“Minkel’s done so much for the sport of wrestling and he’s done so much for Michigan State,” Gasca said. “And personally there’s probably nothing I can do to repay him for what he’s done. If I could win him a national title, that’s probably the closest I could do to giving back for what he’s done. It’s a good feeling because you can kind of get a sense of giving back to someone who’s already given so much.”

This season was Minkel’s 25th season as MSU’s head coach, and he has a shining resume within wrestling, both at MSU and professionally — Minkel has competed in and coached Olympic wrestling competitions and is the second-most winningest coach in MSU’s history with 171, only falling short to the coach that came before him, Grady Peninger with 213. Nevertheless, his team knows winning is not all he’s about.

Redshirt junior Garth Yenter performed well on Friday as well, gaining MSU’s first win against redshirt junior Alfredo Gray, 12-11. Yenter said he’ll remember coach Minkel for his personablity.

“Out of all of the coaches I’ve had, he’s a real nice guy,” Yenter said. “He’s a good coach but at the same time he actually cares about us. He cares more about our future life than just wrestling.”

And Minkel himself said he’ll miss coaching for that aspect.

“I’ve seen a lot of these men go into engineering, into the auto industry, and it’s really satisfying to hear back from them about what they’re doing now,” Minkel said. “And you see guys like that and they often trace their success in their lives back to their personal experiences, to their mentors and coaches.”

Taking over after the 2015-16 season is assistant coach Roger Chandler, who is in his 19th year of being on the MSU wrestling staff. He’s spent a lot of time around Minkel, and, while sad to see him go, is excited for the prospects of being head coach.

“(Minkel) is very analytical in the way he approaches everything, he break things down very closely, and from that approach I don’t think there’s very many people who can match the things that he does,” Chandler said. “But I’m looking forward to putting my own stamp on the program and seeing what I can do to take the program forward.”

Minkel, though wrestling has been a constant in his life since youth, intends to play poker professionally in his retirement from MSU.

“It has all the same elements that wrestling does,” Minkel said. “Poker is making good decisions under pressure, keeping your composure when things get bad, it’s being rested when the other guy’s tired and being sober when the other guy’s drunk. My degree in grad school was in statistics, so I have that mindset.”

However, Minkel said retiring from coaching is not a goodbye forever.

“I’ve been in this room almost every day for, well, a long time,” Minkel said. “I’ll keep my locker here, though, and I’m sure I’ll be back.”