Earlier this season, York wrestling coach Mike DiNovo and his coaching staff asked senior Austin Hoffmann to alter his workout routine outside of practice. They were concerned that the long runs Hoffmann was going on might be detrimental to the development of fast-twitch muscles that a wrestler’s legs require.
“Sometimes I’d work out before practice, and then after practice,” Hoffmann said. “They thought that was too much. But I was fine. I did it last year, too. So I just kept doing it.”
It’s hard to argue with Hoffmann’s results. He placed third at 145 pounds at the Class 3A Leyden Regional on Saturday, improving to 32-10 on the season and becoming a sectional qualifier for the second time.
York junior Justin Miramontes also qualified for the Conant Sectional meet, placing second at 285 pounds. Hoffmann qualified at 138 pounds last season.
“I don’t think he ever stops,” DiNovo said of Hoffmann. “In the summer he’s in camps and clinics, spring time he’s wrestling matches, so he does a lot of the right things. He works really hard, so it’s nice to see him come out here and perform.”
Only the top three wrestlers in each weight class advance through the regional, so the third-place mat at every regional is typically a place of high drama, where the winner moves on and the season ends for the loser.
Hoffmann, who finished third at last year’s regional, said he was ready Saturday for the pressure of the third-place mat against Glenbard West’s Peyton Nimsakont. Hoffmann found himself in trouble after Nimsakont earned a takedown against him midway through their match.
“You have to go your hardest, but I was calm,” Hoffmann said. “And that takedown got me going.”
Hoffmann escaped and took Nimsakont down en route to an 8-2 decision win.
Hoffmann’s style has changed since he was a freshman wrestling varsity at 113 pounds, when he said he was happy to earn one takedown and use his riding skills to win close matches.
He was same type of wrestler as a sophomore wrestling at 120 pounds, so entering his junior year Hoffmann worked to become better on his feet. He went 29-16 at 138 as a junior became a sectional qualifier for the first time.
“I started to feel more confident at the end of last year, when I started to believe I could go with these (top) guys,” Hoffmann said. “By junior year, I started to like being on my feet more.
“Now I can take guys down, cut them and take them down again. But I haven’t lost my (riding) skills.”
Hoffmann would like to wrestle in college, although he’s not sure where yet. He could raise his recruiting profile if he can get through the Conant Sectional and become a downstate qualifier.
“For Austin, he has done the work and he’s in a good mental frame,” DiNovo said. “He has really rounded out his game.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press
