By Bill Albright
CLARION — Midway through Sunday’s championship finals of the 2005 Eastern Wrestling League tournament, State College graduate and current Pittsburgh Panther wrestler Matt Kocher could be seen sitting in the stands, chowing down on some pizza, candy and any other food item that might satisfy his hunger.
As for sitting in the stands among friends, it might have been the best therapy Kocher could ask for. A couple hours earlier, he had just completed a sub-par tournament, losing a 3-2 decision to Cleveland State’s Marcus Effner to finish sixth at 157 pounds. Kocher’s only win in the tournament came over Effner 4-3 in the opening round of the tournament.
“I guess you could say that wrestling bigger guys at 157 was a factor, “began Kocher. “When I was at 149 I was one of the bigger guys and now, that has obviously changed. But the guy who just beat me (Effner), the last time we wrestled, I beat him by seven points. I have all of the moves so all I have to do is step it up and change some things.”
His season is not done yet, however. About two hours after the tournament had concluded, Kocher learned that had received one of six wild card berths into the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 17-19 in St. Louis.
After an outstanding freshman season on the mats for the Panthers, Kocher wasn’t the least bit concerned about the mythical sophomore jinx. As a matter of fact, he claims he never really thought about it.
During his initial campaign at Pitt, Kocher won more than 30 matches, finished second in the EWL championships to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, and eventually won three matches at nationals to cap his outstanding rookie season.
As a sophomore, Kocher, although wading through some peaks and valleys, has compiled a respectable 29-10 record.
“I don’t really believe in things like that, but it happened to me in high school, “said Kocher. “I qualified for states during my freshman year, but than as a sophomore, I didn’t make it. If you look at the first half of this year, I was on my way to doing really well. I won Mat Town, I placed at Vegas, so I did some good things early on. But recently I don’t know what happened because I have been wrestling so tight.”
After competing at 141 pounds a year ago, Kocher began this season at 149, but a growth spurt proved holding that weight difficult, and he moved up to 157 two-thirds of the way through the campaign.
“I am definitely not the same size as I was last year, “Kocher said. “Looking at it now, it would have been nice to have stayed at 149, but I just couldn’t do it any longer. It just wasn’t reasonable for me to do. Although it was never easy, I could handle it at first. But the longer it went on, it became even more difficult. Following the Christmas break, I came back and made weight, but I felt horrible. I just went out there and stood and I said to myself, hey, this isn’t going to work. I still have to continue to improve and feel good doing it so I moved up.”
Long-time Panther coach Rande Stottlemyer also saw the inability to make weight as a result of the growth process.
“Many times we lose sight of the fact that these are 18, 19 and 20-year-old kids who are still growing, “said Stottlemyer. “If you look at his picture in last year’s media guide and then take a look at him now standing up straight, you can easily see that he is bigger and taller than he was last year.”
Regardless of whether he was at 149 or 157, Kocher was quick to point out that his training schedule has never changed.
“I don’t think there has ever been a point in my life that I haven’t trained to my optimum, “he said. “I don’t think there is anything more that I can do, although I need to change my strategy and style of wrestling. It needs an overhaul because I can’t continue to go out there and expect to win those 3-2 and 4-3 matches all the time. Ever once in a while I do open up and in the beginning of the season, I did get a lot of major decisions, but then for some reason, I slowed down.”
Although disappointed by his performance at the tournament, Kocher was still able to keep things in perspective.
“I have a lot of wrestling ahead of me and it isn’t like wrestling has always been happy for me, “he said. “I realize that there are going to be dark times before the sun shines is a good way to put it so I guess I just have to keep doing what I have been doing, work with my coaches, change a few things and work my way through it.”
Wrestling Gear
