Ever since St. Cloud State broke through six years ago to capture its first NCAA Division II title, the Huskies have been lockdown closers. 

Putting the finishing touches on this year’s title quest, however, required a little more time and final-round stress than usual. 

Kameron Teacher’s victory in the heavyweight title bout pushed St. Cloud State past Nebraska-Kearney — 107-105.5 — in the tightest D2 team race since 2008. 

A 4-for-4 semifinal round put the Huskies in a position where they needed just one win in the finals to secure their fifth team title in the last six D2 national tournaments. The clinching victory was difficult to find, though. 

St. Cloud State dropped title matches at 133, 141 and 149, leaving the team race in Teacher’s hands. 

“I had confidence in every one of those matches with the guys we put out there, it was just unfortunate we lost the first three in a row and it came down to Kam,” St. Cloud State coach Steve Costanzo said. “As I was watching him get ready for the match, I became more and more confident that we were in good shape going into that match. He was just very relaxed before he went out there. I’m sure he was a little bit nervous, but I could see a lot of excitement in his body language and I knew we were in great shape.” 

The three-time All-American, who placed second, second and third before transferring from Notre Dame College, scored a pair of takedowns in the opening minute against Weston Hunt of Colorado School of Mines and made the lead stand in a 6-5 victory. 

“I knew one of my biggest weaknesses was cardio, and I worked on that,” Teacher said. “I went to the gym and ran a mile and a half every single day after practice. It doesn’t matter as long as you trust the process and keep believing in yourself. You’re only guaranteed four or five years of wrestling for the rest of your life, so you’ve got to ask yourself how you want to be remembered.” 

The Huskies had opportunities to alleviate the pressure on their senior heavyweight. They held leads in their first two title bouts of the night. 

But West Liberty’s Tyler Warner turned top-seeded Garrett Vos for a pivotal four-point near-fall in the second period on his way to an 8-4 victory at 133. It was Warner’s second title. He first came two years ago as a sophomore at Wheeling Jesuit. 

At 141, Newberry’s Isiah Royal used a third-period takedown to beat St. Cloud State’s Joey Bianchini 7-6. Royal, a 2019 runner-up, got knocked off in last month’s regional semifinals and needed an at-large ticket into the tournament. He made the most of it, toppling No. 1 seed Colby Smith of Lindenwood in the semifinals before handing Bianchini his first loss of the season.

Teacher and Royal contributed to one of the night’s top themes — several of Division II’s longtime stars finally reached the top step of the awards podium. 

Central Oklahoma’s Heath Gray and McKendree’s Ryan Vasbinder — both undefeated the past two years against Division II opposition — collected titles at 184 and 197. Gray defeated 2019 national champion Conner Craig of West Liberty 3-2. Vasbinder posted a 1-0 win against Central Oklahoma’s Dalton Abney. 

Royal, Gray and Vasbinder were No. 1 seeds a year ago when the NCAA, on the eve of the D2 national tournament, canceled its remaining winter and spring sports championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

St. Cloud State was atop the national rankings heading into last year’s postseason, as well. Getting to the finish line this time around was rewarding in more ways than one for Costanzo and the Huskies. 

“We had to make a lot of sacrifices in the wrestling community to be able to make this happen,” Costanzo said. “We’re a close-contact sport. Our guys had to be so disciplined in terms of social distancing and in a lot of cases they didn’t get to spend as much time with their family and friends as they would like to. The sacrifices they made made it possible for us to have an NCAA Championship. I’ve never asked a team of mine to sacrifice so much during the year than I did this year, and I hope I never have to do that again.”