National Qualifiers
Mar 18 | Wrestling
By BRIAN JOHNSON
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. ' Whenever Rutgers wrestlers Steve Adamcsik (Chester, N.J.) and Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) head into practice, they see posters plastered on the walls that read, "Rutgers Wants All-Americans." Both wrestlers are heading to the NCAA Championships Thurs., March 20 in St. Louis, Mo., the first time that two Scarlet Knights will wrestle in the NCAA Championships since 2004-05. The last time any RU wrestler competed in the NCAA Championships was in 2005-06, when Adamcsik reached as a wildcard.
This time around, for the junior Brown, it's his first shot at trying to reach All-American status, and for the senior Adamcsik, it's his final shot.
"It's the culmination of my wrestling career and I'm looking to become an All-American," Adamcsik said. "This is my dream and it's been my dream since I started wrestling. I'm going to be 100 percent confident going in, and I'm going to leave it all out on the mat."
Under the guidance of first-year head coach Scott Goodale, both wrestlers put together great performances at the EIWA Championships to get to this point.
Brown earned a spot in the 197-bracker finals with an exciting 3-1 overtime win over Cornell's Justin Kerber in the semifinals. With his second place finish, the junior earned a ticket to the NCAA.
"I was in an unbelievable position to advance to the next level," Brown said of the EIWAs. "I had the second seed [in the semifinals], and apparently he was ranked very high, but I didn't know that going into the match. I just like going in and not knowing anything about the guy, and I like wrestling my own style. People say that was one of the most intense matches of the EIWAs."
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Adamcsik |
"I think Steve is really confident now," Goodale said. "He got through a really tough weight class at the EIWAs. Once you get through and make it to the national tournament, anything goes."
For Brown, this is a testament to the great strides the team made after a rocky start to the fall season.
"It's an awesome feeling, especially when you're doing the right things," Brown said. "I think it shows the hard work I put in from my first semester to my second semester. We have a lot of trust in our coaches, and I believe in everything they say. Obviously, it's starting to pay off now as far as hard work goes."
Adamscik said it makes him feel like all the sweat he poured into the Rutgers wrestling room paid off. He also said it's nice to have the "All-American" signs all around the room.
"Whenever practice is getting tough and you don't feel like doing it anymore, you read one of those signs and it just reminds you of your goals and dreams," Adamscik said.
Goodale said that it will be a tough road for both wrestlers, but he's excited that both are representing Rutgers University.
"Both are in the ballpark for All-American status, and they're going to have to get hot and stay hot, but they can definitely do some damage out there," Goodale said.
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BROWN |
"I had a midterm Tuesday, Wednesday and [Thursday]. So, as far as sleeping goes I haven't been doing a lot of that," Brown said while laughing. "But now it's a higher level. Everyone's good, but everybody's beatable. I'm going to go in there with the same mindset and confidence and I believe in myself."
As Adamcsik nears the end of his successful Rutgers wrestling career, with 79 career victories, he said he's seen the program grow tremendously this past year.
"Coach Goodale is an excellent coach and a great recruiter," he said. "Just by having him here we have the No. 10 recruiting class in the nation. So yeah we're becoming the buzz and are on the way. The improvements we've made from other years have just grown by leaps and bounds. And coach Goodale is a lot to do with it."
And now it's Adamcsik's turn to end his career on a high note.
