Originally posted in the Earlham Eco Cardinals Winter Sports Preview
PUBLISHED BY
TODD WEBER
NOVEMBER 28, 2023
When you walk into the Earlham wrestling room during practice, you’re almost overwhelmed by the heat and humidity. Part of that is certainly the subpar circulation in the room. But after watching the Cardinals work for a while, you realize that the heaviness of the air might be from the collective vapor of the blood, sweat, and tears pouring out of them right in front of your eyes. The whirling non-stop activity, endless hustle, and a battle level that would have pleased Genghis Kahn—in only the second week of practice—leads you to believe that these kids are just built a little differently.
“There aren’t a lot of complaints,” said head coach Ben Strandberg about his athletes’ work ethic. “Earlham kids show up. In addition to afternoon practice, we’re also here at 6 a.m. twice a week; 3 times this week. And we’re all here. I’m going through my attendance and we’re all here across the board. They’re here to work and they show up in number—and I think they like spending time with each other, even when it’s in a hot, damp room.”
Two years ago when the Earlham wrestling program was ‘reborn,’ there was only a handful of kids out. This year, the room is nearly bursting with over 20 kids competing. And while the quantity is on the upswing, so is the quality. The Cardinals will return four boys’ state qualifiers from last year—Ryan Stiles, Payton Harger, Dallas Canoyer, and Josh Winey. Haley Glade qualified for the girls’ state tournament. Individually, Stiles, Harger, Canoyer, and Glade are all ranked in the top ten, per IAwrestle. And with a handful of other kids that are poised to make their mark, the Cardinals are ranked #11.
“Pre-season rankings are what they are,” said Coach Strandberg. “My dad always used to say, ‘Oh you’re ranked number 1? Now you can go downtown and it’s still going to cost $1.50 for a cup of coffee.’ It doesn’t really do anything for you, except it’s kind of a pat on the back. But it is nice to see those names and our school in those rankings right out of the gate. Where we had to earn it throughout the season the last couple of years, now people are kind of giving us our due.”
As hard as the team has been working, there is still a way to go before everyone is in ‘game shape.’
“This time of year, we’re trying to get that shape in check,” said the coach. “Some of these guys, they’re pushing themselves hard, but their lungs aren’t quite ready for what’s coming here in a few weeks. We pride ourselves on being able to wrestle for six minutes and we try to make sure we can do that right out of the gate.”
The kids on the team have a range of skill sets, of course, but most of them have experience at various levels of wrestling. Many of those that are new to the varsity program have competed at a high level in youth programs. That quickens the pace at which a coach can teach new things—but Coach Strandberg is still a fan of wrestling basics for everybody.
“Basics win matches. I’ve said that for years,” he said. “I went through a handful of different things tonight, and those three to four things are usually broken up into a couple practices. We can show them quickly, and with the number of coaches we have, we can run over and help the new kids—kind of individualize it. But the kids that have been doing it for years, you want to get them through the drill. You don’t have to break it down quite as detailed.”
While Stiles, Harger, Canoyer, and Josh Winey form the backbone of the boy’s team, the Cardinals are not top heavy. There are plenty of other returners that will be improved this year. Among those are Malachi Hruska, Jackson Berkley, Nathan Hansen, Ty Willem, and Ethan Winey. The great work that the Earlham youth program has been doing in the past few years should bear fruit at the varsity level this season. Several freshmen, including Keegan Long, Cole Eitel, and Max Millage—should be impactful.
The Cardinals could not fill out a complete lineup for dual meets last year, but they’ll do that this season. Coach Strandberg is certainly pleased with the team’s depth.
“Those are the kids that are going to win duals for you,” he said. “You expect that state qualifiers to go out there and win most of their matches. It’s the other guys that are going to have to step up if we’re going to actually make a run at something special here.”
Glade will anchor the girls’ team again this season—but this year she has some company. She’ll be joined by the coach’s daughter, Lily. Another girl has been attending practice and is considering competing.
“It’s kind of like pulling teeth to get girls out,” said Coach Strandberg. “We might have a dedicated coach for them next year, and they deserve that. We’re building those numbers. We have them at the youth level, so they’re coming.”
The Cardinals will host four matches this season—three quadrangulars and one triangular—so local fans will get plenty of opportunities to see the team in action. Still a relatively new program, the Cards certainly aren’t scheduling ‘light.’ They’ll be taking on all comers, including bigger, established programs like Atlantic, Winterset, Ballard, Creston, and Carroll.
“It’s all about getting better and getting matches,” said Coach Strandberg. “I think everyone is going to have a different philosophy. There are going to be some 1A teams out there trying to find easy matches so they get ranked. Us, we’re not afraid to lose, because obviously we’ve done it when it comes to duals. To me, it’s all about sharpening the kids up, getting them the matches they deserve. We’re going after some pretty big 2A teams. It might not make us look good in the final score, but I honestly think we can compete. Maybe we win a few of those.”