With the outdoor NCAA championships nearing, Minnesota’s Kostas Zaltos and Angelos Mantzouranis are already generating near-mythological feats of strength.
Both Zaltos and Mantzouranis threw record-breaking hammer throws at the Florida Relays, with throws of 77.19m and 77.43m marking No. 7 and No. 9 in NCAA history, respectively.
A friendly rivalry between Zaltos and Mantzouranis during their first season as teammates is the reason their throws are so close.
“Right after Angelos won Big Tens, he told me, ‘I broke your hammer throw record just a little bit to make you throw farther,’” Zaltos said.
Angelos’ post-victory remark is not the only example of competitive joking between the two.
Zaltos is open about his childhood dreams of playing professional basketball, plus his admiration for Greek Olympian and 2021 NBA Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
After Zaltos explained how much of an honor it was to be nicknamed “The Greek Freak of Minnesota,” Mantzouranis could not resist jokingly insulting his teammate.
“I’m a Giannis hater,” Mantzouranis joked. “I don’t like Giannis.”
Zaltos and Mantzouranis can agree on one thing, that Minneapolis lacks authentic Greek food.
“I haven’t tried anything in Minneapolis close to what we got at home,” Mantzouranis said.
Zaltos added that it was not always this way. In 2023, the It’s Greek to Me Tavern and Parea closed its doors for good.
The restaurant’s owner, Alkis Arambadjis, hailed from Salonika, Greece, a mere 30 miles from Zaltos’ home village of Pedino.
During the height of COVID-19, Zaltos relocated back to Kilkis, and the home cooking of his parents’ bakery led to him putting on some weight.
“The food was readily available, the training wasn’t,” Minnesota throwing coach Peter Miller said.
During Greece’s COVID-19 lockdown, Zaltos debated becoming a chef, staying in Greece and even transferring schools.
“He had scholarship papers from Virginia Tech and all that stuff lined up,” Miller said. “It worked out really well that he didn’t go.”
Zaltos and Mantzouranis were joined by freshman and fellow Greek thrower Pavlos Tzamtzis this season, and Miller affectionately refers to the three as Minnesota’s “Greek Gods.”
“It’s good to have another Greek on the team because now Kostas is graduating and I will not be alone,” Mantzouranis said.
Both Zaltos and Mantzouranis wear their Greek heritage like a badge of honor.
“You guys in the States love technology, we love our history,” Zaltos said. “We’re proud to wear blue and white or white and blue all the time.”
Mantzouranis’s freshman season included the longest hammer throw by a freshman in NCAA history (75.5m), a Big Ten hammer throw championship and the conference’s freshman of the year honor.
Despite the successes of his first season, Mantzouranis’ sights are set on the future rather than the past.
“I’m not looking to just repeat stuff I did last year,” Mantzouranis said. “I’m working on accomplishing something better.”
Zaltos is no stranger to making history either.
Prior to his Olympic redshirt season, Zaltos won three Big Ten championships, earned back-to-back bronze medals at NCAA championships and his first silver medal in 2023.
In his final season wearing maroon and gold, Zaltos’ goals are more specific than Mantzouranis’.
“WIN the NCAA Championships. Period,” Zaltos said. “I’m tired of winning second and I’m tired of winning third. And put that in capital letters.”
