NAIA Preview Series: #9 Indiana Tech
Photo cred: Tyler Stevenson/Indiana Tech Athletics
Photo cred: Dani Blagojevic/IT Sports Information/Indiana Tech Athletics
by Jeremy Eusterwiemann
Twitter: @wiems19
Indiana Tech finished just inside the top 15th last year. Their goals this season are clear—top 8 at NAIA championships, top 5 at National Duals and win in the classroom. With 53 total athletes, keeping talent within the Hoosier state and bringing in some high caliber recruits, Indiana Tech looks to continue to climb their way towards the top. The Warriors pride themselves on their work ethic on and off the mat. With added depth and continuing to load up on talent, the #9 ranked Warriors will be a team to keep your eye on, not only this year but for years to come.
Here is an interview with Warrior Head Coach Paul Rademacher.
1. What are your reflections on last season?
We had a great season last year. This was only our second season of competition ever and we were able to place as a team at National Duals, beat the team that won a National Championship in a dual meet at home, and continue our high academic standards. We had three national placers at the NAIA National Invitational and had 10 Academic All-Americans of various forms. Those are some of the biggest accomplishments from last year and are more than I could have asked for in year 2 when I came out here to start this program.
2. Talk about your returning class. Who are some of the women you have high expectations for this year?
Our returning class has most of our main contributors back. We have all 3 national placers back in Tehani Soares, Ellyana Kuzma, and Samantha Snow. We also have all the athletes who spent considerable time in the rankings back, with Sydney Kutzke, Emma Jones, Charmayne Delong, Carley Anderson, Grace Doering and Catherine McNulty. We also got an athlete who was ranked in the top 2 back when she went out with injury last year in Taylor Wilson. That is just the returners who were main contributors last season, we also return Alicia Pieper who placed in both U20 and U23 age divisions at the Women’s WTT last year in Texas and Alyssa Pirro and Korigan Wilkey who had significant wins for us last year throughout the season. We have a ton of depth in our team now as we have had the opportunity to continue to get our athletes high level match experience and that is pushing the level of the room up. I believe we will have more national placers this year than last and am excited to get the competition started so we can show the work we put in this off season.
3. Talk about your incoming freshmen class. Who are you excited about and what are some of the names that you expect an immediate contribution from?
We have a great incoming freshman class. We had some big names decide to join us this year, including Riley Dempewolf who was a multiple time Fargo All-American and won the Recruiting Showcase in 2021 as well as many other accomplishments, and Makayla Young who was a U17 National Team Member in 2021 as well as many other accomplishments for her. I am also really excited about the local Indiana athletes we got last year. All five of them were state runner-ups but Adriana Sanchez, Andrea Hernandez, Trinity Coyne, Cydney Bassett, and Haley Thompson have all been showing what I thought I was getting from them as they start their seasons. All five of these athletes I knew were hard workers and excited to learn, and as we have gotten into the room, they have been really getting after it and making some of the returners work harder too so they can keep their spots. We are seeing remarkable things from Izzy Silva as she works in live matches with the returners. Our freshman class in its entirety is good (and underrated because many of the athletes had not had opportunities to go to national level events and get seen), which really has raised the whole level of the room. I am excited about the under-the-radar athletes as well but will let them have their breakouts as we get to our [competition schedule].
4. How do you feel about your preseason?
Our preseason has gone well. We hit the weight room hard and did a lot of work on the track. I do not know about any specific moments about showing what it has been like, but we did weightlift maxes on week 1 and then again in week 8, and in that 8-week cycle of work we had a total increase of over 5% on both deadlift and power clean within the team. With many athletes showing 10% increases in their numbers. The team is highly motivated and was excited to get on the mats.
5. Talk about some of your team's goals this season. Are there any specific events you are excited about?
We have some specific team goals this year. I am excited because this year was the first year that instead of me making them and giving them to the team, they made them and gave them to me. That is exciting because it shows their ownership in the team and in the goals they set. Some of the bigger goals that we are working for is being top 5 at National Duals, Top 8 at NAIA’s and having 7 All-Americans. We also are working hard off the mat to be the Scholar Team GPA Award winners from the NWCA. We were close in each of our first two seasons and had a significant jump from year 1 to year 2, but it was not enough, so these ladies decided it was important to try and lock that down.
6. What are some things you have built into your program that you credit for the success you have had so far?
I think the biggest thing we have done with this program to help us be at our current level of success is making sure that everyone on the teams knows that they are part of the team. Our coaching staff coaches every athlete in the room every single day. Our athletes make sure that everyone on the team is included and knows they are part of it. I as a coach make sure that I communicate with every recruit and every athlete on our team, that we are a team. And to be successful we must be a team. No one has ever been good at wrestling alone, they have a team, whether it’s training partners, coaches, parents, etc....they have those people helping them get to whatever level they get to. So, when one of our athletes (or all of our athletes) succeeds, it is a reflection on everyone on this team. That is one of my major points in my coaching philosophy. I believe it helps us get to where we are going. We also make sure that all our athletes get lots of opportunities to wrestle throughout the season, allowing for more of that team camaraderie.
7. Who are some of the personalities in the room that are providing leadership and shaping your culture?
Our team has a lot of leaders on it. I think some of our biggest are in our captain roles. Tehani Soares, Ellyana Kuzma, Glenda Veiga, and Samantha Snow are returning as captains who did an excellent job in leadership last year. And because of our team size we added two more this year in Carley Anderson and Taylor Wilson. This group has a lot of experience and is working well together in helping broaden our culture we have going already. Some of our untitled leaders include Emma Jones (who is also in ROTC so getting training from the Army on leadership), Catherine McNulty, Grace Doering, and Korigan Wilkey. Most of their leadership is based on their work ethic and drive to be successful. Alexie Westfall has also taken on a significant leadership role while working on recovering from an injury but has really helped some of our injured athletes stay engaged.
8. Anything else you would like to mention?
It has been awesome to watch this team of 53 athletes come together and build a team that has big goals and important things ahead of them. As a coach who started this program from scratch to have 53 athletes see the vision and want to be part of it so quickly it has been amazing, and I cannot wait to get to our first competitions and really get to show what we have built.