FORTVILLE — Chad Masters remembers his first practice six years ago. With fewer than 10 kids in the wrestling room, Masters, the newly promoted head coach, wondered how he was going to fill out a 14-man lineup, let alone win a dual.
Times have undeniably changed for Masters and the Mt. Vernon wrestling team. Twice in the past three years, the Marauders have posted 22-win seasons, and they’ve reached at least 20 in each of the past three.
It all started with 10 wins, followed by 17 before the breakthrough took hold the third year after quite a few aches and pains — both endured and self-induced.
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“There are times I look back, and there were eight kids in the room the first day. They were like who is this guy? I was like, ‘ok, let’s start sprinting.’ And the silly things I had the kids do, which I don’t have to do anymore because they work hard,” Masters recalled.
The first thing on his to-do list was changing the culture. The progression of Mt. Vernon wrestling would naturally unfold, Masters believed.
Yet, the initial step was no easy task. It required commitment, and notably, the installation of a new mindset.
“We would get pinned so much that I asked the kids at practice, ‘Are you allowed to be on your backs?’ They would respond, ‘No, sir!’ I asked, ‘Do you have to listen to your coaches?’ They said, ‘Yes, sir!’ So I told them to lay on their backs,” Masters said. “As soon as they were all on their backs, I would yell for them to get on the wall. They’d run sprints for 10 minutes, then I’d do it again. I told them, ‘You guys are going to equate being on your back to running sprints.’”
The lesson stuck and it hasn’t faded. It’s one unbeaten 145-pound Chris Wilkerson lives by faithfully and teaches the younger wrestlers by example.
The state’s fourth-ranked wrestler at 145, according to IndianaMat, hasn’t been pinned since his first varsity match in 2016-17.
Wilkerson, who is at 10-0 on the season, loathes losing. It happened eight times compared to 40 wins his junior year. But he won’t give up six points, ever.
“It’s been embedded into our heads since forever. Don’t get pinned. Whatever you do, don’t get pinned. Even when we were the worst team, it was whatever you do don’t give up six,” Wilkerson said. “That mindset has stuck with us, especially our class.”
Wilkerson and fellow senior Max Hayes, who is 10-0 at 170, aren’t focused on their individual records when they counter a potential fall, however. They want team success, and like last season, it’s started off early.
The Marauders matched their school-record 22 wins from 2016-17 last season and are focused on toppling it after a 5-0 sweep at the Lawrence Township Wrestlemania at Lawrence North on Nov. 23. This past weekend, they went 4-1 run for fifth at the Westfield Duals.
At Lawrence North, the Marauders defeated Connersville 78-6, Hagerstown 62-12, the host Wildcats 48-27, Lawrence Central 43-28 and Pike 66-15.
At Westfield, Mt. Vernon won 84-0 over Victory College Prep and 78-6 over Yorktown before Westfield ended their streak at 7-0 with a 46-21 loss.
The Marauders are young and they featured nine underclassmen during the duals this past Saturday, but age made little difference. It was perception.
“I know that they were coached to beat us. Just like we would coach our kids before sectional. We’re working on individual opponents, so we’re working with individual kids,” Masters said. “They were coached. That level of respect I’ve never had. I’ve never had a team work to beat us.”
A year ago, Mt. Vernon advanced a program-best eight to the New Castle Semistate, including Wilkerson, a two-time state qualifier and a seventh-place finisher at state at 138 in 2018-19.
“People actually know who we are in the state. When you walk into a tournament, people see Mt. Vernon. It’s not who’s Mt. Vernon?,” Wilkerson said. “They know who we are now.”
The opposition is learning about freshman Caelen Alford (106), sophomores Carson Johnson (132) and Andrew Johnson (120), who were both semistate qualifiers last season, along with Hayes.
The attention paid is in the numbers for Masters and his coaching staff after they knocked off Fishers 51-24 and Carroll (Fort Wayne) 41-31 in Westfield. The two victories pushed Masters’ career wins total to 100.
“I thought if I was going to get 100 wins, I was going to have to be here for 15 years,” Masters said. “It would be very difficult to do, but we could finish the year 27-2 or even 26-3. We got that potential, which kind of blows my mind.”
The next step is continuing to push farther with more state qualifiers and feeding the future, which has more than 30 participants in the youth program and more than 60 at the junior high level.
They are also looking to get back to full strength with senior Parker Bishop (4-0) at 160 out and senior Charlie Moore (195) nearing his return to compete in the lineup.
“I’m excited to see where we’re at when we’re healthy, but the kids are fighting,” Masters said.
“We’re young so we’re kind of starting over,” Wilkerson added. “But the goal is to keep winning duals and win as much as we can as a team. It’s all about the team this year.”
