In February, Indiana Tech announced it was adding a women’s wrestling program to its list of collegiate sports and in April, coach Paul Rademacher was hired to build the program, which begins competing during the 2020-21 school year.
Earlier this summer, Paul took some time to talk with Indiana Tech Magazine about his start here and his vision for the future. But first, here is some background on Paul:
- A former wrestler at Oregon State University, Rademacher took the Tech position after a two-year stint at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, where he was the associate head coach for the women’s wrestling team.
- During his two years with the Raiders he went 14-14 and led the team to an eighth place finish at the first-ever NAIA National Invitational this past March and a 12th-place performance at the Women’s College Wrestling Association (WCWA) Championships in 2018. He mentored six all-Americans during his time at Southern Oregon.
- Prior to his time at SOU, Rademacher served as the head coach for the boys and girls wrestling teams at Henley High School (Klamath Falls, Oregon) for two seasons and led teams at Mount Vernon High School (Mount Vernon, Washington) before that. He had 40 wrestlers place during his time at the prep ranks while four became Oregon state champions under his tutelage.
- A 1999 graduate of Chiloquin High School (Chiloquin, Oregon), Rademacher competed from 1999-2003 at Oregon State, where he was a Pac-10 second-team all-academic selection as a senior.
- He received a master’s degree in teaching (specifically science) from Western Governors University in 2017 and graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s in exercise and sports science with a concentration in fitness management.
- Paul and his wife, Gretchen, have been married since 2004. They have many animals, including Gretchen’s two horses.
Now, here is coach Rademacher’s interview with Indiana Tech Magazine:
Paul, welcome to Indiana Tech. How are things going? Are you amped? Are you frazzled? What kind of feelings do you have about building a women’s wrestling program from the ground up?
I am very excited about this opportunity and where things are going. Things are starting to come together as I continue to learn more about the school and who I need to be recruiting that will be a good fit for IT. I think the opportunity to build from the ground up was one of the big attractions to the position for me. I know that starting from scratch is a lot of pressure, but it also means we get to set the culture of the team and how it fits into the overall mission of Indiana Tech Athletics.
What about this position prompted you to travel across country and compete for it?
As I said earlier, the opportunity to build the team from the ground up was a big factor. But, it was also a full-time coaching position, which I did not have at Southern Oregon. I also like the opportunity that I have here to recruit the entire country for athletes that will fit Indiana Tech’s academic programs and our team philosophy. The fact that I will have a full year to recruit was a factor as well. Starting a program from scratch and only having a few months to assemble a team that would represent Tech the way we want wasn’t setting it up for the best opportunity, but I think (athletic director) Debbie Warren really thought the process through and when we would start competing. As I came for the interview, I really felt like the coaches here were really close-knit and I liked the family feel they had.
How has the recruiting trail been treating you? Do you have any commits you can talk about in general?
Recruiting has been okay, so far. We have two athletes joining us for 2019 who will redshirt in preparation for 2020. One from Ohio and one from Michigan. I am very excited to get to work with both of them and I believe both will make drastic improvements this year because of the focused attention they will get. I have a lot of athletes interested in Indiana Tech that are rising seniors now and will be looking to come visit campus this fall/spring. At that time, we will see if we are the right fit for them.
What can the Indiana Tech community expect from a Paul Rademacher-coached wrestling team?
Indiana Tech can expect my teams to be hard working in the classroom and on the wrestling mats. We will be a team that represents Tech with class, both in victory and defeat. I expect my athletes to be the best version of themselves (whatever that is) in all aspects of life. We should have academic and athletic all-Americans regularly, and I believe with the resources we have, we will be competitive for national championships quickly. I also believe that we will eventually have world or Olympic team members that are either current or former Tech athletes.
Can you gauge the reaction locally/regionally about the addition of our women’s wrestling program—especially in a region where it has not taken a foothold yet?
The people I have interacted with throughout different parts of Indiana are all very excited to have a college team in the state where their athletes (or the athletes themselves) can compete in a location that is still close to family. I also have found a lot of the Michigan and Ohio coaches/athletes that I’ve talked to have been excited. I believe having this opportunity at Indiana Tech will allow for all of Indiana’s girls wrestling to improve and gain traction. Even though it is a small group of girls that currently wrestle in Indiana, there is a young group that has been performing very well on a national level, and they will only continue to get better as we give athletes the opportunity to continue beyond high school at Indiana Tech.
