1/25/06

Wrestling Dominates East Coast Duals

Five wrestlers go 4-0 during East Coast Duals, Krinkie and Kooms lead with multiple falls.

by Garret Felder
January 25, 2006

Junior tri-captain Travis Krinkie returned to the Mavericks' starting lineup Saturday with a right fist of dynamite and a left handful of technical falls.

Following a second place finish at the NWCA National Duals, Krinkie returned from his shoulder injury with a vengeance as he led MSU to first place at the East Coast Duals in Shippensburg, Penn., with three technical fall victories.

“I was a little more nervous than normal because I hadn’t been on the mat since Dec. 16, but I just had to get my confidence,” Krinkie said. “My first match I was a little rusty. I wasn’t getting myself into a good position like I usually do but by the third match I was feeling really good.”

After sitting out the national duals with his shoulder injury, Krinkie set the standard for the Mavericks by earning three technical falls and a forfeit victory to help the Mavericks toward their first place finish. Many of his fellow Mavericks also "Followed the leader" by tallying up technical falls.

“As a coach, it’s good to have [Krinkie] back and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him,” said head coach Jim Makovsky. “He doesn’t have to be superman, but I know it was hard for him to sit because he is a big part of this program and has been for the last three years.”

In addition to Krinkie's flawless performance, senior John Koons, senior Tim Kraemer, senior Zach Stevens and junior Brandon Girtz each earned 4-0 performances, as well.

“I was a little anxious to see how our guys would respond but [this weekend] showed our guys are focused on what’s in front of us, not our past,” Makovsky said. “Deal with what we have today and learn from our past.”

One of the guys whose past has been nothing but success, Koons (who has outscored his last eight opponents 130-10), continued to look forward by earning two technical falls and two major decisions at the 184-pound division. Besides his scoring landslide of 58-2 over his opponents at the East Coast Duals, Koons has also defeated the No. 2-, 5-, and 7-ranked wrestlers of his weight class since winter break.

“I always tend to wrestle better after Christmas break,” Koons said. “Winning is a habit. Once you start winning, it’s hard to stop.”

Stevens followed Krinkie and Koons with a fall and a major decision in two of his four matches, Girtz earned two major decisions and a technical fall, and Kraemer marked three decisions and a fall by the end of the multiple team meet.

As MSU defeated Delaware Valley (37-6), Limestone (39-6), Carson-Newman (38-6) and finally West Liberty State (29-12) for first place, the raw emotion from the Mavericks’ loss to Nebraska-Omaha bombarded the teams of the east with few signs of mercy.

“No one was happy about the UNO match. We had some really tight matches with them,” Koons said. “But you keep moving forward, working harder because each meet, like this one, is a stepping stone to the national tournament.”

The Mavericks look forward to being back home for their first home dual meet since Dec.1, when they face No. 7-ranked Augustana at the Taylor Center 7 p.m. Friday. From a team census, the Mavericks conclude that it will be nice not to travel for next two weeks and get away for a while.

“It’s been a long month and a half on the road, lots of time on a bus, on a plane, or in a van,” Koons said. “It will be nice to have the home atmosphere and more of our fans in the stands.”