At first glance, Brandon Precin doesn’t look like the type of person who could be one of the most feared wrestlers in his class.
A soft-spoken, mild-mannered junior pushing 5-foot-4, Precin has been anything but quiet on the mat for the last few months, dominating his competition in the 125-pound weight class and compiling a 20-1 record.
“He’s on target if everything goes his way to be one of the favorites in his weight class,” coach Tim Cysewski said. “He’s just got to wrestle well for the rest of the year.”
And sure enough, that’s exactly what Precin has been doing, having reeled off 18 consecutive victories and rising to No. 3 in the nation.
After finishing 37-9 last year and earning All-American honors with a 7th-place finish in his weight class, Precin has managed to vastly improve his skills – so much so that Northwestern’s other NCAA Champion threat, Jake Herbert, pointed out that Precin’s opponents have started to treat him with the same sort of evasive stalling tactics that Herbert has been facing for years.
Earlier this season, the junior picked up his first Midlands Championship by winning all six of his matches in the prestigious Evanston-based tournament.
When he does lose, he loses hard – his last two losses have come in double overtime. His most recent loss came Nov. 9 against Edinboro’s Paul Donahoe, the 2007 NCAA Champion. His prior loss was in the NCAA Quarterfinals against Angel Escobedo, who went on to win the same honor in 2008.
“I have to win those close matches,” Precin said.
Having gone to the wire against the 2007 and 2008 champions in his weight class, Precin appears to be on the verge of challenging for the 2009 title.
“I think I can win the NCAA Championship,” Precin said. “That’s my goal.”
This confident statement belies Precin’s overall demeanor. His fellow wrestlers and coaches peg him as quiet. Associate coach Andrew Pariano spoke to that reputation by sarcastically calling him a “great interview.” But along with this personality comes extreme focus and devotion to hard work.
“He works hard every day, he tries to get better every day, and when he competes, he’s out there competing every day, ” Cysewski said. “But he’s a competitor, and that’s what he likes to do.”
Precin personally attributed his own success to something else in addition to his work ethic – having fun.
“It sounds goofy, but a lot of it is being able to enjoy wrestling,” Precin said. “People go into wrestling without being able to enjoy it, and I think that’s where they lose out.”
Precin will put his winning streak on the line as the 19th-ranked Wildcats take on No. 18 Michigan in Ann Arbor this Saturday.
