Battle-Tested Bakuckas Finds Newfound Confidence
Jan 06 | Wrestling
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - There comes a point when too much of a good thing isn't such a good thing at all. Phillip Bakuckas understands that now.
Always a firm believer in the adage that to be the best you've got to compete against the best, Rutgers' 174-pound fourth-year junior wrestler found out the hard way a year ago that there are limits to everything.
That lesson was drawn from facing the No. 2, 6, 3, 4 and 1 ranked wrestlers in the country in his weight class over a six-match span.
"It was a great learning experience. It seemed like almost everyone I wrestled was in the top five or top 10, so every kid was obviously very good," said Bakuckas. "But it was also frustrating because I wanted to win. After a while you just kind of get used to it. You're thinking `okay, I lost to the No. 2 ranked guy, who do I have next week? Oh, it's the No. 1 guy or the No. 5 guy.' So that's when it gets frustrating because you feel like you can't catch a break."
Coming off a solid fifth-place finish during the recent Midlands Championships, Bakuckas heads into Friday's Big Ten match against Michigan State at the Rutgers Athletic Center wrestling with newfound confidence for the No. 8-ranked Scarlet Knights, according to head coach Scott Goodale.
Part of that is because of the experience from last year without having to experience last year all over again.
"Almost everyone thinks wrestling against the quality he did last year makes you tougher for the end of the year. I don't know about that," said Goodale. "You start taking losses, taking losses, taking losses, and then there's an opportunity to beat a kid you should beat and you don't. It's because the losing kind of breaks you down a little bit. I thought for his first year in the Big Ten maturity-wise it maybe it broke him down a little bit because he didn't wrestle great at the end of the year.
"You need to have a strong mind for this conference. I think Phil is very strong minded. I just think it wears on you to have that many close losses to high ranked guys the way he did last year. It's human nature for that to happen."
After finishing 20-14 overall (12-9 in dual matches) a year ago, Bakuckas is off to a 10-7 start (5-5 in duals) with a victory over a ranked opponent and another near-miss of one. He also jumped into the FloWrestling Rankings this week at No. 20 nationally.
But Goodale saw a different wrestler emerge from the Midlands, one he believes has NCAA qualifying potential.
"This sport is about getting your hand raised and he needed to get his hand raised," he said. "I think he broke through at the Midlands Tournament. He wrestled some really good guys and he finally won some close matches. He had the kid from Iowa on the ropes and you're thinking 'here we go again. Close match, controversial.' You're thinking he is going to go into a tailspin but he bounced back and beat some really good guys ranked ahead of him. So right now he's really confident."
And now the NCAAs are on the radar for the Hammonton, N.J. native, whose wrestling career began when a family friend spotted a flyer announcing tryouts at a local supermarket when Bakuckas was six.
"I feel really good right now,' he said. "I feel like I'm starting to get back to my old ways where I'm shooting more instead of just focusing on hand fighting and thinking about what other people are doing instead of what I'm doing. I feel really good right now."
Bakuckas comes from a background of success, finishing as the state runner-up at the 2012 NJSIAA Championships during a 41-1 senior season at 160 pounds. In becoming the first wrestler from Hammonton High School to advance to the championship match he set a school record with 132 career wins.
But the NCAAs have eluded him to this point in his college career.
"The NCAAs are my goal right now," he said. "That's what I'm pushing myself to accomplish and that's what the coaches are pushing me to accomplish because they see I have the potential. If I don't put my full effort out there they're on me, saying `you've got more in there, you need to be more confident.' With that and me wanting to do better there are a lot of things motivating me right now."
That motivation, combined with his ability and confidence, are the confluence of factors Bakuckas needs at this stage of his career.
"Does he have NCAA potential? Absolutely," said Goodell. "He can beat a lot of good guys in the country. I want to see him wrestle when he's confident and we're finally getting to see that right now. What happens now, what happens in the Big Ten and nationals, will be determined by these next couple of months."
