Mission Possible: Mavericks Work to Overcome Injuries to Get Back on the Mat

At any second in the game an injury can occur, whether it’s in practice or during one of the most important matches of your career. It’s the moment you face adversity that will dictate the outcome of your career, will you let it beat you or will you conquer it?

For a pair of Minnesota State wrestlers in senior Matthew Blome and sophomore Trevor Turriff, it's this type of adversity that would put them to the test in the past year.

Blome, who wrestles at 197, dislocated his knee during practice on October 6th, 2018, resulting in a full tear of his anterior collateral ligament, medial collateral ligament, posterior collateral ligament, and a partial tear in both his lateral collateral ligament and meniscus.

“You could say it was catastrophic because he had a complete knee dislocation, it was everything,” said Jim Makovsky, Minnesota State's veteran wrestling head coach. “He stayed really stoic amidst it all, though.” 

An All-American as a freshman in 2016-17 when he went 28-11 overall, Blome went 18-8 and became a two-time NCAA national tournament qualifier as a sophomore in 2017-18. The injury, which happened before the start of the 2018-19 campaign, ultimately took Blome out of the game for a year, and it’s the recovery period that is so essential to his healthy return.

“A lot of my time overcoming adversity was done with the team, having people to work with every day; especially Christian Goetz, out athletic trainer that helped me through a lot of my recovery who was there from the day it happened,” said Blome. “It was nice to be able to be on the side of the mat with them instead of just being up in the stands, I was still with the team.”

“Matt is someone who has a lot of passion with a positive outlook on things; but when its go time he gives everything he has, and we are lucky to have him,”  said Makovsky.

"Being away makes it that much better to be back on the mat, watching people do the stuff you do is difficult; but when you get to go back out there and do it with your teammates that’s probably one of the best feelings ever,” said Blome, a native of Mount Horab, Wis. “If I were to have to do it alone, I don’t know how it would go but with the team and the people we have in the room it makes it that much easier.”

For Turriff, who wrestles at 184, he season ended last year when he tore his PCL and LCL in the semi-finals round of the 2018-19 NCAA DII Super Regionals. These injuries ultimately led a lengthy rehabilitation process over the course the next six months.

“I stayed busy with the rehab and we have a great team; the athletic training team as well as the wrestling team that constantly kept me on my toes to get better,” said Turriff, who finished his freshman year with a 13-7 record.

“Overcoming adversity was all about just staying hungry and rearranging my goals, to now let’s get healthier every day and reach a new goal in rehab.”

“Trevor has had to put a lot of extra work in," said assistant coach Ty Eustice. "He’s been doing a lot of things on his own or meeting with the athletic trainer when he’s supposed to and putting in those extra workouts. He's is very coachable and upbeat every day. He’s not the kind of kid you got to get on to bring energy and he’s always showing up ready to work and push himself.”

"The love for the game is really what fuels the flame," said Turiff, a native of De Pere, Wis. "Knowing I’m a part of a team that I am very close with helps fuel my motivation as well.”

The Mavericks, who entered the 2019-20 season rated seventh in the national preseason poll, hope that with both Blome and Turriff healthy, that they can improve upon last year's 31st-place finish at the NCAA DII Championship.

contributed by Schaelly Hildebrandt, Athletic Communications intern

Multi-Tasking

Paul Selman (right) leads Minnesota State with 23 wins

Being a student-athlete is one busy lifestyle.  You go to school as a full-time student, you practice for your respective sport every day, you’re on the road constantly for competition, and you try and balance a social life on top of all of that.  Now take that into perspective, and imagine if you did not just one, but two sports as a student-athlete.

It’s a rare feat that not many people have done historically, especially in modern times.  Dave Winfield, Jackie Robinson, Jim Brown, Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson and Jim Thorpe are just a few notable athletes to have participated in multiple sports at a high level.

