that are members of the
National Collegiate Hockey Conference The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference formed on July 9, 2011. The league began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a combina ...
(men) and
Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...
(women). The teams go by the nickname Huskies, and the school's mascot is a
husky Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...
named Blizzard. The Director of Athletics is currently Heather Weems. St. Cloud State also sponsored football until 2019–20, when they decided to drop the program.


Conferences

St. Cloud State was a charter member of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (which has since become known as the
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...
) in 1932, St. Cloud State competed as a member of the North Central Conference at the NCAA Division II level from 1982 to 2008. The North Central Conference disbanded at the end of the 2007-08 academic year, and St. Cloud State's
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division II sports once again became members of the
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...
in 2008-09.


Sports

The St. Cloud Athletic Department sponsors the following intercollegiate sports:


Ice hockey

The St. Cloud State men's hockey program made the move to the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division I level in 1987-88, and it joined the
Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...
(WCHA) in 1990-91. The Huskies men's team have played in the
National Collegiate Hockey Conference The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference formed on July 9, 2011. The league began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a combina ...
(NCHC) since the 2013-2014 season. The women's hockey team, which began its first season of intercollegiate competition in 1998-1999, remain members of the WCHA. The Huskies hockey teams play all of their home games in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (5,371 capacity), which was opened on December 16, 1989.


Wrestling

With one of the best wrestling programs in Division II year after year, the Huskies have won the NCAA Wrestling Championship in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019, placing second in 2017, 2013, 2012 and 2011. Huskie Head Wrestling coach is Steve Costanzo who will begin his 14th season as head coach at St. Cloud State in 2019-20. He is the 13th coach in the history of the St. Cloud State University wrestling program, which dates back to 1949-50.


Facilities

The main athletic facilities at St. Cloud State University include
Husky Stadium Husky Stadium (officially Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is an outdoor football stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. It h ...
(football and soccer),
Halenbeck Hall Halenbeck Hall is a multipurpose arena and athletic complex in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on the campus of St. Cloud State University. The arena sits over 6,400 and is home to the St. Cloud State basketball, volleyball, and wrestling teams. The facil ...
(indoor track and field, swimming and diving, volleyball, wrestling and basketball), the
Herb Brooks National Hockey Center The Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, also known as the Brooks Center, is a 5,159-seat hockey arena in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It is home to the St. Cloud State University Huskies men's & women's ice hockey teams, and the Saint John's University ...
(ice hockey) and Selke Field (softball). Baseball is played off-campus at a City of St. Cloud ballpark called
Joe Faber Field Joe Faber Field is a baseball venue located in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. It is the home of the St. Cloud Rox of the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league.
.


Herb Brooks National Hockey Center

As of 2009, St. Cloud State was working on a $29.3 million renovation of its National Hockey Center. The
Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decennia ...
has funded $6.5 million of that total, with the balance to come from fundraising. The two-phase construction project, the first phase of which is completed, has transformed the building into the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, expanding a predominantly hockey-only facility into a multi-purpose event center. Among the renovations are expanded luxury suites, a new main entrance, and improvements to the ticketing, administration, university store, concourses, restrooms and concession areas. The school is currently working on the second phase of fundraising for the renovations


Athletic alumni

Van Nelson, United States Track and Field Olympian, competed in Cross Country and Track and Field for St. Cloud State University from 1964-1969. Along with Chuck Spoden and Kenny Mitchell, Nelson founded the first SCSU cross country team. His freshman year he qualified for the national meet and finished 8th. While at St. Cloud State, Nelson set a new collegiate record of 13:45.8 for 3 miles in Sioux Falls, SD. Van was a three-year, double gold medal winner at the Drake Relays and twice won the Drake Relays Outstanding Athlete Award. Nelson still holds the SCSU records for the 5,000m, 10,000m, 15,000m, 20,000m and 30,000m runs. Van qualified to represent the United States at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. Going into the games Van was ranked 4th in the world in the 5,000m and 8th in the 10,000m. Former St. Cloud State football player Todd Bouman was a veteran
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
in the
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
. He played for the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
,
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
,
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
, Jacksonville Jaguars,
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
, and finished his career with a second stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2010. Other former St. Cloud State players to play professional football in the NFL include Keith Nord (Minnesota),
Ben Nelson Earl Benjamin Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 37th governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013. He is a member of the Demo ...
(Minnesota), Jeff Hazuga (Minnesota), Harry Jackson (Green Bay), John Kimbrough (Buffalo, New England and Oakland) and Fred Williams (Kansas City). Of note,
Ben Nelson Earl Benjamin Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 37th governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013. He is a member of the Demo ...
was named the 2006
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
Rookie of the Year while playing for the San Jose SaberCats. St. Cloud State women's basketball player Erika Quigley was named the NCAA Division II Player of the Year in 2007. Diver Nate Jimmerson won the NCAA Division II men's one- and three-meter diving titles in 2008. Former St. Cloud State athlete Mary Ahlin won the NCAA Division II titles in women's one- and three-meter diving in 1998 and 1999, while Sarah Loquai won the NCAA Division II women's one-meter diving in 1997. In 2004, the St. Cloud State softball team placed third in the nation at the NCAA Division II softball championships. Former St. Cloud State women's ice hockey player Jessica Kresa is now a professional wrestler under the name
ODB ODB may refer to: People * Ol' Dirty Bastard (1968–2004), American rapper and founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan * ODB (wrestler) (born 1978), Stage name of American professional wrestler Jessica Kresa * Original David Baker (born 1972), a monik ...
. Garrett Bender plays rugby for the United States rugby sevens national team.


