From winless freshman to one of state’s best
Prep’s
Dudziak completes incredible transformation with place finishing at NJSIAA
state wrestling tournament
When Konrad Dudziak enrolled as a freshman at St. Peter’s Prep last year, he was fascinated with the sport of wrestling.
“I liked the sport, the team and the coaches,” Dudziak said. “I never gave wrestling a thought before high school. So when I came to high school, I figured I would give it a try.”
Needless to say, Dudziak didn’t exactly take the world by storm. He wrestled six matches as a freshman – and lost all six.
“I got pinned all six times,” Dudziak said. “It wasn’t easy.”
A lot of kids might have become instantly discouraged and walked away from the sport. That wasn’t part of Dudziak’s plan.
“It was like a family in the wrestling room,” explained Dudziak, a native of Poland who came to the United States about six years ago. “That feeling meant a lot to me. Even though I wasn’t very good, they made me feel comfortable. I felt close to them. They kept encouraging me. I wanted to continue to wrestle and I wanted to get better.”
Prep wrestling coach Rick Gronda said that he got a feeling that Dudziak was willing to put the time in to improve.
“He said he was going to work hard in the off-season,” Gronda said. “He said he was going to a wrestling camp in Poland over the summer. Instead of relaxing and enjoying the summer, like most kids, he went to this tough camp and worked on getting better.”
Gronda soon saw that Dudziak improved leaps and bounds over the last year.
“The kid definitely learned something,” Gronda said. “He comes every day with this air of youth and innocence, like nothing bothers him. And he’s so unassuming that he wants to soak everything up, like a sponge. You can’t teach that. A kid has to want to learn. And then, he has that innate ability to simply compete. He wants to compete, every time he’s on the mat.
Added Gronda, “He reminds me of a puppy. He wants to be taught and taught. He wants to be taught the right way and does everything with a smile on his face. He just keeps coming back for more and makes coaching him so easy.”
The 189-pound sophomore Dudziak finished the regular season with an impressive 20-5 record. That achievement alone would have been a miraculous turnaround and shown a dramatic improvement over the kid who was winless as a freshman.
“As the year wore on, we began to see something special in the kid,” Gronda said. “I thought he had the makings to be a good one. All of the matches he lost this year, he came back and avenged the loss. He also turned out to be a very smart wrestler.”
Dudziak finished third at the District 16 championships two weeks ago. Even that would have been a fine way to end his breakthrough season.
But Dudziak kept going. He qualified for the Region 4 championships and placed third there, earning a berth to the NJSIAA state championships last weekend in Atlantic City.
“I had no expectations coming into the states,” Dudziak said. “I was just looking at it as an opportunity to go as far I could.”
In the first round of the states, Dudziak upset All-State football player Akeem Jackson of Elizabeth, taking a 6-4 decision. Dudziak then ran into eventual state champion Jeff Black of Absegami, who defeated the Prep wrestler via technical fall.
In the consolations, Dudziak defeated Ian Michaud of Northern Highlands by a 2-1 decision, then knocked off Region 5 champion Derrick Cromartie of South Brunswick, 5-3. Cromartie defeated Dudziak earlier in the season in a dual meet.
Dudziak’s incredible run ended in the consolation semifinals, when he lost to Mark Eberstein of Hunterdon Central by a 5-3 decision. The loss meant that Dudziak had to share seventh/eighth place in the state with Lee Dugan of St. Joseph (Montvale).
Still, from winning not a single match a year ago to finishing among the top eight place winners in the entire state is quite a remarkable transformation.
Dudziak also became only the third Prep wrestler to ever place at the state championships, joining only the Ilaria brothers, Greg (seventh/eighth as a senior) and Dave (seventh/eighth as a junior and fourth as a senior) as state medalists.
Dudziak was also the only sophomore to earn a medal in this year’s 189-pound weight class.
For his efforts, Dudziak has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
Dudziak said that he felt like he was improving as the season progressed.
“I was definitely more confident as we kept going,” Dudziak said. “I could sense I was getting better. It was a huge improvement. I never expected this. I wanted to improve. That’s all I wanted to do. I always want to get better. Just being in the state tournament made me happy. Getting a medal means a lot to me.”
Gronda said that he was amazed with Dudziak’s fine run to close the season.
“I told him that the air down at the state championships is a lot different,” Gronda said. “I told him that the state tournament is a tournament of longevity. That it was more of a mental game than a physical one. He had to put both together. I also just wanted him to go out there and enjoy himself. Have some fun. I knew he was going to be a good one. He just came along a year early.”
With the title of becoming only Prep’s third place winner at the state tournament comes the expectations to succeed in the future. Dudziak is well aware that he will be asked to continue his improvement over the next two years.
“I hope I don’t mess things up,” Dudziak said. “I now have the motivation to work even harder, because I want to come back here. I hope I can always be remembered. No one from St. Peter’s has ever won the state championship. I want to become the first. That’s the next goal.”
Considering the improvement that Konrad Dudziak has enjoyed over the last year, who is really going to deny him? – Jim Hague