3/21/06

Wrestlers Wrap Up Season with Fifth Place Finish at Nationals

by Garret Felder
March 21, 2006

After manning the No. 2 national ranking for the majority of the season, the men’s wrestling team dropped to No. 5 after taking third in the NCAA Division II North regional. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, the dethroning of the runner-up spot would also be a foreshadowing of their fate in the NCAA Division II National Tournament March 10 in Findlay, Ohio.

Although the Mavericks dropped from last year’s third place finish to fifth this year in the national tournament, MSU head coach Jim Makovsky still sees his program as one of the best in the country with six All-Americans to pride himself on.

“I was pleased with the effort our team showed even when we didn’t achieve our ultimate goal,” Makovsky said. “We had a great season and I still think we are the second best dual meet team in the country.”

As seniors John Koons and Zach Stevens ended their final seasons as All-Americans with Travis Krinkie, Jeff Pfaffinger, Andy Pickar and Nick Smith, Makovsky adds six more names to a list of 49 All-Americans under his tutelage.

“I am proud of [having six all-Americans]. When 60 percent of your team is All-Americans, it’s saying a lot,” Makovsky said. “We are going to miss our seniors because they are a bunch of studs, but we have a bunch of good young guys who, after the spring and summer, will be ready to go and I expect a good class of recruits that could step into the lineup early next year, too.”

Despite dropping to fifth place in the nation and losing two senior All-Americans at the end of the season, the national qualifiers showed they wouldn’t end the year without a fight thanks to Koons and Smith.

Koons showed his metal after he tore the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee during his 6-5 loss in the championship semifinals of 184-pound division. Koons, after experiencing an injury that would mean the end for most athletes of most sports, still competed in wrestlebacks with a blown-out knee and finished in sixth place to end his career.

Along with Koons’ courage to finish the tournament, the Mavericks’ effort also paid off during Smith’s third place finish in the 125-pound division. After qualifying for the national tournament for the second straight year, Smith defeated Rob McCabe of Adams State College for this year’s third place trophy at the 125-pound division. In 2005, McCabe had eliminated Smith from the national tournament.

“[Smith] broke out and had a great tourney,” Makovsky said. “He kicked the crap out of the guy who kept him from his dream last year and he wrestled like a stud.”

But as his squad showed the effort, Makovsky knows it was the little things that were the difference between sending nine to the national tournament and bringing home a first place trophy from nationals.

“Overall I am pleased. We made some coaching mistakes and some wrong decisions, but we can never question the effort the guys put forward in the tournament and this season,” Makovsky said. “The past week I’ve done a lot of soul searching as a coach and the team begins with me. The team expects me to lead them and I think we are really close to our ultimate goal.”

While the team says goodbye to its seniors, the squad also looks ahead to its returning squad and a new recruiting class. As freshman Brady Wilson could be ready to step up as the heavyweight starter, Krinkie could also move up to 184 pounds to make way for freshman Tim Matheson at 174 and junior Jason Rhoten could move up to the 157-pound division next year. Along with “hard work, attitude, and having a heck of a lot of fight,” the wrestling team could be one of the top three squads in the nation this time next year.

“Success breeds success and I think we are going to be better next year than we were this year,” Makovsky said. “[Taking fifth and third in two years] helps in recruiting talent and it’s like they say, ‘A rising tide raises all the ships.’”