Coach G

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
Warren Central senior Kiersten O’Neill has had quite an illustrious wrestling career. She recently won her third Indiana High School Girls Wrestling state title and did so in dominating fashion. Not bad for a girl that doesn’t like to wrestle, really doesn’t enjoy practicing and sometimes doesn’t even get along with her coach.
 
“Yeah, I don’t really like wrestling, per se,” O’Neill said. “But I love the environment of the sport and the energy it holds. That’s what keeps me attached to it.”
 
O’Neill’s coach is her own father, Jake.
 
“It doesn’t surprise me that she says that,” Jake said. “If you ask most coaches/ dads, it’s tough coaching your own kids. As a coach you hold your athletes to high expectations and not that I don’t do that as a dad, but when they fall short of those expectations it can bleed into home. It’s tough to draw those lines and keep those frustrations in the room and on the mat and not let it affect what’s going on at home.”
 
Jake has always pushed Kiersten to be her best in the sport – and, although at times she’s gotten frustrated with her dad as a coach, she sees it has been in her best interest.
 
“My dad and I would get into it a lot,” Kiersten said. “Coach and wrestler, father and daughter is a very different dynamic. There have been points where I was like, this is too hard, I can’t do that. I wanted to stop, but I kept going. I think if he wasn’t as present as he is though, it wouldn’t be the same and I wouldn’t have the successes I’ve had.”
 
Kiersten’s brother started wrestling when he was 4 years old. He ultimately decided that wasn’t the sport for him.
 
“I made my son wrestle when he was four,” Jake said. “By the time he was a freshman he ended up playing basketball and that’s about the same time Kiersten was like, dad, I’ll wrestle. I was like, oh, yeah, you’re probably going to be pretty good, too. I think she was six at the time.
 
“Her journey in wrestling gave me a perspective on women’s wrestling that I never had before and I wouldn’t have had if she didn’t wrestle.”
 
Kiersten won the state meet as a freshman, then placed second as a sophomore. She won as a junior and last weekend she beat her opponent 17-3 in the championship.
 
She would like to wrestle in college and eventually she would like to follow in her father’s footsteps and coach wrestling.
 
For Kiersten, and for many of the female wrestlers we write about in these articles, there becomes an unusually strong bond between opponents. Kiersten’s best friends are wrestlers on rival schools.
 
“Cailin and Catie (Campbell) are my best friends since I started wrestling,” Kiersten said. “We live far apart but we always make sure we see each other. I talk to them every day. It’s been great to experience that with other people that share your same interests. I think if you watch the finals you can see my reaction after Caty won her state title. I was screaming ‘That’s my best friend’.”
 
Kiersten also plays soccer. She admits that her wrestling aggression sometimes gets her in trouble on the soccer field.
 
“Yeah, I’ve had quite a few yellow and red cards,” she said. “Soccer, to me, is a lot of running. But the aggression I get from being a wrestler definitely helps me. I’m not exactly proud of my yellow and red cards, I just think I underestimate my strength some against girls that don’t wrestle.”
 
Jake really enjoys watching Kiersten on the soccer field, where he can relax and be a dad and not a coach.
 
“Her wrestling absolutely comes out in soccer,” Jake said. “She’s very competitive, aggressive and physical. She is fearless. It all spills out on the soccer field and it’s fun to watch. The other girls aren’t nearly as aggressive as her. Our athletic director was a professional soccer player. When he saw her play he was like ‘woah’. He was blown out of the water with the competitive edge she plays with. I enjoy every minute of watching her play.”

In wrestling, Kiersten is excited for what the future for girls is like in the state. Every year the numbers increase. If she had one piece of advise for girls just starting out in the sport it would be to stick to it.
 
“You just have to stick to it,” she said. “You can’t give up, even when it’s hard. I know it gets hard and I’ve not enjoyed that time. But stick it out. Push through. It will be worth it in the end.”
 

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
Sarah Huse didn’t know it, but she needed wrestling. Once she found it, her life has changed for the better.
 
“Everyone has their own sob story, I guess,” Huse, a senior at Lebanon High School, said. “But it’s what you do to overcome that story that matters.”
 
In 8th grade Huse struggled with her weight, and her confidence. She was 245 pounds, and according to her, still trying to figure out who she wanted to be.
 
So, she started trying to get in better shape. She took up dance, which helped with her flexibility and balance. Then, as a sophomore, a friend talked her into going out for wrestling. That’s where Huse started to make her mark.
 
In just three years she has went from a beginner, to a two-time state champion with multiple college offers. She is also this year’s Indianamat Miss Gorilla award winner, which recognizes the best senior female wrestler in the state.
 
Huse has pinned every single opponent through the IHSGW tournament for two consecutive years. This year she defeated Northview’s Mercedes Tellechea in the championship, pinning her in just 1:09 to win the 170-pound class. Huse also took home the Katie Downing Mental Attitude Award.
 
“When I started winning in wrestling is when I started feeling my best, mentally,” Huse said. “I was finally able to look myself in the mirror and be proud of who I am.”
 
When Huse first started wrestling, she was nervous to tell her family. Her dad, J, wrestled collegiately, but she wasn’t sure how he would react.
 
“I waited a few weeks before I told my family I was wrestling,” Sarah said. “When I finally told them, I think they thought I was kidding. When they found out I wasn’t kidding, my dad has been in my corner helping coach me ever since and my mom is always in the stands watching and cheering me on. When I get my hand raised, I always look to find her in the stands. That’s my favorite moment in wrestling.”
 
In addition to winning the individual title, Sarah also led Lebanon to the school’s first girls state team championship.
 
The team title is what Huse said she is most proud of, and coach Jeremy Goodlett knows she had a huge part in the Tiger’s success.
 
“Her attitude and work ethic are infectious with the other girls,” Goodlett said. “When we went up to the Penn tournament, we only had four girls go, because half the team was quarantined. She couldn’t go, but she woke up early and came and saw the girls off on the bus. She wanted to do a prayer session before everyone was going to wrestle. She was Facetiming girls after they got off the mat, giving them critiques and pointers and trying to encourage them.”
 
Huse said she wanted to win state as an individual, but she wanted even more to win the team title.
 
Huse regrets not getting involved with wrestling at a younger age. She said it has now become such a big part of her life.
 
“If I were to give advice to younger girls thinking about wrestling, I’d tell them you can’t be afraid to work for something,” Huse said. “It’s going to be hard, but you’re stronger than you believe and when you put your heart and work into it, it will be worth it.”
 
On the mat Sarah is an aggressive wrestler that likes to hit the single-leg takedowns. She’s 6-0 tall, so she uses her length to her advantage.
 
“She is always on the attack,” Goodlett said. “She is not a defensive wrestler. She is in your face. She’s going to club your head, snap you down and go for inside singles.”
 
Outside of wrestling Huse wants to go into the medical field. She is a good student with a 4.0 GPA. She loves hanging out with her teammates, going out to eat in the offseason, sledding in the winter and going to the Bible study her and her teammates started.
 
“Sarah is a very hard-working, fun-loving and caring person,” Goodlett said. “She is the type of person that no matter what type of day you’re having, she can make you smile or laugh. As a wrestler, she’s a coach’s dream. She’s a practice junkie and she’s always learning and trying new stuff. That will be important for her because she has little experience with freestyle, and that’s what women’s wrestling is in college.”