Shooting for nationals
After finding a spot in lineup, NDSU’s Adams looks to qualify for nationals
Before the season started, NDSU wrestler Ryan Adams didn’t know if he would start regularly. He didn’t even know at what weight class he would wrestle.
Now, after a successful regular season, Adams will try to qualify for the NCAA national tournament. His journey will start this weekend at the NCAA West Regional tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
It will be the first time NDSU has been a part of the postseason since 2003-04, when it competed in Division II.
Adams, who now wrestles at 149 pounds, started the year wrestling at 141 pounds.
“I was down at 141, and it just seemed to be too big of a (weight) cut. I figured I would go back up to 149, then cut down again,” Adams said. “But 149 seemed to be a better fit for myself and for the team.”
Adams wrestling at 149 pounds has made the most sense for NDSU.
Adams, a redshirt freshman, had a 9-4 record on the season at 149.
With Adams at 149, it gives Gabe Mooney, a 141-pounder who went 17-10
on the year, a spot on the starting roster.
“We always knew that Adams could wrestle, but we didn’t know where,” said NDSU assistant coach Bret Maughan. “We have a lot of competition at the 141 and 149-pound weight classes for starting spots. We penciled Adams and Mooney in there at the start of the year, and they have wrestled well for us.”
As a prep, Adams wrestled at Coon Rapids High School, where his Dad is the wrestling coach.
He broke six school records and was a state champion his senior season.
Adams looked at a few schools but in the end chose NDSU because of the history and great coaching staff, he said.
The 2005-06 wrestling season was Adams’ first as a collegiate.
He and the coaching staff decided it would be well-spent if he were to redshirt.
Adams felt the year off helped him adjust to the level of college wrestling and also improve his strength.
Another reason for redshirting last season was because NDSU was still ineligible for the postseason.
“It was a tough decision to redshirt Ryan last season, but he and the coaching staff agreed that a tough year of practice and weight lifting would help him out in his career,” Maughan said.
Adams has started 13 of 14 dual matches, and won five of his last six matches.
Despite the early success, he said it doesn’t surprise him very much.
“I’m not surprised; I am actually a little disappointed. I think that I could have won a few of the matches that I lost,” Adams said.
But Maughan is still happy about Adams’ performance.
“The credit goes to him; he has worked hard,” Maughan said. “He has made some poised decisions and to have a freshman go out there and do that is saying something.”
This weekend at the West Regional, Adams is very positive about his chances.
“The plan is to win it. I am going out to the regional for one reason, and one reason only,” Adams said. “We are very optimistic, on paper he is probably not supposed to go to nationals, but we think he is wrestling well right now, and the possibility is there,” Maughan said.