NAIA College Preview Series: #11 Indiana Tech
Photo courtesy of Indiana Tech Athletics.
by Jeremy Eusterwiemann
Twitter: @wiems19
Coming in just outside the top ten, according to the NAIA Coaches poll, is Indiana Tech. This will be the Warriors sophomore season. With plenty of fresh faces and young talent working hard, they’re setting their sights on finishing in the top 8 at both National Duals and in the NAIA National Invitational tournament. With 17 new athletes and 35 total athletes, Indiana Tech looks to continue to build depth and build off momentum from the program’s first season. The Warriors plan on making a push to not only be a household name on the mat but also in the classroom. With girls from all over the country hungry to leave their mark, this should be an exciting team to follow for years to come.
Here is an interview with Warrior Head Coach Paul Rademacher.
1. What are your reflections on last season?
Last season was our first season of competition. Considering what we had to go through in regards to COVID protocols, just to compete in any matches and practice all season, I felt like we were really fortunate. We were able to get many of our athletes more than 15 matches, we practiced all season with no shut downs, and won two dual meets. I felt like we competed very well at Nationals by finishing 14th in the country (the highest finisher of the first-year programs), and having two All Americans. We also were able to put forth seven Academic All-Americans, and were second in the NWCA Scholar Team standings. This sets the bar really high for our future teams, and I think helps us to build the culture we are trying to build.
2. Talk about your returning class. Who are some of the women you have high expectations for this year?
We have a great base with our returners. We had 10 of our 12 athletes win a match at the NAIA Nationals last year, and all 12 are returning. We also have a few athletes returning who were not able to compete at nationals for various reasons. This base of 19 athletes puts us in a great spot as they know a lot of our drills, they know what we focus on and [that gives us the ability] to help build the freshman up quicker. We had two All-Americans last year in Samantha Snow and Tehani Soares, and I expect both of them to continue to make big strides and be on the podium again. They are both great leaders and are helping us build the rest of the group. Charmayne Delong was one win away from being a placer last year; Korigan Wilkey lost to a placer that was kind of her nemesis last year, so we expect both of them to be right in the mix to be national placers this year. We also return Ellyana Kuzma and Perla Ramirez from last year’s team who had a lot of big wins over the season, but were unable to compete at nationals last year. We also look forward to getting Alyssa Schuller back healthy after suffering an ACL injury in between conference and nationals she is someone who we think brings a lot to the table as shown by beating the national runner-up at the conference meet last year.
3. Talk about your incoming freshmen class. Who do you expect an immediate contribution from?
We had a great incoming freshman class that was nationally recognized as a top 15 recruiting class. I think we got some athletes that have really bought into building this program here and will surprise some people when we get to get them on the mats. Taylor Wilson joins us from Washington, who had been nationally-ranked many of her years of high school, but was recovering from an injury and didn’t wrestle her senior year. This may have had some people forget what a talent she is, so we are excited to get her onto the mats against other teams. Allyssa Pirro was nationally-ranked coming out of high school in Ohio, and we believe she brings a lot to the table with her experience at many major events through her career. Alicia Pieper also was nationally-ranked for a lot of her high school career in Michigan. She has also has been to (and performed well) at many national tournaments and we believe that experience will serve her well. Grace Doering was another nationally-ranked wrestler from California who came storming onto the scene this spring. We were able to meet her through some club connections out in California, and she performed very well at the National Recruiting Showcase in Iowa in March, as well as at the California State Championships this year. Seeing the growth in Grace in such a short period of time gives us a lot of hope about how high she can reach with her career. We had many others joining us (17 total freshman) that had many state accolades as well and I believe they will be pushing for starting spots in our lineup.
4. How do you feel about your preseason?
We have had a great preseason. Our returners have set the bar high for our goals this year and our freshman have stepped right up and are ready to accept the challenge. We spent a lot of time in the weight room this fall and I believe that will pay off significantly as we get into our season. I don’t know that we had a specific moment that was important, but as a coach, I can see more buy in with our preseason workouts than last year. I think the first class didn’t really know what to expect being on a college team for the first time, but this year they are leading the way and pushing everyone on the team. That has been exciting because I know how important these preseason workouts are.
5. Talk about some of your team's goals this season. Are there any specific events you're excited about?
We have some specific team goals for this season. The first two are that we are looking to be in the top eight at both National Duals and the NAIA National Invitational tournament this year. We also are working to have the top GPA for the NAIA schools. If we achieve these goals we will have had a very successful second season. We were invited to participate in the first-ever Midlands Championships, which is very exciting. This is one of the premier men’s tournaments of the year, so for us to be part of the women’s tournament is very exciting. We are also excited about the NWCA National Duals tournament as that is something that I’ve participated in with teams while coaching at other places and really enjoy that environment and experience—so I’m very excited for this group of athletes to get this experience.
6. What are some things you've built into your program that you credit for the success you've had so far?
I believe that some of the things we’ve built in that have helped us be successful is that we have athletes from all over the country coming here to build a program that have the same vision. They all want to achieve a high level of success and when we get to put them in the same room together it makes for a very unique environment. We also run our practices and technique in ways that are unique compared to other places I’ve been seen, which these athletes respond really well to, and that has helped us to get a high level of development from the athletes once they are in our room on a daily basis.
7. Who are some of the personalities in the room that are providing leadership and shaping your culture?
Our leaders are definitely establishing themselves in our room by being vocal, emotional, and by being lead-by-example types of leaders. This creates a great system because they all fit into their roles well. Our biggest leaders and those who are helping push the rest of the team are Samantha Snow, Tehani Soares, Glenda Veiga, Ellyana Kuzma, and Alyssa Schuller.
8. Anything else you'd like to mention?
We are still a very young team and have a mix of about 50-50 for first year in the program and returners, which creates a great environment. We are ahead of where I planned to be when I started this program and we are really looking forward to taking this program to the same heights that many of our other sports at Indiana Tech are achieving.