Minnesota wrestler Devin Skatzka relishes becoming Richmond's first DI All-American

He's always been a champion. 

At Richmond High School, Devin Skatzka won individual state wrestling championships all four years he was on campus.

So it was more than fitting to watch the University of Minnesota wrestler celebrate his latest accomplishment, becoming an All-American wrestler at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships this past weekend.

"It felt great," Skatzka said of placing eighth overall at 174 pounds. "It was one of my life goals as a wrestler. I'm finally getting some of the results for the hard work I have been putting in. This past year, I got a lot of experience wrestling in big matches. Minnesota brings in a couple thousand fans for each match. I was ready for the atmosphere of the national championships. 

"We hosted the Big Ten tournament two weeks ago and had 13,000 fans. It was a great practice for that atmosphere and really got me ready."

Skatzka, a junior, and fellow Richmond High School graduate Colton McKiernan of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville each competed at the Division I finals. 

Cheering for them along the way was Richmond coach Brandon Day, along with current and former staff and alumni.

"I tried to watch as many matches as I could on ESPN and I think (former Richmond coach) George Hamblin and I probably texted each other 75 times," Day said. "You love these kids. You don't get to see them much because they are all over the place but you love them. 

"You have known them since they were little kids and you would do anything for them. They are extremely valuable to me and my life. It was pretty awesome to watch them both wrestle. George has known Devin since he was a newborn. I was getting choked up talking to George and Kevin McKiernan about those kids.

"We take a ton of pride with this being a small, blue-collar community. We don't sell the kids and their parents a bag of goods that you have to go to a bigger school or private school. We have 550 kids here and we had two NCAA qualifiers. And more than any other school in Michigan."

Skatzka went 4-3 at the tournament, losing in the seventh-place match to finish eighth overall at 174 pounds.

"The first day, I felt great in my first match," Skatzka recalled. "My second match I lost to the eighth seed. I was the ninth seed and I got pinned. I was surprised because I thought I would win. The next day I wrestled the 15 seed and majored him and that got me rolling and my confidence started to build.

"I wrestled a returning All-American the next day and did well against him as well going into my placement match. I thought I wrestled him well. I tried to soak up as much of all of it as I could for when I'm back next year. I want to improve as much as I can. I wasn't super happy about my last couple of matches." 

With that motivation already in mind, Skatzka is already looking ahead to his final year of college eligibility. And he hopes he is inspiring a few wrestlers back at home. 

"I definitely think me and Colton competing at NCAAs is probably setting some dreams up for the younger guys," Skatzka said. "I hope we can give them some motivation for some time. 

"I'm going to take a week off and get right back at it. I'm going to be training freestyle and go to the USA Open in a month and the University Nationals and try to make that team and go compete overseas somewhere. I'm going to remember all of the relationships I've built along this journey. I've been to two colleges and built friendships day in and out. I've had coaches and lifelong mentors and people to look up to. I'll always just remember the work I've been putting in the past 15 or 16 years now."

Contact Joseph Hayes at (810) 989-6268 or at jahayes@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Joseph_Hayes11. 

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