Notre Dame wrestling finally playing with a full deck

The Notre Dame wrestling team hosted their first meet of the season. Notre Dame lost to Dexter 49-34 but tied with Herculaneum 36-36 on Thursday, Dec. 6.

Historically, these meets would go by quickly due to the team being small in numbers. They would lose every meet due to numerous forfeits but would win their matches more often than not.

This year is different. Now it is the Bulldogs that are accepting forfeit wins and being competitive during duel meets from a scoreboard perspective.

“I've always thought it was fun,” Notre Dame head coach Garrett Watson said, “but, it kind of adds more excitement.”

Notre Dame now fills 10 of the 14 weight classes, which is the most since Watson became the head coach. For the first time in a long time, the team results during the duel meets mean something now.

“Before I would just say go out to win. I don't care if it's by points or it was by pin,” Watson said. "Tonight, we were pretty close with our 106-pounder. He was close to teching his opponent, and I had to reel him in and tell him we really need that six points rather than the five for the tech. So you have to strategize with it."

Their small wrestling room next to the weight room that sits above the balcony above the gym looked spacious in previous years. While the influx of freshmen is welcomed, it has impacted how Watson and his assistant coach, Seth Sievers, conduct practices now.

"Practice has changed a lot," Watson said. "We have to go on the shifts now because we have such a small room. But it doesn't change that much. Instead of having shorter practice, we have a little bit longer practice now."

The Bulldogs sent five of their seven wrestlers to the state tournament last year. It still remains to be seen whether their individual success had an impact on their growing numbers.

"I've been trying to figure that one out," Watson said. "I hope it is the success and the word getting around. I will give credit to my wife. She's also a teacher at middle school and she talks up the program for me and several of the freshman this year."

The trio of Charlie West, Parker Lemons, and Sam Criddle, were young and inexperienced when they made it to the state tournament last year. Now they are seen as the veteran leaders of the program. Another veteran worth mentioning is Caleb Klipfel, who won his match against Dexter but lost against Herculaneum to finish the week 6-3 on the season.

"Honestly, that's my favorite part about coaching," Watson said. "Caleb came to me as a freshman with zero wrestling experience, wanting to try it out. At the end of the season freshman year, he said 'I don't even know if I'm gonna do it,' and now he's one of my most experienced guys. He's one of my most technical. He's kind of a leader in the room. He leads by example, he's an assignment leader and he pushes the pace a lot in the room. So it's pretty cool seeing them go from novices to veterans."

West remains the top wrestler on the team and among the field in Class 1. The hulking 215-pound senior took first place in the Westminster Tournament on Dec. 3, won his only match against Dexter, and took a forfeit win against Herculaneum to start the season 7-0.

"He's becoming a much more technical wrestler," Watson said. "Last year he only had like three months of experience for the entire season, like half a season essentially. Now he has more time under his belt. We've been able to work on some techniques, so he's not just muscling all the way through."