There have been several athletes at Minnesota State that have played more than one sport including the likes of Chris Reed (football, track), Keyvan Rudd (football, track), Nathan Hancock (football, track), Sidni Trotter (soccer, women’s basketball), Jenna Peterson (hockey, softball), Kelvin Rodgers (football, track,), Ben King (football, baseball), Michael Lawrence (football, track), Donnell Bowyer (football, baseball), Jared Ziemke (football, basketball), Ryan Dutton (football, baseball),  Lester Mitchell (basketball, track), Tywan Mitchell (football, basketball), Monte Dufault (basketball, baseball), Nancy Kelly (volleyball, softball), Luonna Van Meveran (volleyball, track), Mike Yonkey (football, track), Joel Nielsen (football, baseball),  Mike Carroll (hockey, baseball) and Gene Glynn (basketball, baseball). 

It's possible that from the list above, you might notice that there aren’t any track and wrestling combos.  Until now.

“It’s been roughly 20 years since we have had a multi-sport athlete of any kind on our team," said Jim Makovsky, who’s in his 23^rd season in charge of the Minnesota State wrestling program. “It’s rare enough that you see a multi-sport athlete in football and track, let alone wrestling and track,” 

The wrestling and track student-athlete Makovsky is referencing one of his current team members in Paul Selman.

A native of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Selman attended Glenbard West High School, where he exceled in not one, not two, but three sports -  soccer, wrestling, and track.  After graduating, he enrolled in nearby Millikin University in Decatur, Ill., where he was a member of the soccer and track programs at the NCAA Division III level.  Selman had a tremendous freshman season, attaining  indoor and outdoor track and field all-conference honors in the 100-meter dash while qualifying and competing at the 2015 NCAA DIII national outdoor track and field championships.

While participating in soccer and track, Selman missed participating in his third sport from high school, wrestling.  It was at that time that he met two of the coaches from the Minnesota State wrestling team in Makovsky and assistant coach Marc Harwood, who helped him get back into the sport he loved and missed so much.  Agreeing to transfer to Minnesota State to participate in track, Selman would then switch his second sport from soccer to wrestling. 

He currently leads Minnesota State in his freshman year with the Mavericks with 23 wins, while holding a 23-9 record overall while wrestling at 133 for the 14-rated Mavericks.

 “Paul is learning a lot this year since coming back to wrestling. He’s a great athlete, a hard worker, and he’s gone on to have a steady season,” said Makovsky.

While competing at the college level in sports that run concurrently poses challenges, Selman feels that in his instance, track and wrestling complement each other fairly well, albeit with some adjustments.

 “In wrestling, you run a lot, so it helps keeps me in shape going into track in the spring, and the same goes with track complementing wrestling.  I had to get out of any procrastination habits I had and get all of my homework done ahead of time.  Time management has been key for me, and I couldn’t do it without the support from my teammates and coaches”, Selman explains.”

He also said that due to the timing of practices and competition, his primary focus during the winter will be limited to wrestling, but would plan on competing in the outdoor track season.

In the meantime, there's the matter at hand with the conclusion of the wrestling season drawing near with regional and, hopefully, national tournament competition slated. The Minnesota State men's outdoor track and field season begins near the end of March. It's likely Mr. Selman has that date written down on his busy schedule. 

                             contributed by Cameron Klade, Minnesota State Athletic Communications Intern

   

Coaching With Purpose

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Lori Meyer (2nd from left) was a 2013 NFCA Hall of Fame Inductee

Holding the same job for three decades is impressive, especially in the world of intercollegiate athletics. And especially so at one institution.

        

Lori Meyer has been coaching the Minnesota State University, Mankato softball team for 31 years. As the head coach for the team, Meyer has seen the players take the field for 1,677 games and with 1,049 wins to her name, ranks amongst the all-time winningest coaches in NCAA Division II.

        

While she has had an abundance of success with the Mavericks, Meyer’s career in the sports world started long before her arrival at MSU.

        

“I grew up on a dairy farm with four brothers,” Meyer said. “ Really the neighborhood I grew up in was all boys around me. I had no choice but to figure out how to run with the boys and get that tough mentality.”

Growing up Meyer started playing YMCA softball and entering junior high she expanded her sports experiences by participating in basketball and track. While in college at Upper Iowa University, Meyer was on a basketball scholarship but also played softball and joined the track and volleyball teams for one year each.

Next on the sports train, Meyer found herself in a graduate position at MSU. While earning her master’s degree, Meyer was hired as a grad assistant for the softball and volleyball teams, which led to the head coaching with the Maverick softball program beginning in 1985.

