Another honor for Howe
MADISON, Wis.
Amateur Wrestling News released its All-Rookie Teams in the May issue, and after making it all the way to the NCAA finals at 165 lbs. as a true freshman, Andrew Howe was tabbed the publication’s 2009 Rookie of the Year. Earlier this spring, Howe was also named freshman of the year by RevWrestling.com and D1CollegeWrestling.net. He also earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year accolades after winning the title at 165 lbs. at the 2009 Big Ten Championships.
Howe was featured in the latest issue of Amateur Wrestling News and you can see the article below, or visit the publication’s Web site to find information on how you can get your own copy of Amateur Wrestling News.
Andrew Howe named AWN Rookie of the Year
If you were to ask Andrew Howe his goals heading into his first year at the University of Wisconsin, he would have responded with the same answer, every time, without hesitation.
“To win nationals,” Howe stated.
As a true freshman, that’s one lofty goal.
As a true freshman, Howe was just one takedown away from achieving that goal.
Howe capped off his impressive true freshman campaign with a spot in the NCAA finals at 165 lbs., becoming the first true freshman to reach the finals since Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota in 2006.
Howe built up enough of a resume to earn the No. 2 seed and lived up to the seeding by winning four-straight bouts in St. Louis. The only thing left standing in his way of his goal was 12th-seeded Jarrod King, a fifth-year senior, from Edinboro. The match was close, but King’s third-period takedown proved to be the difference as the senior ended his career with the 3-2 win.
Howe, on the other hand, is just getting started and doesn’t want the view from second place again.
“I remember I felt like I’m never going to be satisfied until I’m on the top,” Howe said when recalling the awards presentation at the NCAA championships. “I think it’s extra motivation for the years to come. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about it and I’m sure every day from now on I’m going to think about it until I do win.”
While Howe was unable to achieve his personal goal in his first season, he still had one of the best freshman campaigns in the history of Wisconsin wrestling. He compiled a 30-5 overall record, was the only Badger to go undefeated in dual action (13-0) and went on a 19-match winning streak, that wasn’t snapped until the NCAA finals. Howe also became the first UW freshman to win a Big Ten title under head coach Barry Davis and was the first Big Ten Freshman of the Year for UW since Jeff Walter in 1992.
Davis has been at Wisconsin for more than 15 years and coached a number of great athletes. He can now add Howe to the list.
“I think his mental capability is what makes him such a special athlete,” Davis said. “The guy that can stay mentally focused the longest and stay in his positions when he has to be, is usually the guy that’s going to win. That’s the difference between someone that is winning and losing at a high level. A lot of guys have skills and techniques, but can they perform them under pressure, can they mentally out withstand a tight match and not flinch.”
Howe’s road to the University of Wisconsin began when he started wrestling in first grade in Cedar Lake, Ind., went by way of Naperville, Ill., and eventually ended in Madison. While in high school, Howe trained at the Overtime School of Wrestling, which is located in Naperville, about 70 miles away from his hometown of Cedar Lake. Former UW assistant coach Sean Bormet now works at Overtime and alerted his former wrestler, two-time NCAA champion and current Badger assistant Donny Pritzlaff, about Howe.
“He told me there’s a kid in my club that you have to take a look at because he reminds me of you and he’s a great kid, hard worker, has a great family,” Pritzlaff remembers. “I thought he was really tough and I could tell he was very dedicated because he had to drive about an hour and a half one way just to get there, depending on traffic.
“I knew he had something inside of him that a lot of kids don’t have; he has a strong belief that he can win and he believes in himself.”
Howe knew about Pritzlaff too. He would watch YouTube videos of Pritzlaff while in high school and claims the UW assistant coach was one of the big draws for him attending Wisconsin.
“I got up here and got around the campus, met the guys on the team and all the other coaches and I really liked everything about it,” Howe said. “I knew how successful Donny was here and I knew he could help me a lot with my wrestling style so it was a good fit for me.”
Howe and Pritzlaff worked out together and both were seen around the Wisconsin wrestling room with black eyes at various points in the season, unintentionally inflicted on each other. Aside from black eyes, Pritzlaff gave Howe advice throughout the season while sitting in his corner at tournaments. Just eight years earlier, the UW assistant coach was wrestling for his second NCAA title at 165 lbs. but on March 21, he was there in Howe’s corner, and the first one to be there after his tough loss to King.
“I told him I was proud of him,” Prtizlaff remembers. “He knows how proud of him I am and I told him that he wrestled a good match and there’s areas he can get better at. It was a great year, he had a great performance and he really out-wrestled the kid. That’s the disappointing thing because when you out-wrestle someone you’re supposed to win and it didn’t happen, but it’s something to build on for next year.”
Howe racked up the accomplishments this year but there was one thing he never did this year”get nervous. Before matches, Howe listens to music, usually the Dropkick Murphys, gets warm and just relaxes.
“I had nothing to lose every match,” Howe said. “I just went out there and had fun.”
Pritzlaff, on the other hand, has a different opinion on why Howe never got nervous.
“He believes in his training,” Prtizlaff said. “A lot of times when guys get nervous, they’re worried that there’s a deficiency in their training, in their diet, and Andrew is the kind of kid that every little detail, he took care of, so when it was time to compete, he knew that he had done everything he possibly could and he was just going to go out there and wrestle. Some kids just have it, they just have the grit where they don’t get nervous.”
It’s safe to say that Howe was pretty good in his freshman season, but the Badger coaching staff expects him to only get better in the years to come. Davis wants Howe focus on his work on top and open up his offense more, considering he wrestled 13 matches that were decided by two points or less and went 5-0 in overtime matches.
“There’s no doubt that taking second as a true freshman is quite an accomplishment and he wanted to win, but in order to put yourself in position to win next year and down the road he has to become better in other areas,” Davis said. “I think fans will see a guy that continues to improve his style, he will become more well-rounded and he’s going to develop more weapons.”
Pritzlaff also expects big things out of his workout partner.
“I think as he goes on, he’s going to be much better than I was,” Pritzlaff said. “He already has such a good ground work and he just seems like he’s ahead of the game. He has something that most young kids don’t have.
“Of course you take it one year, one day at a time, but I think he’s going to be a world champion, Olympic champion, if he wants to, he’s that good.”
Ask Howe though what he wants out of his sophomore season and the answer remains the same.
“National championship,” Howe says without hesitation. “Same goal as when I came in.”
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