Daniel Kolodzik thought he had done enough to earn a spot in the NCAA wrestling championships last year in his junior campaign with the Princeton University program.

“Last year, I finished sixth in the Easterns and they only took the top five,” said Kolodzik.

“We crunched the numbers and with the rankings I thought I was going to get an at-large bid but they took some Big 10 guys over me. I don’t know if it was because they came from bigger name wrestling schools than Princeton or they wanted to get more fans. I had a chip on my shoulder all through this season.”

After putting together an All-Ivy League season at 157 pounds this winter, Kolodzik almost didn’t get a chance to compete in the 2012 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) championships as he got ill days before the event, which Princeton was hosting at Jadwin Gym.

“I was in the infirmary early in the week for a few days with pneumonia,” said Kolodzik.

Fueled by his resolve, though, Kolodzik got out of his sick bed to place fourth in the Easterns, thereby achieving his goal and qualifying for the NCAA Championships which are being held in St. Louis, Mo. from March 15-17.

In reflecting on his big performance at the Easterns, Kolodzik said it definitely helped to be at home.

“It was fantastic, all the alums from my time were there cheering us on as well a lot of the older alums,” said Kolodzik, who will be joined by fellow Tigers, junior Garret Frey (125) and sophomore Adam Krop (141), at the NCAAs.

“It was really exciting to come off the mat and have those guys cheering for you. We have never wrestled in Jadwin before because we always wrestle up at Dillon; it was really cool to be at Jadwin.”

Now Kolodzik is looking to earn cheers in St. Louis at the national competition.

“It is definitely special,” said Kolodzik, who has a 31-9 record this season. “It is good to have some down time to rest and recover. Coach [Chris Ayres] always says it is better to be over-rested and undertrained rather than overtrained and under-rested. As a competitor, you always want to be on the top of the podium. I know that I am going against a tough kid (Maryland’s Kyle John) in the first round. I have a game plan, the focus is on that match. If I win, then the focus is on the next match.”

It took a while for Kolodzik to develop the focus necessary to succeed on the mat at the college level.

“It is a tough adjustment going to college wrestling from high school,” explained Kolodzik, a native of Bellbrook, Ohio who won two state championships during his career with the Miami Valley School.

“In high school, it is a matter of getting to know the sport. In college, everyone knows how to wrestle. It comes down to attitude and mindset. It took two years for me to get the hang of it.”

Over the last two years, Kolodzik has displayed a winning attitude. “In my sophomore year, I had some wins over top-20 ranked wrestlers but I also some bad losses,” said Kolodzik, who posted 25 wins as a junior.

“I leveled off as a junior; I was more consistent. I really figured things out as a senior; experience is big, attitude is huge. I have figured out an approach that works for me. I look at matches as being like fights.”

Kolodzik has enjoyed seeing the Princeton program benefit over the last few years from taking a more serious approach to the sport.

“It has been great; when I came, we were in the second recruiting class and you didn’t see the level of talent in the room that you see now,” said Kolodzik, noting that this is the first time Princeton has sent three wrestlers to the NCAAs to his knowledge.

“It has been great to watch the maturity of the program. Early on, we had guys who were smart but had different interests. Now it is purely a wrestling team.”

For Kolodzik, juggling wrestling with his studies has given him a greater maturity as he heads off into life after college.

“When people are thinking about coming to Princeton to wrestle, we tell them that it is a unique experience, you are doing the hardest sport at the hardest school,” said Kolodzik, who will be applying some of those lessons when he starts working for Royal Bank of Canada in New York City after graduation.

“It is not just a sport, it is a lifestyle. You have to watch your weight and stay in shape all year. You think about wrestling all the time. There is no time to blow off steam. I have come to enjoy the work and not look it as a grind. I enjoy the fight; it is a very fulfilling experience.”