Unbeaten Bison not satisfied

The Forum, Fargo, North Dakota

NDSU’s Thad Pike, top, is the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 174 pounds.

By Jeff Kolpack jkolpack@forumcomm.com
Sports - 02/03/2004

The best part of the North Dakota State wrestling team is that most of the starters are veterans. The Bison have conference champions, All-Americans and national champions.

It’s also the worst part.

The fact the Bison are ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II, won a national championship dual title and are unbeaten in dual competition is nice. But head coach Bucky Maughan is more interested in something else: getting his wrestlers to reach their potential.

It’s tough to do, he said, with juniors and seniors.

“They know everything,” Maughan said. “They don’t care what you say. Every senior-loaded team we’ve had has been the hardest to coach. They’re so set in their ways and they don’t want to change. They think they have all the answers.”

That’s why, despite 10 straight dual victories, Maughan’s post-match assessments have not been glorious.

He wasn’t thrilled with a 27-7 win over Minnesota State-Mankato on Jan. 13, saying, “I wasn’t very happy with my team. Overall, we weren’t very sharp.”

He thought the 43-3 win over the University of Mary on Jan. 21 was an OK performance, but not worthy of high praise.

A 24-15 win over Augustana College Sunday night was followed with this comment on Monday: “I wasn’t pleased.”

The Bison coach appears to be guarding against coasting. A highly-ranked wrestler may get by on talent alone in January, but it could cost him when it counts the most: the regional and national tournaments.

“What’s frustrating is our guys seem to know when to get up and they get up,” said assistant coach Bret Maughan. “In the duals, maybe they don’t feel like they’re in jeopardy and they don’t mentally feel the need to get up.”

On the flip side, the Viking match concluded a brutal stretch of 10 duals in 22 days -- an average of almost one match every two days.

It’s not easy. That means wrestlers have a consistent routine of making weight, competing, eating and making weight again.

The pace will slow in the final weeks of the season. NDSU is at South Dakota State on Saturday. They go on a two-day trip to Colorado the following week before returning for the final home dual of the season: a heavyweight matchup with Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 20.

By then, the tag of national title favorite on NDSU will be clear. And it will be clear if Bucky Maughan’s message to his upperclassmen is getting through. The Bison start four seniors and two juniors.

“He raises the expectations on how they need to perform,” said Bret Maughan. “You can’t give them that ‘inexperience’ break that you can to some of the younger guys. You look for them to be consistent.”

Two Bison are ranked first in their weight class: Paul Carlson at 157 and Thad Pike at 174. Senior Mike Fiedler (165) and junior Joe Bryce (heavyweight) are third. Senior Brian Kraemer is fourth at 187 and junior Nick Magee is eighth at 133.

Carlson, Fiedler and Kraemer are all within reach of reaching NDSU’s top 10 list for career victories. Kraemer is 91-44, Carlson 89-36 and Fiedler 87-34.

Sophomores Zach Stevens (No. 2 at 149) and Mathias Bitz (No. 8 at 141) are in their third year at NDSU.

Freshmen Eric Sanders (125) and Matt Hermann (184) round out the starters.

“You have the young kids who get grouped in there getting Bucky’s wrath,” Bret Maughan said. “This is definitely a learning year for Sanders and Hermann. Plus the teams we’ve met lately have their studs at ’25 and ’84. It’s been hard on those two.”

NDSU suffered a blow last week when senior Lucas Christianson dislocated his elbow in a wrestle-off to make the starting lineup. The former All-American, who has 55 career victories, was trying to make the lineup at 133 or 141. Maughan said Christianson’s absence means the Bison are down to one quality backup: junior Collin Kelly at 149 or 157. “Both of them could do something nationally,” Maughan said. Still, the Bison are loaded with talent and a coach who is trying to get the most out of it. Plus, it’s NDSU’s last season in Division II. “There’s a little more urgency for me,” Bucky Maughan said. “It’s the last goaround.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546