3/6/07

A Wrestling Career Resurrected

Once just a face in the crowd at Iowa, Jeff Pfaffinger has become a leader at MSU.

by Tyler Buckentine
Issue date: 3/6/07
Section: Mens Sports

For some college wrestlers, just having a spot on the team is good enough. To them, it's OK that they will only wrestle a handful of matches and their contributions to the team will be mostly limited to practice.

Jeff Pfaffinger is not one of those wrestlers, so when the Blue Earth native wrestled in only 12 collegiate matches at the University of Iowa over three years, he was unsatisfied.

"When I came in as a freshman I knew I wasn't going to start," said Pfaffinger, a 133-pound All-American for Minnesota State. "I think I just got caught in the rut right away. It was a completely different situation for me, going from being a big contributor on a high school team to not competing at all.

"I let myself hideout in a corner. I didn't have a lot on the line as a non-starter so I lost a lot of commitment."

In high school, Pfaffinger wrestled his way to four Minnesota state titles with a record of 187-14 for Blue Earth. He signed with Iowa and redshirted the 2002-03 season.

"I was extremely excited to wrestle there," Pfaffinger said. "I was really looking forward to the future and what could become of my wrestling career once I got there. I thought that program would help me out a lot and do a lot of good things for me."

Over the following three seasons, Pfaffinger went 5-7 as 125 pounder for the Hawkeyes before he eventually left the team in 2005 due to a number of personal issues.

"It was my third year as a non-starter and I was struggling with my weight and keeping it under control," Pfaffinger said. "It was a bunch of different small things, but I just wasn't happy down at Iowa so I made the decision to leave."

Pfaffinger left Iowa City and enrolled at MSU where he was closer to Blue Earth, about an hour drive from Mankato. At that point, wrestling wasn't the first thing on Pfaffinger's mind.

"When I decided to leave Iowa, I pretty much planned on coming to school here because my sister already went to school here and a bunch of buddies were here," Pfaffinger said. "I knew I kind of wanted to wrestle, but I wasn't really sure. At that time I was pretty burned out from wrestling."

That's when Pfaffinger got on the phone with his dad, an old teammate and a couple of coaches to help him decide his future in college wrestling.

"I talked to Travis Krinkie (teammate at Blue Earth and MSU)," Pfaffinger said. "He's a good friend of mine. I got Jim [Makovsky's] number from him and I talked him a few times about it. I had some conversations with my dad, Jim, and even some of the coaches at Iowa.

"I talked to the coaches and I tried to do a bunch of things to try to get myself back on track and where I needed to be. I needed a change of scenery and start fresh somewhere else."

"We can't recruit kids from other programs so he called me and got his release [from the Iowa wrestling program]," said Mavericks coach Jim Makovsky. "It's been a seamless transition getting him back on track and enjoying the sport again."

When Pfaffinger made the decision to wrestle at MSU, there was no hesitation that he would make the starting lineup. Unlike his time at Iowa, Pfaffinger was going to make impact with the Mavericks in the 2004-05 season.

"Jeff has unbelievable ability, but his knowledge of technique is as good as any other wrestler or even some coaches that I've ever seen," Makovsky said. He loves to break down matches, almost like he has a video machine in his head."

"I was just really excited to be a starter in the lineup and being able to contribute to the team," Pfaffinger said. "It really helped me focus and it was like I was contributing instead of just being another guy in the practice room. I was actually down on the mat, putting points on the board for our team.

"I expected to come in and contend for a national title right off the bat. Once I got things back on track, I knew I'd be right up there with the top guys in my weight class."

Pfaffinger finished 28-11 in 2005 as an All-American placing seventh at the National Championships. This season he is even better. Pfaffinger enters nationals ranked third with a 30-9 record. Since Christmas, Pfaffinger has been on the wrong end of a takedown just once.

As a senior this season, he has emerged as a team leader for MSU.

"I'm not much of a vocal leader or a guy who draws a lot of attention to himself so my impact is what I do on the mat," Pfaffinger said. "Guys see how much effort I put into it."

"He's developed into a leader," Makovsky said. "He works with guys individually passing on lessons. Some lessons that he learned the hard way.

"He has his family's support within a stone's throw and core group of friends here who follow him and support him and that's made big difference for him. Last year as he got into the season, you could see the smile return to his face where he's enjoying wrestling."

Although Pfaffinger is having a remarkable season for MSU, he hasn't gotten much recognition this year. He hasn't received any weekly accolades or personal awards, but that's fine with Pfaffinger who enjoys staying away from the limelight.

"It's fine with me to be unknown and not be looked at as a guy to knock off," Pfaffinger said. "I don't need to be in the spotlight because it isn't going to change what I do on the mat. I guess I'm good at flying under the radar but I'll be noticed next weekend at nationals."

Tyler Buckentine is the Reporter Assistant Sports Editor