Meyer has seen her fair share of success since her start as softball head coach in 1985. She led the Purple and Gold to two North Central Conference titles in 1987 and 1989 and then another one almost twenty years later in 2007. Recently the team won Northern Sun Intercollegiate titles in 2012,2013 and 2014.  Those are just to name a few.

MSU wrestling coach Jim Makovsky has worked along side Meyer for over 20 years and appreciates how the Albert City-Truesdale High School (Iowa) graduate goes about her business.

“I love her intensity, passion and how much she genuinely cares about her student-athletes,” said Makovsky. “ I believe she uses the sport of softball as a tool to help her players grow.”

With 30-plus years of accomplishments in one place some people might take their talents elsewhere for new adventures. However, Meyer enjoys the atmosphere of Mankato and has no plans of leaving.

“ I love the size,” Meyer said about living and working in the Key City.” I love how the greater Mankato community has grown and keeps developing and all the changes that have been made. It’s just a great place to grow and everything I need is right here.”

Besides the team awards and conference championships, Meyer has also assisted hundreds of student-athletes to succeed in their academic lives. During the course of her tenure Meyer has produced 122 academic all-conference student-athletes and six teams finish with a grade point average in the top-five of Division II, including her 1996 squad, which had the best GPA in Division II with a 3.31. 

“I think she has a purpose in the coaching profession,” Makovsky said. “And that is leading student-athletes toward getting a high quality education. She is a true educator and one of the best I have worked with.”

For Meyer, her choice to stay at MSU for so long is attributed to not only her love for sports, but also her love for helping the student athletes grow and mature.

“When you coach, every day that you go to work there is something different,” Meyer said. “I love the flexibility of coaching and I love the relationships that I have built with the players and other coaching staff. Watching the players find their place and have future goals is really what it’s all about.”

Meyer has already achieved so much as the head coach of a successful softball program and entering her fourth decade she isn’t so much focused on her own goals. It’s the students she wants to see succeed.

“The philosophy of our program, is for our young ladies to leave as strong, independent women,” Meyer said. “And we just want to continue that goal that our student-athletes leave with their degree and independence to do what they want.”

The softball team will look to create more memories with Meyer as the season gears up February 12 with several tournaments and NSIC play beginning March 22.

- contributed by Kelcie Richmond, Athletic Communications intern

        

        

                   

           

We're #1 and, um, some other stuff

Peter McGahey has led the Minnesota
State women's soccer team to a #1
ranking for the first time in the program's
history

With several of our programs doing so well this fall, it seems like it's been week after week of each team topping one another in terms of accomplishments.

The football team is undefeated. The Maverick men's cross country team won its first two meets of the year. The volleyball team defeated four-time defending national champion Concordia in a five-set match played before a large and noisy crowd in Taylor Center, etc.   

So you knew it was going to take something truly significant to really cause a stir.  That moment came Tuesday morning when it was announced that the National Collegiate Soccer Coaches Association released information that the Maverick women's soccer program had been rated #1 in the nation. 

Obviously being ranked as the top team in the land is unique, but for coach Peter McGahey and his crew the ranking took on added meaning due to the fact that it's the first time for the program.  That and the fact that at most schools, no matter what the sport, it really doesn't happen every week.

Besides women's soccer this week, recent Minnesota State teams rated #1 include: women's basketball (March 3, 2009. MSU was ranked #1 three times that year), wrestling (Feb. 7, 2008. MSU was rated #1 twice that year), men's basketball (Feb. 1, 2005).Women's soccer is rated #1 for the first time in the program's history.  So besides being the first time for women's soccer, it's also only the fourth time for a MSU team recently and the first since women's basketball back in 2009.

The Mavericks, who stand 12-1-1 on the year, head into this weekend riding a ten-game winning streak and a 12-game unbeaten streak.

As mentioned, a number of teams are enjoying great years.  Besides the #1 ranking by women's soccer, football is #2 in D2Football.com poll/#9 in AFCA poll, volleyball is rated #13, men's cross country ranks #16th and women's cross country is #20th. 

Speaking of cross country, the Maverick men are perfectly positioned for a return trip the national meet, which takes place Nov. 20 in Joplin, Mo.  Prior to that is the NCAA central region meet, which also is scheduled to take place in Joplin on Nov. 3.  The Mavericks are rated third in the region with the top four teams at the national meet receiving auto bids to the national meet.

