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CSCS wrestler 'had no chance' yet is on to quarterfinals
Krautschun advances for Lions
DENVER • Colorado Springs Christian School wrestler Cameron Krautschun had “no chance” against a familiar foe on the first day of state wrestling at the Pepsi Center in snowy Denver.
That’s what he’d been hearing since the brackets were announced.
But even so, Krautschun (23-12) held on to upset Buena Vista’s Michael Wilcoxson (22-12) in the 160-pound match.
After the win, the junior dropped to his knees in celebration, and exhaustion, earning the Lions’ only victory in their three first-round matches.
“People said I had no chance beating him. That’s all I heard leading up to it by people outside (CSCS),” said a heavily breathing Krautschun after his 4-2 win Thursday afternoon. “But coming in, I knew it would all come down to who wanted it more.”
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As he walked up to the corner mat alongside 10 others on the floor of the arena, Krautschun knew Wilcoxson was stronger. He knew Wilcoxson was ranked eighth in the state, while the CSCS wrestler was 12th.
And when he looked up at Wilcoxson in the wrestler’s circle, Krautschun remembered losing 3-1 during an early season matchup on a day he couldn’t take down the sturdy kid from Buena Vista for the whole 6 minutes.
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“It’s hard to get those things out of your mind,” CSCS coach Mike Craddock said. “We just tried to make sure he didn’t see his prior match against him as a reality of what would happen today.”
Thankfully for the Lions, Thursday was different.
Click here to see full results from Day 1
Through the first 2 minutes, each wrestler earned a takedown — within 20 seconds of each other — to knot the match at 2 headed into the second period.
“I knew I had to get points early, so I wasn’t trying to catch him at the end,” Krautschun said.
With seconds to go in the second, Krautschun flipped Wilcoxson on his back to take the 4-2 lead headed into the final frame. From there, it was all about holding on — which he did.
“That was a very impressive performance from him,” Craddock said. “Most kids don’t know who they are facing, but Cameron did — and it was a kid that beat him. But Cam won anyway.”
Thursday’s win was the first state-match victory of Krautschun’s career. Friday, he'll face Taylor Maik (39-2) in the quarterfinals.
