12/5/06

Girtz Leads Maverick Wrestlers at UNI Open

Senior wins five matches to improve season record to 12-2; Janike, Rhoten, Pfaffinger and Wilson reach podium

by Tyler Buckentine
Issue date: 12/5/06
Section: Mens Sports

He might not be ranked, but Minnesota State wrestler Brandon Girtz is making plenty of noise so far this season.

The senior at 157 pounds went 5-0 Sunday to win his second tournament of the season at the Northern Iowa Open and improve his individual record to 12-2. Girtz defeated top-seeded Moza Fay of host-team Northern Iowa 5-4 to take the championship.

"I pretty much stayed focused through the whole day," Girtz said. "It can get pretty long."

"Brandon is a pretty basic wrestler, but I think is his best asset is his stubbornness and the level of a competitor he is," said MSU head coach Jim Makovsky. "He's a fighter. He's not intimidated by anybody. I don't know about the ranking thing, but I know he's been close to being an All-American the last couple of years and Brandon's got a lot of pride."

Other Mavericks joining Girtz on the podium were Ben Janike (fifth at 197 pounds), Jason Rhoten (sixth at 149 pounds), Jeff Pfaffinger (sixth at 133 pounds) and Brady Wilson (third place in the heavyweight division).

Wilson, a freshman who redshirted last season, went 4-1 and improved to 12-4 on the season.

"To me, Brady's still a kid. He's a 19 year-old freshman off to a great start," Makovsky said.

The UNI Open was MSU's second tournament this season that featured Division I teams. Makovsky hopes that the tough competition will prepare his team for what is to come.

"We're giving them good competition for a purpose," Makovsky said. "They'll be ready for the competition at the national tournament. You can't develop good teeth by eating mush. You can tell it's kind of wearing them out.

"They say coaching is like holding a dove. If you squeeze too hard, you kill it. If you don't squeeze hard enough, it flies away. Lately we've been squeezing pretty hard. That's why they're excited to wrestle some Division II kids."

The Mavericks will get a chance to wrestle Division II teams this Saturday when they travel to St. Cloud for the St. Cloud State Invitational, a tournament with no Division I schools.

"As a team, I can see the good and the bad," Makovsky said. "We don't need to make a complete turnaround on anything, we just need to keep tweaking and the little things will make a big difference."

Tyler Buckentine is a Reporter staff writer