Krawczyk earns memorable pin in Clarence win
Sunday February 3, 2013 | By:Mike Pidanick, Metro Source | Sports
Clarence senior Austin Krawczyk knew he was a big underdog when he stepped on the mat against Lancaster standout Eric Lewandowski for the 138-pound match in the recent Border Brawl.
After all, Lewandowski was ranked second in Western New York, placed at states last season and is widely recognized as one of the area’s elite on the mat.
Krawczyk has a ton of respect for his opponent but he certainly wasn’t going to back down from him.
“He went out there to battle,” Clarence coach Jason Chase said. “He wasn’t worried about the outcome at that point.”
Maybe not when he stepped on the mat. But after a first-period takedown, all of a sudden the Clarence contingent was on its feet and Krawczyk unexpectedly had control of the match. He finished it off in the third with the pin heard ‘round Clarence.
“It feels amazing just because he’s an outstanding wrestler,” said Krawczyk, who was named Outstanding Wrestler of the meet. “I knew he was going to come out physical so I just wanted to match him. I knew he’s a tough kid. I just wanted to wrestle as well as I could and I ended up pinning him.”
The Red Devils had already locked up the Border Brawl for a third straight season by the time the 138-pound match began. But Krawczyk got the loudest roar of the evening in the first period when he took Lewandowski down, picking up two points for the takedown and two more near-fall points.
It was 5-1 in the third when Lewandowski made a move, but Krawczyk put him on his back for the final time.
“He went to try to throw me and I kind of reversed it and just caught him,” Krawczyk said.
Against a wrestler of Lewandowski’s quality, there’s very little room for error. So it’s good thing Krawczyk didn’t make mistakes in the match.
“Krawczyk wrestled the perfect match,” Chase said. “We knew if we could keep it close and maybe get in his head a little bit, we might be able to wrestle with him. If you get in someone’s head that has a short temper, they forget about wrestling. Austin was able to do that.
After all, Lewandowski was ranked second in Western New York, placed at states last season and is widely recognized as one of the area’s elite on the mat.
Krawczyk has a ton of respect for his opponent but he certainly wasn’t going to back down from him.
“He went out there to battle,” Clarence coach Jason Chase said. “He wasn’t worried about the outcome at that point.”
Maybe not when he stepped on the mat. But after a first-period takedown, all of a sudden the Clarence contingent was on its feet and Krawczyk unexpectedly had control of the match. He finished it off in the third with the pin heard ‘round Clarence.
“It feels amazing just because he’s an outstanding wrestler,” said Krawczyk, who was named Outstanding Wrestler of the meet. “I knew he was going to come out physical so I just wanted to match him. I knew he’s a tough kid. I just wanted to wrestle as well as I could and I ended up pinning him.”
The Red Devils had already locked up the Border Brawl for a third straight season by the time the 138-pound match began. But Krawczyk got the loudest roar of the evening in the first period when he took Lewandowski down, picking up two points for the takedown and two more near-fall points.
It was 5-1 in the third when Lewandowski made a move, but Krawczyk put him on his back for the final time.
“He went to try to throw me and I kind of reversed it and just caught him,” Krawczyk said.
Against a wrestler of Lewandowski’s quality, there’s very little room for error. So it’s good thing Krawczyk didn’t make mistakes in the match.
“Krawczyk wrestled the perfect match,” Chase said. “We knew if we could keep it close and maybe get in his head a little bit, we might be able to wrestle with him. If you get in someone’s head that has a short temper, they forget about wrestling. Austin was able to do that.
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