FORTVILLE — Randal Hayes knows what it takes to win.
He’s lived it, seen it firsthand, and now he’s in prime position to pass along everything he’s learned.
A varsity assistant since 2017, Hayes was officially announced as the new Mt. Vernon head wrestling coach last week, taking over for Chad Masters, who guided the program for seven seasons before stepping down.
In a role reversal, Masters will remain as a volunteer varsity assistant for 2021-22, while Hayes ascends into the head coaching position, though his impact has already been evident the past seven years.
Hayes first joined the Marauders’ wrestling program as a middle school assistant in 2014 prior to working with Masters at the varsity level. Over the past seven seasons, Hayes helped shape the Marauders’ summer wrestling program, which has grown immensely since 2016.
In the past five years, with Hayes on the coaching staff, the Marauders captured the team’s first Hoosier Heritage Conference title in 2018-19, a second in 2019-20 and amassed a 44-4 record over both seasons to set the school’s single-season wins record at 22.
The program’s coaching leadership led to two sectional runner-up team finishes in 2019 and 2021 and a trio of team regional second-place runs in 2019, 2020, 2021, but Hayes believes the time is coming for a much larger breakthrough.
“We’ve been a top-15, top-20 team for four or five years now, and that’s great, but that’s not where I see this team being. I think, we should be a top-10 team year in and year out. We should be competing for team state and competing on that level,” Hayes said. “I have the drive to make that happen, and again, as far as sports goes, that’s the sport that I do. I’ve been involved in the sport for 45 years in different capacities. It’s just what I do.”
A former wrestling assistant coach and official, Hayes was instructed by five-time state championship head coach Don Patton at Delta High School where he graduated in 1987.
From 1981-85, Delta won the IHSAA’s team state championship with a runner-up season in 1986.
“I’m bringing more of, not necessarily what I did, but what I experienced. The Delta program, back in the 1980s when we won the five state titles in a row and we had 16 state champions in those five years, it bred in all of us what it takes to compete,” Hayes said.
“Delta had 850 students, and we were still able to do that. Other than a private school, no one has even been able to come close to that level. I was around that for many years, seeing how to get the community involved. How to get the parents involved. How to get the wrestlers to buy in. I’ve been around that, and I know what it takes to re-implement it, even 30 years later.”
Hayes has the individual credentials to go with his team affiliation as well.
While at Delta, Hayes was a three-time state qualifier and placed second as a junior at 145 pounds in 1986, falling to Valparaiso’s Time Burbee by decision 7-2 in the finals with a 30-2-1 record.
As a sophomore in 1985, Hayes lost in the state quarterfinals by decision 5-3 to the eventual state champion at 145, Mike Langley of Tipton.
In 1987, Hayes was ranked first in the state at 155, but an ankle injury he suffered during the semistate tournament limited him, despite reaching the state finals for a third straight year.
Hayes later went on to wrestle at the NCAA Division-I level with Eastern Illinois, competing at 158 for nearly two varsity seasons before being struck by a career-ending knee injury.
Now, his focus is on coaching where he’s excelled and is eager to mentor a Marauders’ team that has sent nine wrestlers to the New Castle Semistate each of the past two seasons.
“Not a lot is changing. (Chad and I) kind of had our set, defined roles of what we did for the team for the last few years, so there aren’t a whole lot of internal changes that are going to take place even with the change,” Hayes said.
“It was just a matter of me being more involved with the school, and my ability to bring in some added coaching staff that’s going to happen to get the team to the next level. These kids have bought in, no doubt about it. They know what I expect of them, so that’s not going to change. They want to go to the next level, and I’m ready to get them there.”
Through the past three seasons, Mt. Vernon has had 38 regional qualifiers and 25 semistate qualifiers since 2018-19.
In 2017-18, the Marauders produced their first IHSAA state qualifier in Chris Wilkerson at 132 pounds since Andrew Quintana placed third at state in 2005-06. Mt. Vernon has had three state qualifiers and two placers since 2018.
“What happens during the season. Everyone is doing that. That’s nothing new. It’s what we’re doing and our kids are willing to do in April, May and June that other kids just aren’t willing to do,” Hayes said. “They’re giving up a lot to make that happen. We have a firm believe that summer wrestling makes winter champions. We believe that 100 percent.”
Hayes, and assistant coach Brad Kerr, who has been involved with Marauders wrestling since 2014, have dedicated their focus to year-round training, which could pave the way for the future.
The Marauders have had approximately 20 wrestlers training twice a week during the offseason since March. The summer team has competed at the Breman Duals, hosted a 16-team dual at Mt. Vernon and are preparing for the Midwest Nationals at New Castle next month.
“Our team wrestles 11 months out of the year, close to 12 months,” Hayes said. “The state tournament series stops in the last week of February. I started having them take a week off and then we came right back in March, and we wrestled right through until the end of June. Started going on trips to national tournaments to Virginia Beach, a week at Disney Duals down in Florida, putting dual meets together. We’re getting 25-30 dual meets as a team in May and June. That’s what really turned us around.”
The steady results and team commitment netted a Pendleton Heights Regional Coach of the Year honor for Masters in 2019 and in 2021 the Marauders’ assistant coaching staff, including Hayes, was named the staff of the year at regional.
“The program’s not just building high school athletes, we’re trying to get these kids to that next level. If they want to wrestle in college, I’ll do whatever I can to make that possible,” Hayes said.
“I think they feel the excitement and they know what is going to be expected of them next year. We’re not a semistate team, and that’s kind of where we’ve been the last three years. We’re taking nine to semistate every year, but that’s not our goal. That is a stepping stone to what we’re supposed to be shooting for, which is getting on the podium at the state tournament. That’s the goal. That’s where we’re headed.”
The key, Hayes emphasized, is establishing the foundation from the bottom to the top, which has been in the motion the past seven years at the middle school and club levels. With summer competition firmly in place, the Marauders are chasing after the elusive.
“We’re winning a sectional title. We will win a sectional title,” Hayes said. “There is no if, ands or buts about that. We have to do it the hard way. We’ve been second in the sectional the last couple of years and second in the regional to the state champion (Cathedral). It’s harder for us to do, but that’s no excuse. We will make it happen. Our kids want it, and they’re going to get it.”
