Making his mark on the mats

For most athletes the transition from high school to college sports can take some getting used to. That hasn’t been the case for Boise State freshman wrestler Kirk Smith.

“The transition, I think I was more ready for it,” Smith said. “I was looking forward to it. The better competition, the better matches, I was kind of preparing myself for it. It’s a lot tougher mentally, a lot more training, a lot faster paced, so I think I was ready for it.”

What helped Smith prepare for this season and the challenge of college wrestling was the fact that he trained and worked out with the Bronco Wrestling Club during last spring. Smith said that was one of the biggest factors in helping him have a smooth transition.

Currently Smith is 17-1 with the Broncos and having an incredible year on the mat. One of the highlights of the season was his first official match with the team when he faced the Pacific Athletic Conference No.1 wrestler Ian Murphy of Cal State Fullerton. Smith ended up winning the match 3-2.

“It was pretty nerve wracking,” Smith said. “But I’ve been in bigger and tougher matches. It was still never-wracking, it was my first match in a Bronco singlet on, you always remember your first match.”

Before that match, Smith was wrestling unattached for the team as a red-shirt. He said that the coaches had him start off that way to see were he was at and how he was going to be against the rest of the nation.

“I went around under the Bronco Wrestling Club, which allowed me to go to open tournaments,” Smith said. “I still wrestled big name guys and kind of used that as a landmark to see if I wanted to come out.”

Before Smith started his assault on collegiate opponents, he was one of the top wrestlers in the nation in high school.

While wrestling for Centennial High School, Smith won four national championships, 15 All-American honors, numerous state and district titles and was the top wrestler in the nation at 171 pounds.

With such a lofty resume, Smith decided to stick at home and wrestle for the Broncos.

“I’ve know (Assistant Coach) Chris Owens for a long time,” Smith said. “Here I had a long history, I could feel comfortable around them. They’re always looking out for the best in the individual. I like that in a program.”

The Broncos should feel pretty happy about having Smith in their program as he is currently ranked No. 9 in his weight class in the nation.

Though he’s not the only Smith on the roster for BSU. Smith’s older brother Nick is wrestling for the Broncos as a heavyweight after red-shirting for the team last year. Nick transfer to the team from Virginia following the 2005-06 season. Having Nick on the team has definitely been an added bonus for both the team and Kirk.

“It’s pretty cool, the last time we were on a team was in high school when I was a freshmen,” Kirk said. “It’s kind of cool to have that opportunity.”

One of their toughest matches of the season is Jan. 27 when they square off against Oregon State. Last year BSU lost to the Beavers and the Broncos are looking to get a win this year.

“We just need to do the same thing like we do always, just treat each match like it’s your toughest one,” Smith said. “We really want to get this one, last year in PAC 10 we didn’t do as well as we wanted. So this year we really want to leave a bookmark going into the PAC 10 by dominating last year’s champ."

MARY ALBL
Assistant Sports Editor

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