ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Evan Krumheuer — Wrestling

By MAGGIE SPITZER For The News-Letter

On Saturday, Nov. 14 the Hopkins wrestling team competed in the Ursinus College Fall Brawl in Collegeville, Pa. Although team scores were not recorded at this annual event, senior Evan Krumheuer stood at the forefront of the Blue Jays’ individual performances. With a 3-1 record on the day, he finished as runner-up in the 125 lb. weight class. Krumheuer began the day with a victory over Ursinus’s freshman Colin Monahan, followed by a 7-2 win over Rafael Melendez of Camden County College. The team’s co-captain then defeated sophomore Chris Tan of Ursinus, the top seed in the bracket, in a tight 8-6 semifinal match. Krumheuer eventually placed second after losing in the finals 3-2 to sophomore Noah Malamut from Gettysburg. The News-Letter sat down with Krumheuer while he reflected on his wrestling career at Hopkins as well as his aspirations and initial reactions to the team’s progress early this season.

News-Letter: In this past weekend’s tournament you led Hopkins with a second place finish. As the co-captain of your team, in what other ways do you try to lead your teammates? Evan Krumheuer: I try to bring the right attitude for the given situation and be up-beat. Wrestling is a pretty grueling sport, and sometimes the best thing you can have is the situational awareness to know when someone needs a good laugh or to be left to themselves. I guess it’s having the emotional intelligence to know when and how to lead most effectively.

N-L: What is your team’s focus heading into the 2015-2016 season? EK: Our focus is concerned with using each day to get a little better so that we reach our peak in February and March for the Conference and National tournaments.

N-L: Although the season has just begun, in what areas can you see room for improvement, both individually and as a program? EK: Maintaining a high intensity room is essential, but emotions need to be kept in check as well. We have a lot of competitors in our room and that means sometimes emotions run high. We need to make sure to channel this intensity into our matches the same way we do matchups in practice.

N-L: What are your personal goals for your final season at Hopkins? EK: My goals are to be an All-American as well as gain Scholar All-American status.

N-L: How has your role on the team developed in recent years, and what impact do you hope to leave on the underclassmen and Johns Hopkins wrestling? EK: Being out last year with mononucleosis I really wasn’t able to have as large an impact in the room, and therefore on the team, as I would have liked. This year has still been slow to start because of some nagging injuries, but overall I’m excited to step in as a mentor and leader and see this team reach its potential. I think I’ve always been a high-effort person. I pride myself on my work-ethic, and I’m glad that it’s starting to manifest itself on the mats outside of the practice room. We’ve come a long way over the years of establishing ourselves and building this program. The only way to continue that is to keep the effort high and never be satisfied. Luckily that mindset is already ingrained in a lot of our young guys because of the way they approach their academics. If you lay the proper groundwork, it’s a lot easier to build upon later.

N-L: The wrestling team features a large number of underclassmen, especially a big freshmen class. What is the team dynamic like? What hopes do you have for the younger wrestlers in the future? EK: As far as the dynamic, I think there’s less of a class divide so to say because of the large number of freshmen and sophomores we have. It’s really allowed for everyone to be themselves and feel like part of the team. We have a lot of characters and a wide range of personalities that I think contribute well to our overall group cohesiveness. The younger guys have come in and responded extremely well to the college style and I expect them to continue to improve each week.

Krumheuer and rest of Hopkins wrestlers will look to continue progressing in the early season this Saturday, Nov. 21 at the Doug Parker Invitational in Springfield, Mass.