11/9/06

Wrestlers In Hunt for National Championship

2006-07 Wrestling Preview

by Tyler Buckentine
Issue date: 11/9/06
Section: Mens Sports

Over the past couple of seasons, the Minnesota State wrestling team has accounted for two top-five NCAA Tournament finishes and a 30-5 record and it's still hungry.

"Without a doubt, our No. 1 goal is to win a national championship," said Jim Makovsky, who enters his 13th season as the Mavericks head coach. "We want to be on top of the podium at the end of the year."

The Mavericks know they have a legitimate shot at winning their second NCAA championship in school history (MSU won its only national championship in 1965) and they're not the only ones who believe they can win.

The NCAA Division II Coaches Association ranks MSU third in the preseason polls ahead of North Central Conference foes Nebraska-Omaha (ranked fourth) and Augustana (10th).

One key to winning a national championship will be the return of five All-Americans to the Mavericks lineup including Nick Smith (125 lbs.), Jeff Pfaffinger (133 lbs.), Jason Rhoten (149 lbs.), Andy Pickar (165 lbs.) and three-time All-American, senior Travis Krinkie (184 lbs.).

Rhoten, a junior and two-time All-American, sat the 2005-06 season with a medical redshirt after he broke his leg during the off season. Makovsky expects Rhoten to pick up where he left off two seasons ago.

"Jason's not a vocal leader but he's a great leader by example," Makovsky said. "When he was sitting out last year, I'd watch him and it was killing him. He was shaking watching [the match].

"He likes to be the man; he loves wrestling in pressure situations. Knowing we were really close to winning a national championship and the impact he could have had, it really hurt him."

"It's something I've been anticipating for a year now. I thought I was going to be back last year and I never made it back," said Rhoten, who placed fourth and second at the NCAA Championships in 2004 and 2005, respectively. "It was a year off but I was training the whole time. It was all training and no competition. I'm excited to be back."

The five All-Americans will be expected to lead but not carry the Mavericks in 2005-06. Makovsky calls on other returning NCAA qualifiers, including Efrain Ayala (141 lbs.), Brandon Girtz (157 lbs.) and Ben Janike (197 lbs.).

"It would be easy to point out the returning All-Americans, but we have other guys who have qualified (for nationals) and know what it's about and how close they were to placing and how bad it hurt when they didn't get there," Makovsky said. "Those are guys we're going to be counting on a lot."

MSU will also be counting on a solid group of freshmen to be ready when needed. Makovsky said freshman Travis Elg, a three-time state champion, could potentially start at 141 lbs.

"He could make some noise depending how the lineup shakes out," Makovsky said. "We have our bar napkin lineup, what you think the lineup might be, but very rarely does it end up like that."

Joining Elg in this season's freshman class are nine others, including five high school state champions from either Minnesota or Iowa.

Brady Wilson is one of those freshmen. Wilson went 25-5 in exhibition matches while redshirting for the Mavericks in 2005-06.

With three of the four teams in the NCC ranked in the top ten in preseason polls, it's fair to say that this season will be competitive.

"[Omaha's] got a lot of good freshmen that I know about and other people know about but they haven't done anything yet." Makovsky said. "Augustana's got a good young team and St. Cloud will be better. They got a new coach."

Standing in the way of MSU's title hopes is three-time defending NCAA champion Nebraska-Omaha. Of MSU's five dual losses the past two seasons, four of them have come against Omaha.

"Omaha's our biggest threat, but anyone we compete against in Division II is a threat," Makovsky said. "We're close to getting to the top, so teams are gunning for us somewhat.

"Every single match is important in my book. Look at the NFL this past week. Who would've thought Miami would've beaten Chicago. Someone stepped it up and someone took a day off."

"It's a long season. I know the 'It's a marathon not a sprint' saying is a cliché, however, it's true," Makovsky said. "We've been training hard but we're not even to the starting line yet. We've got a long way to go."

Tyler Buckentine is a Reporter staff writer