Alex Krom

Alex Krom ’05

Career Record: 161-21, 3x D11 Champ, 2x Regional Champ, 2x State Medalist

Tournament Champion: Reno Champ, 2x Manheim Champ

College: Maryland (All American)

2005 – 135 lbs.: District Champ, Regional Champ, State Fourth (44-4)

2004 – 125 lbs.: District Runner-Up, Regional Runner-Up (39-9)

2003 – 112 lbs.: District Champ, Regional Champ, State Fourth (40-5)

2002 – 103 lbs.: District Champ, Regional Third (38-5)

Krom was a fixture in the Easton lineup for four years, setting the Easton and District 11 record for wins and leading the Rovers to three state dual titles and a runner-up finish before breaking Easton’s seven year All American at the NCAA level.

As a freshman, Krom won an epic wrestle-off with Seth Ciasulli, Brad Gentzle, Josh Oliver, and Andrew Goldstein – all of whom would win District or Regional titles or make a state final – to lead off the 2002 Easton team that is one of the best in school history. Krom went undefeated in duals during his freshman year, highlighted by a pin of future state champ Rick Rappo (Council Rock), a 5-2 win over Ohio state finalist Jordan Brown (Solon), and an 8-6 win over New Jersey medalist Robert Au (Philipsburg). Krom was third at Reno, losing his third round match to California state champion Gerrard Conterras (Buchanan), 6-1 before running through the backside with six straight wins to finish third, where he knocked off three-time Wyoming state champ and future Bellator champion Nick Mamalis (Green River), Virginia state champion Justin Staylor (Great Bridge) and California state finalist Marcos Orozco (Vacaville). Krom took third at Manheim. Krom joined Matt Ciasulli, Jack Cuvo, and Malcolm Purdy as the only Easton freshmen ever to win a D11 title when he blanked Billy Stenack (Northampton), 1-0 in semifinals then won an action packed 9-7 match with Ricci Bass (Dieruff) for the title. The following weekend, Krom dropped his Northeast Regional semifinal to future state champ and 2x DIvision II NCAA champion Joe Kemerer (Crestwood), 4-3, giving up a late Kemerer takedown before coming back to knock off Matt Spengler (Parkland) then ride out Stenack for the entire third period of a 1-0 match to qualify for his first state tournaments. In one of the most loaded brackets of the last 25 years, Krom dropped a 2-1 match to Clink Shirk (Bald Eagle Area) in his Hershey opener, then lost to three-time state bronze medalist Tim Harner (Norristown) in his first wrestle-back.

As a sophomore, Krom blitzed through December, then made his first Reno final with wins over New Mexico state champion Nick Ramirez (Rio Rancho) and California state champion Micah Ferguson (Del Oro) before falling 6-2 in the finals to national #1 Brandon Tucker (Broken Arrow, OK). He followed his Reno performance up by shutting out the field and pinning a pair of opponents on his way to his first Manheim title. Krom suffered the first dual loss of his career in January when he dropped an 8-6 overtime match to three-time Virginia state champ Jordan Frishkorn (Great Bridge) at the NHSCA Final Four. He beat Fargo All American Tyler Thurgood (Blair Academy NJ) later that day. He blanked Robert Au (Phillipsburg) for the second straight year in a dual win over P’burg and finished the year with another tight victory over Stenack (Northampton), his fourth straight one-takedown win over his Konkrete Kid rival. At District Duals, Krom was stunned in semifinals when Mikey Pena (Liberty) erased a four-point deficit with a cement mixer to put Krom on his back for 5 and win 9-8. Krom beat Stenack later that day, 5-0 in Easton’s stunning 34-23 win over the KKids for their third straight D11 title. At state duals, Krom blanked future NCAA semifinals opponent Ryan Williams (Cumberland Valley), 4-0, in the dual quarterfinals. At the D11 tournament, Krom was named the outstanding wrestler after blanking future World and Olympic referee Sammy Julian (Blue Mountain), future Maryland teammate Sean Carr (Whitehall), then emphatically flipping the result against Pena by pinning him in the second period for his second D11 title. Krom joined Cuvo as the only Easton wrestlers to win D11 titles in their first two seasons. At regionals, Krom claimed his first title, beating Julian, Jeremy Griffith (Berwick), then shutting out Pena, 3-0, to earn the NE-1 slot in Hershey. After an opening round shutout of future state finalist Nate Nauroth (Quakertown), Krom drew the region champ vs. region champ slot in quarters, where he saw returning state champion and future NCAA champion and Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott (Waynesburg). Scott controlled Krom in a 6-1 win on his way to his second of three state titles, though it was the only match of the tournament for Scott that wasn’t a tech or a pin. Krom ripped through the backside, shutting out future state champ and two-time NCAA All American and Maryland teammate Steve Bell (Connellsville) in the round of 12, then beating Pena 5-2 to give him three straight wins over the Hurricane star. He pinned two-time medalist Michael Golsicky (Thomas Jefferson) in his consolation semifinal, before dropping the third place bout to Harner, 3-2.

