In the Terrapin wrestlers’ win over Virginia Tech a few weeks ago, Hokie senior David Hoffman, ranked No. 16 in the country at 141 pounds, strutted onto the mat, the “V-I-C-T-O-R-Y” tattoo across his back signifying his intentions.

Then there was Terps true freshman Alex Krom, whose 141 pounds seem more bone than muscle. Krom’s teammates openly call the youngster, who was in only his fourth career match, a bit on the scrawny side.

Several times Hoffman went for a “cement mixer” – a rolling move from a standing legal headlock – only for Krom to block the attempts, and as the two spilled out of bounds, Hoffman let his frustration show by giving Krom’s head an extra wrench. Krom fired right back with a shove to the head.

“I was trying to get into his head because he’s a nut case,” Krom said. “I knew going into the match that if I could get into his head, I’d have a better chance to win.”

That’s the game plan. That’s the fearlessness. And although Krom lost the match 6-4, that’s the type of performance his team had been looking for in the 141-pound weight class ever since defending ACC Champion Charlie Pinto went down with a shoulder injury in November.

“He’s filled in for the team and he’s wrestled awesome,” Pinto said. “It’s hard stepping in. A lot of freshmen come in, and if they lose, they’ll give up. Krom hasn’t.”

But stepping in was never the original plan for Krom, or head coach Pat Santoro. After earning high school All-American four times at Eastern High, Krom became a Terp on the mutual decision to redshirt.

When three different Pinto replacements went a combined 1-4 throughout the first months of the season, the idea to remove Krom’s red shirt seemed tempting. And when Krom made a solid 3-2 showing against national talent at December’s Southern Scuffle, the idea became more enticing. Santoro finally proposed it to the freshman, albeit as a joke.

“We came back and I said, ‘Hey Alex, how do you feel about redshirting?'” Santoro said. “He said, ‘I’m ready.'”

Krom said competing well at the Scuffle gave him the confidence to turn in his redshirt, a confidence he carried into his first collegiate dual match-up, an 8-2 win over No. 21 Navy’s Spencer Manley. The win earned Krom ACC Wrestler of the Week honors.

“When you come in, you’re like, ‘This tastes good. I want some more,'” said Pinto, who similarly used an injury to Jason Gribschaw to enter the lineup last year. “After that, you just fly with it.”

Krom did just that, soaring to a 3-0 start in which his average margin of victory was more than 12 points. Two of those wins, 15-0 technical falls over both N.C. State’s Jalil Dozier and Virginia Military Institute’s Jochen Granja, earned his team bonus points on its way to its first 4-0 ACC start since 1993.

“To come out and start as a true freshman is amazing,” Krom said. “I’m excited about it. My family’s excited about it. It’s a once in a lifetime deal.”

The fact that Krom is doing so well as a true freshman does not surprise his high school coach, Steve Powell.

“Alex had real good basics coming out of high school, and then you add Santoro’s experience, you know he’ll do well,” Powell said.

Under Powell, Krom became the Pennsylvania District 11 high school all-time wins leader with a record of 161-23 over four years, breaking the mark held by current Terp teammate Josh Haines. Seeing as Pennsylvania is the country’s hotbed of wrestling, and District 11’s Lehigh Valley is the hotbed of Pennsylvania, the title of all-time wins leader in that area speaks for itself.

But now the game has changed, and Krom knows it.

“There’s no chumps in college,” he said. “Everyone’s either a state champ or placed respectfully in their class. Everyone’s good.”

Krom has fallen to some of the top wrestlers in the country, including 6-4 to Hoffman (No. 16), 7-4 to Hofstra’s Charles Griffin (No. 13) and 6-1 to Lehigh’s Cory Cooperman (No. 3). But as shown by that frustrated shove to the head from Hoffman, he has gone down fighting.

“He’s capable of being an All-American this year,” Pinto said. “If he keeps this up, by his junior and senior seasons, he’ll be unstoppable.”

Contact reporter Jason Fraley at fraleydbk@gmail.com.