MARSHALL, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State wrestling comes home on Thursday, Feb. 3, hosting St. Cloud State inside the PE Gym, with action set to start at 7 p.m.
 
MUSTANGS IN THE RANKINGS: SMSU has one wrestler ranked in the InterMat rankings (Feb. 2) and NWCA rankings (Jan. 21). The team is also ranked inside of both rankings … Caden Steffen leads the charge for the individuals, ranking fourth in both the InterMat and NWCA rankings at 184 pounds. Steffen is 13-1 on the season and 5-0 in duals after grinding out a 4-0 victory over Wyatt Lindberg of UMary before dominating a 20-5 tech fall over Joseph Lopez of Minot State last weekend. His only loss this season has been by injury default, and has won three matches by fall, two by tech fall, and three by major decision … SMSU has also been recognized for its team success, as NWCA ranks them at No. 21 and InterMat ranks the Mustangs at No. 23 in the team rankings.
 
LAST WEEKEND: The Southwest Minnesota State wrestling team dropped a pair of road duals, losing to UMary 28-10 on Friday before falling 21-14 to Minot State on Saturday. The Mustangs would win seven of 20 bouts on the weekend, with Caden Steffen going 2-0 to lead the way. Steffen would grind out a 4-0 victory over Wyatt Lindberg of UMary before dominating a 20-5 tech fall over Joseph Lopez of Minot State. Robert Shields would collect the only major decision on the weekend, defeating Devin Steidler of UMary 9-1 on Friday. The Mustangs would win four decisions from four different wrestlers outside of the Steffen victory, with Jacob Dykes (8-4 against UMary), Jackson Stauffacher (7-4 against Minot State), Justin Sampson (8-5 against Minot State), and Carter Marx (3-1 against Minot State) each picking up three points for SMSU. 
 
 
SMSU Leaders:
Caden Steffen (13-1)
Carter Marx (11-6)
Neil Hanson (9-5)
Dillon McEachran (9-8)
Hunter Pfantz (9-10)
 
The Mustangs stay home next weekend, hosting UW-Parkside on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m., and Minnesota State on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m.
 
ST. CLOUD STATE NOTES: The Huskies (9-1 overall, 2-0 NSIC) Come into the weekend ranked first in the nation on InterMat and second in the nation in the NWCA rankings … SCSU has nine ranked wrestlers in the InterMat/NWCA rankings … No. 5/No. 7 125 Paxton Creese, No. 2/No. 3 133 Garrett Vos, No. 1/No. 1 141 Joseph Bianchini, No. 2/No. 2 157 Colby Njos, No. 13/No. 12 165 Devin Donavan, No. 6/No. 5 174 Dominic Murphy, No. 6/No. 7 184 Billy Pitzner, No. 2/No. 2 197 Noah Ryan, and No. 2/No. 2 285 Kameron Teacher … The Huskies last wrestled on Thursday, Jan. 27, defeating Unranked/No. 15 Upper Iowa 34-2 … SCSU has won nine matches by an average of 25.3 points, winning seven matches to ranked opponents, five against top 10 opponents, and had their lone loss against No. 2/No. 1 Central Oklahoma 19-14 on Friday, Jan. 7 in the NWCA DII National Duals final in Louisville Ken. … SCSU is led by Bianchini (19-0), Murphy (17-3), Noah Ryan (15-0), Garrett Vos (15-1), and 149-pound freshman Nicholas Novak (14-2)
 
ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY: SCSU leads the all-time series 36-12-1 in a series that dates back to 1969. The Huskies have won the previous 14 meetings, including a 42-0 shutout victory in their last meeting on Nov. 20, 2019. SMSU is 10-14 at home, and last won in Marshall on Feb. 17, 2005 in a 35-10 rout.
 
SMSU Probable Wrestlers:

125 - Jackson Stauffacher
133 - Hunter Pfantz
141 - Luke Peterson or Justin Sampson
149 - Robert Shields
157 - Lucas Hodges
165 - Nathan Moore or Elijah Sterner
174 - Carter Marx
184 - Caden Steffen
197 - Dillon McEachran
285 - Jacob Dykes or Neil Hanson