PINNING IT DOWN: Princeton University wrestler Matthew Kolodzik pins Columbia’s Jacob Macalolooy at 149 pounds in a regular season match. Sophomore Kolodzik solidified his status as one of the greatest wrestlers in Princeton history over the last month, winning his second straight EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) title and then placing third in 149 pounds at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Matthew Kolodzik enjoyed a landmark debut campaign for the Princeton University wrestling team in 2016-17, going 30-4 and taking seventh at 141 pounds in the NCAA Championships to become the first freshman in program history to earn All-American honors.

But as Kolodzik headed into his sophomore year, he decided the best way to build on that success was to focus less on winning and more on just wrestling well.

“I am already an All American, let’s see how things go; it was really let’s push things to the limit,” said Kolodzik, a native of Bellbrook, Ohio who moved up to 149 pounds this winter.

“It was working on wrestling for the sake of wrestling and going out there and scoring as many points as possible versus just wrestling to win. I have had way too many matches throughout this past year where I was just wrestling to win. That is a easy mindset to get caught up in.”

After some early season stumbles, Kolodzik got rolling, emerging as one of the dominant wrestlers in his weight class, winning his second straight EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) title and then placing third at the NCAA Championships earlier this month in Cleveland, Ohio.

In reflecting on his sophomore campaign, Kolodzik pointed to a subpar outing at the prestigious Midlands Championships in late December as a turning point.

“I came into Midlands with a winning mindset instead of a dominating mindset so when I took those losses, it was mostly mental,” said Kolodzik, who dropped his last three matches of the competition to end up in sixth place.

“One domino falls and the rest of them go and that is what it was. I lost three matches right in a row in Midlands, but then after I realized what had happened there, I said alright, let’s never let that happen again, and I went right on into the season and the NCAA tournament.”

Kolodzik produced a dominant performance at the EIWA Championships, defeating Jacob Macalolooy of Columbia 9-1 in the quarterfinals before topping Navy’s Jared Prince 8-2 in the semis and posting a 13-6 win over Frank Garcia of Binghamton in the
championship match.

“I think Easterns was probably my best tournament all year,” said Kolodzik.

“It was a confidence builder. I wrestled phenomenally to the point where I was thinking I shouldn’t pump myself up too much because in the NCAAs, every kid is like the toughest kid from his conference. I learned a lot there.”

Although Kolodzik was the 11th seed coming into the NCAAs, he was primed for a big run with the event being held in his home state.

“My mom’s whole family lives outside the Canton area, it was really special,” said Kolodzik.

“I had a whole bunch of my cousins down there and my entire family. My brother (former Princeton wrestler Daniel Kolodzik ’12) was there, which was great.”

Kolodzik gave his fans plenty to cheer about, starting the competition by defeating Taylor Ortiz of Clarion 8-2 in the first round and then upsetting sixth-seeded Justin Oliver of Central Michigan 3-2 in the second round.

“The first match was great, coach [Chris Ayres] has always talked to me about making sure that I get a good start,” said Kolodzik.

“It is not just my first match, but the warmups before every match. It was a great warmup, I was firing on all cylinders. It is like, alright, we are here, we are ready to wrestle at the tournament, and now it is on to the next one.”

In the quarterfinals against third-seeded Grant Leeth of Missouri, Kolodzik scored a takedown with 25 seconds remaining in the match to earn a 4-3 win.

“He would hang on to me when I would try to step back out of that tie-up so eventually I just grabbed his wrist and did that little duck under,” recalled Kolodzik. “It was a good finish; I didn’t realize how little time was left on the clock.”

In the semis, the tables got turned on Kolodzik as 15th-seeded Ronnie Perry of Lock Haven scored a late takedown in rallying for a 5-3 win.

“Instead of thinking about the points I needed to score, I was thinking about holding on to the lead that I had,” lamented Kolodzik.

“I was talking to coach Ayres in the van afterwards and we said we really should have had that one. Then after you get over that, it is a process of ‘let’s go to work,’ and that is exactly what I did.”

The next day, Kolodzik put in some very good work, defeated second-seeded Brandon Sorenson of Iowa 7-3 and then edged fourth-seeded Troy Heilmann 3-2 to place third.

“You go out and wrestle and it is the NCAA third place match and I really want to win,” said Kolodzik, who is just the sixth multiple-time All-American in program history and one of only three Tiger wrestlers (joining John Orr ‘85 and Greg Parker ‘03) to finish in the Top 5 at NCAAs over the last 40 years.

“It is a constant mental battle, at least when you are first learning to flip that switch every time. What really helps me is to score points when I needed to but also, going forward, is the thought that if I don’t do this now, it is a bad habit.”

While seeing the third-place finish as a step forward, Kolodzik has his sights set on becoming the second Tiger to win the NCAA crown with Bradley Glass having achieved the feat by winning the unlimited title in 1951.

“I am not anywhere close to where I want to be,” said Kolodzik, who also joins also joins Parker and John Sefter ’78 as the only Princeton wrestlers to win multiple EIWA titles and All-American honors.

A key factor behind Kolodzik’s rise in the wrestling world has been the influence of his older brother, Dan, an All-Ivy star for the Tigers who made the NCAAs and is now studying for an MBA at Columbia.

“A big part of the reason that I have had so much success is because of my brother and everything that he has done,” said Kolodzik, who will be competing in the U.S. freestyle nationals this summer and hopes to qualify for 2018 Wrestling World Championships being held in Budapest, Hungary this October.

“I talk to him all of the time. There is not a thing that I have been through that he hasn’t been through first and learned something from, and that is especially true when it comes to college wrestling, let alone the academic stuff.”

Looking ahead to next season, Kolodzik plans to keep his focus on wrestling for wrestling’s sake, noting that former U.S. champion and Ohio State All-American Reece Humphrey will be joining the Princeton staff and will help challenge him on a daily basis.

“There are always technical things to work on but those are small things compared to the mental challenges,” said Kolodzik.

“Now that we have Reece and a really good class coming in that will help in terms of putting myself in those scenarios so I won’t slip back into that mentality of hanging on instead of pushing forward and scoring points.”