Saturday,
December 31, 2011
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Bergen Catholic's Alex Kruklinski hit the gas in the third period to claim a 10-6 win and the 170-pound BCCA Holiday Tournament title. |
SUFFERN -- There is no denying the brute strength of Bergen Catholic juniorAlex Kruklinski. At 170 pounds, he is about as strong as you will see on a mat on any level, let alone the high school level. But brute strength can only get a wrestler so far. Technique and conditioning mixed with that strength has the potential to become an unbeatable combination. It is a lesson Kruklinski learned last year and has worked feverishly on improving for a breakout junior season. That hard work started to pay off on Friday night at the BCCA George Jockish Holiday Tournament.
Kruklinski wore down previously undefeated Dylan Menze of Emerson/Park Ridge and pulled away late for a 10-6 triumph in a meeting between these two first-ever BCCA finalists.
The score was 2-2 heading into the second period when Kruklinski scored a takedown to take the lead only to see it evaporate when Menze quickly escaped and countered with a textbook takedown of his own to take a 4-3 lead. Last year, it might have been a match where Kruklinski got desperate and went outside his original gameplan. But he stuck to his guns and regained control of the match.
"This whole tournament I was on the offensive side and when you have a kid come out there and touch your legs, of course that is going to wake you up," said Kuklinski. "But when you get to the final you have to expect the other kid to be good and you just have to keep your concentration."
Kuklinski's takedown late in the second period gave him the lead for good before he added two more takedowns against a gassed Menze in the third period for a 10-6 victory.
“Last year as a sophomore that was my only weakness, my conditioning, so I told myself that I was not going to let that happen again," added Kruklinski. “I worked and worked and it showed, I guess. Third period I was still strong and I knew it was my match to win."
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