Nearly every day, once practice starts, senior Karl Wilhelm is one of the first athletes into the CHS wrestling room. Contrary to his teammates who play football or throw for track and field—in which there is no substitute for size—Wilhelm weighs only 106 pounds. But wrestling is fair in a different way: athletes of any size can experience success. Last year, Wilhelm made it to Semistate after placing first at the Zionsville Sectional and the North Montgomery Regional, only to come within one spot of qualifying for the State Finals.

CHS, which has a history of outperforming other schools in academics and sports, had only one wrestler qualify for the State Finals and scored no points at the meet. To outsiders who have high expectations, it may seem the team is struggling, but Head Coach Ed Pendoski said he believes otherwise.

Comparing his team to a snowball, Pendoski said via email, “In the beginning, a snowball that is one-snowflake large doesn’t appear to be growing as it adds a small amount at a time. If done correctly, it will become massive if it’s well rounded and has a solid core.”

Currently, Carmel’s team has grown beyond its snowflake stage, returning wrestlers including one State Finals qualifier, two Semistate qualifiers and three Regional qualifiers. So, Pendoski said he will stick to the same plan that he implemented last year with few changes.

“We are hoping to continue to evolve our culture within the program,” Pendoski said. “The only difference is that this year everything will not be new.”

Part of preparation means building on the core. The wrestling room does not seem like much as a plain room with a padded floor, but wrestling requires little. Pendoski said he begins practice by having the wrestlers warm-up and get loose with simple, dynamic stretches. Contrary to popular belief, wrestling is a year-round sport with winter as its competition season. Although official practices started Nov. 4, wrestlers like Wilhelm have been conditioning since early October. He said this includes cardiovascular  training in the new weight room. Wilhelm said the team does not want to waste time on getting back into shape once the season starts.

“This allows us to be one step higher when we begin the season,” Wilhelm said. 

Eli Carlson, Wilhelm’s teammate and senior, wrestles in the 145-pound weight class and is a returning Semistate qualifier. He said he looks at practice in a three-step process.

“We warm-up, learn, then apply,” Carlson said. He said this was a simple process that Pendoski employed last year.

Pendoski said, “This is a more hands-on approach. The only way that the wrestlers are going to improve is by actually wrestling.”

Up next on Pendoski’s agenda is teaching the wrestlers new moves. Moves include holds, attacks and escapes.

Wilhelm said, “We usually focus on a few moves a week and get a lot of practice in. This way the move becomes like second nature.”

Finally, Pendoski allows the wrestlers to free wrestle for the rest of practice.

Carlson said. “These fake matches sometimes get pretty serious. There are even challenge matches that take place between weight classes.”

All this preparation will be for naught, though, if the team does not perform well during the season. Pendoski said he believes the team will go far this season.

“We have a lot of leadership in this team since most of our seniors are very experienced,” Pendoski said. “If we can stay focused on training and adding to our strengths, we can score points at the State level.”

The wrestlers said they agree. Wilhelm said, “The team ended last season well. If we can keep that up, we will be able to place wrestlers at the State meet.”