2/2/06

Wrestling Downs No. 5 Augustana

Consecutive pins by Krinkie and Koons launch MSU to victory.

by Garret Felder
January 31, 2006

Last week, Mavericks head wrestling coach Jim Makovsky predicted the typical battle that ensues when Minnesota State and Augustana collide on the mats.

"It's going to be a barnburner," Makovsky said. “We've had a lot of great duals with them the last couple of years."

Although Makovsky’s prediction for Friday’s dual with No. 5 Augustana was proven correct, he could not have anticipated the mediocrity his squad would display in their first North Central Conference dual meet Friday.

Excluding back-to-back pins by junior tri-captain Travis Krinkie and senior John Koons, the Mavericks' 25-17 win over Augustana at the Taylor Center was a lot closer than the No. 2 ranked wrestling program wished for.

"Take out (Krinkie and Koons') pins and it would be a 19-17 match," Krinkie said.

Makovsky admits that he did not expect the dual with Augustana to be so close, despite his statement four days prior to the meet.

“The pins by Krinkie and Koons were huge. I thought we’d win 165 and heavyweight for sure, but we had a couple of mistakes,” Makovsky said. “[Augustana] just outhustled us.”

Senior Zach Stevens, who suffered an 8-5 loss to No. 6 Andre VanderVelde, agrees the outcome would have been different without the help of Krinkie and Koons during the squad's lackluster performance.

"We came out a little sluggish, but Krinkie and Koons stepped up for us," Stevens said

"We didn't wrestle up to our potential."

Stevens not only struggled against his aggressive opponent, following Jeff Pfaffnger’s 18-5 major decision, but his bout would be replicated by other low-scoring matches that had little room for error, as well.

“We need to wrestle every match not like we’re protecting something, but like we’re going after something,” Makovsky said. “ We didn’t wrestle horribly, but we had a couple of mistakes and we need to wrestle with more emotion.”

Beyond the losses by Stevens, junior Brandon Girtz, senior Andy Pickar, junior Ben Janike and senior Tim Kraemer, the Mavericks received much needed aid from Krinkie, Koons and an 11-4 decision for senior tri-captain Math Bitz over Augustana’s Aaron Haddorff.

Bitz, who is ranked No.3 in the 157-pound division, scored four identical takedowns in the last minute of the third period to capture his 19th win of the season.

“I was just putzing around in the first period, but by the third I knew I had to step it up,” Bitz said. “I started to get on top of his head a little and then I would get around him. The crowd fed off this and it pumped the bench up, too.”

Although Bitz’s decision victory did keep Augustana from making it a 10-9 meet, Bitz credits Krinkie and Koons for picking up the slack.

“I came a point short of a major decision, but it was all Krinkie and Koons tonight,” Bitz said. “Those were big falls by them to help us out.”

But those falls didn’t come easy. After Krinkie was taken down early in the first period of his match, he regained his focus and turned the table on No. 5 ranked Dusty Wilking with a takedown resulting in a pin.

“That first takedown woke me up; it made me realize where I was,” Krinkie said. “But my match was very important because Augustana was still very into the match.”

After a scoreless first period, Koons would later follow Krinkie with a pin of his own after an early reversal in the second period, earning a pin just 3:28 into the 184-pound bout.

Despite a lackluster home performance, Makovsky believes that his squad needs a couple of higher intensity matches under its belt this season and the program should not dwell on its mistakes after its great success over the last couple years.

“We’re 10-1 in duals, three have been really hotly contested, including this one and UNO. We need more matches like that,” Makovsky said. “We just beat No. 5 in the country and we’ve won 26 of our last 30 duals, three of those, losses to UNO. Sometimes, we need to take 10 seconds and enjoy our success.”

The Mavericks will prepare this week for their Friday meeting with No. 12 MSU-Moorhead 7 p.m. at the Taylor Center and follow with a trip to Wisconsin-Parkside for a 7 p.m. dual Saturday.