For the NC State wrestling team, the first people that fans tend to look at in terms of great wrestlers are redshirt seniors Tommy Gantt and Nick Gwiazdowski, as well as sophomore Kevin Jack, all three of whom are in the top five in their weight classes.
For juniors Max Rohskopf and Pete Renda, they too are integral parts of NC State’s historic wrestling season.
For Renda, the season was one of change for the wrestler. During his sophomore season, the Topton, Pennsylvania native went 20-16 on the season, a slight decline from his 27-11 record in his freshman season.
To prepare for the season, Renda packed on 10 pounds to jump from the 174-pound weight class to 184-pound weight class, a change Renda said wasn’t much of a difference.
“It’s not a huge difference, because my strength coaches have done a great job of putting some size on me,” Renda said. “But for me, it really wasn’t much of a change.”
Despite the change in weight class, Renda significantly improved his record from the year before. Renda finished the regular season ranked as the 18th best wrestler at the 184-pound class according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
Renda also drastically improved his dual record from the previous season. He went from being 9-9 in dual meets in 2014-15 to a resounding 14-4 record this season. For Renda, the biggest difference has been the ease of schedule as an individual and the excitement for the season.
“Last year I had a really tough dual meet schedule; I think three-quarters of the guys I faced were ranked in the top 20,” Renda said. “And I’m a lot more excited about dual meets than I was last year.”
The change in attitude about the dual meets could be seen in one of the team’s biggest wins in program history.
Renda was pivotal in the team’s second top-five win of the year against the No. 5 Missouri Tigers. Renda got an 11-0 major decision over No. 11 Willie Miklus, which allowed Gwiazdowski to secure the 18-17 win two bouts later.
For Renda, the match was a culmination of all the hard work he had been putting in the last two years.
“I haven’t really been able to step up for my team a lot this year,” Renda said following the match against the Tigers. “But I got an opportunity to step up, and I just went out there and won it for the guys on my team.”
As for Rohskopf, his mantra has been working on his consistency during the season following the 2014-2015 campaign. After winning 18 of 21 matches during a stretch of the season last year, the Killbuck, Ohio, native flamed out and lost 10 of his final 13 matches to close out the year.
According to Rohskopf, part of his decline at the end of the year was due to overworking himself in preparation for his matches.
“Traditionally, for me, in high school and my first few years in college, I felt that the harder I worked, the easier success was going to come,” Rohskopf said. “I’ve always over-trained, so this year we’ve been focusing on making sure that I’m fresh and the best I can be.”
The change in training approach has taken Rohskopf’s game to new heights. Though he has improved every year, the change from his sophomore year to his junior year was drastic, jumping from a record of 25-16 to 12-2, with only one of the two losses coming at the end of the season.
The calling card in Rohskopf’s matches has been his stellar ability to keep opponents in check. Excluding his 6-1 loss to Missouri’s Dan Lewis, Rohskopf has been shutting down his opponents, outscoring them 27-7 in his last six matches. For Rohskopf, his trick to domination is staying calm under pressure.
“Whenever I go out there, I always tell myself that I’m ice-cold,” Rohskopf said. “I want to go out there relaxed and calm. When I’m too pumped, that’s when I don’t wrestle my best.”
With his best regular season under his belt, Rohskopf and the other wrestlers will begin the postseason with a dual against the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes at the National Duals, as well as the upcoming the ACC Championship and the NCAA Championship, but Rohskopf seems to be ready for whatever is thrown his way.
“I might not be the best wrestler in the country, but I’m definitely the toughest in my weight class,” Rohskopf said. “And I think that’s dangerous.”