Ice hockey

A total of 24 former St. Cloud State ice hockey players have gone on to play professionally in the
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
. Hockey Hall of Famer Frank Brimsek played for the Huskies in 1933-34 before going on to a sterling professional career with the Boston Bruins and Chicago from 1938-50. He helped the
Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
win two
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
titles and he is a member of both the international and United States Hockey Hall of Fames. Other former St. Cloud State players to skate in the
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
include
Sam LoPresti Samuel Leo LoPresti (January 30, 1917 – December 11, 1984) was an American ice hockey goaltender. He played several senior and professional seasons between 1937 and 1951, including two seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago ...
, Len Esau,
Steve Martinson Stephen Paul Martinson (born June 21, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played 49 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, and Minnesota North Stars between 1987 and ...
,
Tyler Arnason Tyler Lawrence Arnason (born March 16, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators and the Colorado Avalanche. Early life He is the son of former ...
,
Casey Borer Casey Patrick Borer (born July 28, 1985 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Carolina Hurricanes. Playing career Borer grew up in Brooklyn Park. A ...
, Tim Conboy,
Matt Cullen Matthew David Cullen (born November 2, 1976) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with eight teams between 1997 and 2019 with. Cullen won the Stanley Cup three times durin ...
,
Jeff Finger Jeffrey J. Finger (born December 18, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League with the Colorado Avalanche and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing career Finger was drafted 240th overall ...
,
Bret Hedican Bret Michael Hedican (born August 10, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player, a Stanley Cup champion, and a two-time US Olympian. A product of St. Cloud State University, Hedican played with the 1992 US Olympic Team before he ...
,
Joe Jensen Joseph Paul Jensen (born February 6, 1983, in Maple Grove, Minnesota) is a retired professional ice hockey center. He played six games with the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. Playing career Jensen was drafted in 2003 by the ...
, Fred Knipscheer,
Ryan Malone Ryan Gregory Malone (born December 1, 1979) nicknamed "Bugsy", is an American former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers. In 2003, ...
,
Joe Motzko Joseph Andrew Motzko (born March 14, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Undrafted, Motzko played for St. Cloud State University in the Western Collegiate Ho ...
,
Mark Parrish Mark Daniel Parrish (born February 2, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey right winger. Parrish has played 11 seasons and over 700 games in the NHL with the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, ...
, Duvie Westcott,
Mark Hartigan Mark Hartigan (born October 15, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre, who played in the National Hockey League with the Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Anaheim Ducks and the Detroit Red Wings. He currently resides i ...
, Andreas Nodl, Nate Raduns,
Matt Hendricks Matthew James Hendricks (born June 17, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg ...
, Andrew Gordon, Oliver Lauridsen,
Ben Hanowski Benjamin Robert Hanowski (born October 18, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey player who is currently under contract to Kölner Haie in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). An alumnus of the St. Cloud State Huskies, he was a third round ...
,
Drew LeBlanc Andrew John LeBlanc (born June 29, 1989) is an American professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Augsburger Panther of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He won the Hobey Baker Award in 2013 as the top National Collegiate Athle ...
Ryan Poehling,
Jimmy schuldt James Schuldt (born May 11, 1995) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing for the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the American Hockey League (AHL). He has previously played with the Vegas Golden Knights of the Nati ...
, and
Blake Lizotte Blake Joseph Lizotte (born December 13, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career After going undrafted out of high school, Lizotte pla ...
. In recent years,
Matt Cullen Matthew David Cullen (born November 2, 1976) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with eight teams between 1997 and 2019 with. Cullen won the Stanley Cup three times durin ...
and
Bret Hedican Bret Michael Hedican (born August 10, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player, a Stanley Cup champion, and a two-time US Olympian. A product of St. Cloud State University, Hedican played with the 1992 US Olympic Team before he ...
helped the
Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...
win the
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
in 2006, while
Mark Hartigan Mark Hartigan (born October 15, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre, who played in the National Hockey League with the Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Anaheim Ducks and the Detroit Red Wings. He currently resides i ...
and
Joe Motzko Joseph Andrew Motzko (born March 14, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Undrafted, Motzko played for St. Cloud State University in the Western Collegiate Ho ...
won the
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
in 2007 with the
Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...
. Hartigan was later a member of the
Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
during their
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
championship season in 2008.


References


External links

* {{Central Collegiate Ski Association navbox