The MSU women, meanwhile are rated fourth in the region with the top five teams in the region receiving auto bids based on regional meet performances.

Both teams are scheduled to compete at the 2012 NSIC meet this weekend (Saturday) at the Lee Bolstad Golf Course in Minneapolis.  The meet website is located here.

One other thing before signing off this afternoon.  Congratulations to Mike Hastings, first-year head coach of the Minnesota State men's hockey program.  The Mavericks earned a 4-1 nonconference road win at Alabama-Huntsville last Friday in giving the Crookston, Minn., native a win in his debut.

In the event you were curious as to how other MSU coaches did in their first outings as Maverick coaches, here you go...

Lori Meyer (softball): 7-0 loss at lost Texas Tech, 1985
Jim Makovsky (wrestling): 35-8 win over Iowa Central,1993
Matt Margenthaler (men's basketball): 86-76 loss at Wisconsin Parkside, 2001
Nate Owens (women's swimming) 163-64 win at Northern Iowa, 2004
Dennis Amundson (volleyball): 3-2 win over Michigan Tech, 2005
Peter McGahey (women's soccer): 3-2 home win over Metro State, 2008
Matt Magers (baseball): 6-4 loss at Southwest Baptist (Mo.), 2009
Eric Means (women's hockey): 5-2 win at Maine, 2009
 Christie Williams (women's tennis): 9-0 win vs. Bethany, 2012

Next up is new women's basketball coach Emilee Thiesse.  There's an exhibition game at the University of Minnesota Nov. 4, but her first real game as head coach takes place Nov. 16 vs. Black Hills State at a tournament hosted by Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D.

It's great to be a Maverick!

Taking Solace

Jim Makovsky

"I wasn't the best technician in amateur wrestling. But I was strong, had great conditioning, and a hard head. Nobody could break me." Brock Lesnar, former NCAA wrestling and UFC heavyweight champion.

You can see it in his eyes.  Minnesota State coach Jim Makovsky thrives on working in the wrestling room with his team.  He'd played football and wrestled at Valley City State (N.D.) as a student-athlete prior to embarking on his now lengthy coaching career and the years of drilling with the boys have started to take its toll.  Makovsky, who's in his 18th year with the Maverick wrestling program, recently had his right hip replaced and although the pain from the procedure is undoubtedly tremendous, you just know that not being able to work like he normally would with his team is something he's struggling that pains him even more.

MavBlog:  "I suppose this hip-replacement thing isn't something that just cropped up."

Makovsky:  "(laughing) No, no.  It's been chronic for a while and have known since 2004 that I was going to have to get this done eventually."

MavBlog: "Can you describe what you had done and how's the recovery going?"

Makovsky: "I had what's called a Birmingham Hip Resurfacing Procedure.  Basically it's a pretty new procedure for people that are younger and active and need hip replacement.   I was pretty excited to have this rather than the other procedure which involves a total hip replacement.  You retain more bone with this process."

"The recovery is going o.k.  It's probably been mentally harder than physically.  I'm not good at sitting around.  I like being around the program with the comaraderie you have with the guys.  I like the work part of it and being around positive people.  I started rehab right away and I'm at the point now where it's more of a workout pain and feels pretty good."

MavBlog: "Where does it go from here?"

Makosky:  "I'm going to listen to my doctors and physical therapists.  Try not to push too much, which I'm not good at.  I'm not going to to our meet at UNI this weekend and that was a tough decision.  But long term it will be good for me."

MavBlog:  "What are your thoughts on the team this year and have you had a chance to be back into the room this week?"

Mavovsky:  "It's tough, because we're relatively inexperienced and don't have that national championship meet experience you like to see.  But I think we have a chance to be good.  We won't really know what we have until we get into the second half of the season.   But, I love our guys.  I'm not sure if they were happy to see me or not when I came into the room today.  They gave me some grief about my cane, but that's the nature of our guys.  Just another experience along the way."

Currently ranked seventh in the nation, Minnesota State is at the UNI Open in Cedar Falls, Iowa this weekend.

It's great to be a Maverick.