As a junior, Krom opened the year with a third palace finish at the Las Vegas 100, losing his semifinal to Rudy Justo (Santa Ana, CA). At Reno, Krom posted his second straight runner-up finish, beating Oklahoma third place finisher Heath Debner (Choctaw) and Utah state champion Jake Swensen (North Sanpete) before falling in finals to four time Montana champ Beau Malia (Skyview) in the finals. Krom finished as the runner-up at Manheim to future 2A state champ and future NCAA All American Jake Strayer (Forest Hills). Krom hit a bumpy rode in January, losing back-to-back matches to freshman phenom Justin Cohen (Nazareth) and returning state champion and future NCAA All American Charles Griffin (Reading). But that set up an incredible weekend at the NHSCA Final Four, where Krom opened with a 4-2 win over three-time Ohio state champion and national #2 Cameron Doggett (St. Paris Graham), then a disqualification win over two-time Minnesota state champ and nationally ranked Ricahrd Fessler (Apple Valley), who Krom led 6-0 when Fessler tried to punch Krom in an exchange. He capped his day with a 1-0 win over Chris Frederick (Blair Academy) and was named Outstanding Wrestler of the Final Four. He finished the regular season beating Stenack for the seventh straight time, then crushing Ricci Bass (now at Liberty), 10-1, and earning the Leiderman Award for the OW in the Easton-Liberty dual. He got his revenge against Cohen in the semifinals of D11 duals, then made it number eight in a row against Stenack in the Rovers classic 29-25 win over the Konkrete Kids for their fourth straight D11 duals title. He posted three more wins at State Duals as Easton captured their fourth straight state title. In the D11 tournament, Krom made his third straight final, but was upset by Bass, 7-5 in overtime, yielding a late takedown to tie and then a controversial takedown on the edge in OT to end his quest to win four D11 titles. At regionals the following weekend, Krom made it back to finals, including his ninth victory over Stenack in the semifinals (and running their nine match scoring total to 29-5), but fell to Bass for the second straight week, this time 4-3. In Hershey, Krom opened with a 10-1 major over Jarrett Hostetter (Oxford) before drawing Scott for the second straight year and losing to the national Hall of Famer, 10-0. Shockingly, Krom dropped his round of 12 match to Jerry Balasco (Council Rock South) to finish off the podium.

As a senior, Krom dropped his finals match in the opening weekend at the Armando Soto Tournament in Florida in Easton’s efforts to chase Brandon (FL), losing to four time Florida champion Cesar Grajales (Brandon), 5-3. He pinned his way through the rest of December, then finally broke through and won his first Reno championship, beating Colorado state champ Josh Hensley (Alamosa), California bronze medalist Armando Gonzalez (Gilroy), and culminating with a 3-1 win over three-time Oklahoma state champion Tyler Shinn (Ponca City). He followed that up with his second Manheim title, pinning his way through the field. He had an emphatic, momentum shifting first minute fall in a tight dual win over Phillipsburg, the first match back in the Pit in years. At the Final Four, he beat Virginia state champion Adam Pittman (Great Brige), then, in the performance of his high school career, knocked off national #1 Adam Frey (Blair Academy) in a 10-7 war that saw Krom take down the Bucs national prep champion three times and put him on his back in the second period to make a major statement. Krom rode out Dave Gilio (Northampton) in overtime to close out his regular season, then emphatically pinned Colin Fischl (Nazareth) in the D11 finals as the Rovers won their fifth straight duals championship. At states, Krom was reversed to his back in the final seconds of his match with state fourth place finisher Zach Snyder in Easton’s upset loss to Connellsville, denying them a fifth straight state title. In the D11 tournament, Krom broke the District’s all time wins record by beating Phil Santee (Nazareth) in the finals for his third D11 title. At Regionals, Krom won his second championship with a 4-3 win over Gilio. In Hershey, Krom opened with a 6-0 win over Brian Letters (Shaler), then took a 3-2 lead into the third period against Josh Barrick (Big Spring), but the state finalist, trailing 3-1, titled Krom with a minute left to tie the match at 3, then a second time in the final ten seconds to stun Krom 5-3, ending his quest for an elusive state title, Krom wrestled back with three bonus point decisions, but lost the bronze medal match to future state champ Nick Nelson (Shaler).

After Easton, Krom wrestled at Maryland, part of Pat Santoro’s dramatic rebuild of the program. Krom was an NCAA semifinalist and finished fifth as a redshirt junior, helping Maryland to the only top 10 national finish in school history. Krom was also a two-time ACC champion, Southern Scuffle finalist, Midlands champion, and University Freestyle runner-up.