Hi-Line Athlete Profile: Taylor Kornoely, MSU-N Wrestling

Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News

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Unlike in football, basketball or volleyball, wrestling teams don’t often get to perform in front of their hometown fans. It’s just the nature of a sport that has more tournaments than duals.

As far as Montana State University-Northern wrestling is concerned, the Lights have had a few home matches so far this season, but as they prepare for a home dual against UGF tonight inside the Armory Gymnasium, the excitement will be palpable.

Wrestling at home will certainly be something Taylor Kornoely is looking forward to doing this year. Last season, Kornoely alternated in the lineup with Toby Cheff and because of it, only got to wrestle inside the Armory once, which means the All-American and runner-up at the NAIA National tournament, is excited to show Northern fans what he can do

“Last year, I was double weight with Toby Cheff,” Kornoely said. “And it worked out that I wrestled most of the time on the road, so I only had one home meet, so I am kind of excited to wrestle at home.”

Kornoely, who came to Northern from North Idaho Junior College, was highly sought after as a recruit, due to the national title that he won during his sophomore season in 2015. But after coming to Northern, he lived up to the hype, with a second-place finish at the NAIA tournament.

Now, the expectations are even higher for Kornoely, but the truth is, he isn’t the only one, in fact, the Lights as a team have pretty high goals for 2016-17 after finishing second at the national tournament last season. But for the Lights and Kornoely, that time for winning titles is still a long ways a way, which is why the senior says it’s important to get in good shape and peak at the right time.

“I feel like, for me, I always wrestle my best around the time of the national tournament in March,” Kornoely said. “I try to push myself really hard during this time of the year and work out hard and then as it gets later into the season, I kind of lay off and let my body rest up. I feel like that allows me to be wrestling my best at the end of the season.”

Kornoely said that right now, a big focus for him and his teammates was getting their endurance up and also honing in on the technical aspect of the sport, which is an area that he was hoping to improve in this season.

But one thing is sure, after tonight, and Friday night, the Lights won’t have another dual for two months and just about every weekend, will be spent on the road in tournaments that span Montana, Idaho, Washington, Nevada and Oregon before a return to Havre is in the cards.

With that being the case, Kornoely and the Lights certainly want to put on a show for the home fans, but before he takes the mat against UGF tonight, the Havre Daily News caught up with Kornoely for five questions.

HDN: What is your goal for this season?

Kornoely: “A championship at nationals is always the goal. But I am also looking to improve my technique and my conditioning. I have always been strong throughout the season, but the one thing I have always lacked was my technique and conditioning because I have slacked off at times, so I think with this being my senior year, it’s time to get that fixed.”

HDN: Do you think winning a junior college national title makes you want an NAIA title more or less because you have already won a national title?

Kornoely: “When I won it my sophomore year, it didn’t really settle in until last year that I was a national champ. That’s when I realized that there was more expected from me because of the title that I had before and it was kind of a let down that I didn’t win it last year. But being a runner-up, I still have that same expectation to going after it this year.”

HDN: What helped you reach that level as an individual?

Kornoely: “I think a lot of it depends on what you do as an individual and not just what you do as a team. So I think some of the things that I do, like training and what you eat and what you do when you aren’t at practice, that is really important and that’s really up to the individual how good they want to be.”

HDN: Being from Michigan, are you a fan of Michigan or Michigan State?

Kornoely: “Michigan State.”

HDN: You came to Havre from Michigan and Idaho, what are your impressions?

Kornoely: “I really like it here. A lot of people might think it’s boring or that it’s quiet. There are a lot of distractions where I come from and there aren’t as many distractions here.”