GREENFIELD — Whether inside the Greenfield-Central wrestling room or hanging out on the high school fieldhouse bleachers, Cooper Noehre is always relaxed.
Calm, cool and collected, it’s only natural to see the state’s second-ranked wrestler at 160 pounds, with his feet outstretched, maybe an arm behind his head, looking straight ahead without a worry in the world.
A senior this season after finishing runner-up at 152 during the IHSAA state finals last February, Noehre doesn’t know how to break a sweat he doesn’t conjure up himself, slicing through the near 100-degree heat, relentlessly drilling inside the Cougars’ old gold and blue room.
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“If he ever gets nervous, I don’t know about it. He’s so easy going,” Greenfield-Central head wrestling coach Josh Holden said. “He’s just one of those guys. When we’re having a hard practice, he’s over there smiling and he’ll tell you a joke. He’s just a fun kid to coach because he’s so easy going and confident.”
After plowing through the competition to finish his junior season 41-4 with 13 pins, eight technical falls and six major decisions, Noehre knows exactly where he wants to end his final season. Back under the state finals championship-match spotlight, Noehre emphasizes, without so much as a blink.
With his college commitment solidified to Purdue University this past week, he’s admittedly more locked in than ever.
“It’s off my chest for sure. The rest of the season, I can just have fun, wrestle how I wrestle and go win a state title,” Noehre said. “I don’t have to worry about the school I’m going to next year. It feels really good.”
A dream more than a year in the making, Noehre considered George Mason, the University of Indianapolis and Indiana University during his recruitment process before a trip to Purdue and a partial scholarship offer made his choice for him.
“As soon as I went to IU for a visit, Purdue contacted me and I went for a visit there, and it felt like home,” Noehre said. “I got along with everyone really well, felt like I could do good things there, so I made that decision. Everyone is easy to talk to, it’s a good environment, the culture is good, and I’m more of a laid back person, and it was a laid back culture, so it felt like home.”
Purdue head coach Tony Ersland isn’t a stranger to Hancock County talent with 2016-17 IHSAA 126-pound state champion Alec White of New Palestine on the roster. If Noehre has his way, the Boilermakers could have two former high school state champions from the county by 2020-21.
Yet, Noehre isn’t expecting anything to be handed to him. He’s putting in the work and has the fortitude to match after last year’s heartbreaking 9-7 sudden victory loss to Cathedral’s Elliott Rodgers in the title match.
A regional champion last year, Noehre topped Rodgers in overtime to win the New Castle Semistate title after losing to him during the regular season in extra minutes. While, Rodgers turned the tables at state, Noehre bounced back to win this past May by decision 12-2.
The victory at Avon High School secured Noehre’s second-career ISWA freestyle state championship in four years, and it gave him some momentarily closure.
“It made me feel good. My heart felt good after that. It shows the hard work is paying off,” Noehre said. “I don’t have a problem with him. He’s a good kid. He’s a good wrestler. Obviously, I want to beat him in the regular season again, but everything happens for a reason.”
Noehre sees every obstacle as a lesson, including a blood infection this past June that cost him a trip to the 2019 USMC Cadet and Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D. in July. Set to challenge himself against the nation’s best, the unexpected illness sent him to the hospital for six days. He had a picc line inserted for nearly three weeks as he steadily regained his health in late June.
Much like after his state finals’ loss, Noehre regrouped and rolled up his sleeves, reconditioning with his club team at the Central Indiana Academy of Wrestling (C.I.A.) and coach Brady Eppert.
Noehre refused to give up despite the setback, which he learned after Rodgers defeated him at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“I was disappointed in myself (after state), obviously, but after a few weeks, it was in the past,” Noehre said. “I probably took two weeks off and then went back to club practice and got back to work. I want to be the next person to take home a state championship. I want to be the next one at Greenfield-Central.”
If Noehre succeeds, he will become the first wrestler at Greenfield-Central to achieve the feat since Josh Farrell at 152 in 2012-13 when the senior went 48-0 to end his career as the program’s all-time wins leader at 173-15. Noehre has a 102-27 career record with the fifth-best single-season win mark in school history at 41 and is second in career takedowns with 296 compared to Farrell’s 660.
As one of the top contenders for state this season, Noehre controls his own destiny, but he’s not relying on the past to reach his goal of becoming a two-time state qualifier and potential state-place winner.
“He’s the same kid. Success hasn’t changed him. He’s one of those kids that has a great mindset. He wants the challenge. He wants to wrestle those guys again,” Holden said. “He was happy when 1, 2 and 3 in his weight class all moved up to be 1, 2 and 3 in his weight class again this year. He doesn’t want to win a state title by beating people he knows he can beat. He wants to go through people he knows he has to prove he can beat. He’s looking forward to it.”
With Rodgers ranked No. 1 in the state at 160, Evansville Mater Dei’s Eli Dickens sits at No. 3. Dickens placed third at 152 last year.
“Beginning of last year, I was ranked 17th, and I went and wrestled the kids that were ranked second and third and beat them both by a few points. That really helped open some eyes. Then at semistate and state, I beat the kid that was ranked first in the state. So that was pretty good,” Noehre said. “Anyone is capable of anything. Me and Eli Dickens always have close matches. I can’t just focus on one person like Rodger because other people are still working to come beat me. I just have to keep working in general. I have to keep improving.”
No pressure. Not for Noehre, who adopted his steadfast work ethic from his parents, Sheldon and Jamie, and his older brother, Carter, who is now wrestling at Colorado School of Mines.
“We talk all the time. There’s no such thing as pressure. There’s only opportunity,” Holden said. “Why would I get nervous before a state finals match when my whole goal was to make the state finals? I’ve been working for that one moment. I have an opportunity to do something great. He has no pressure. No one expects him to win, really. The pressure is on Rodgers. He’s just going to go out and have fun and do all he can to be the best guy in February.”
