By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Ben Naddy quickly takes off his backpack and sits in the corner of an otherwise quiet gym. 

About a dozen wrestlers and an assistant coach work at a fevered pace as they place the wrestling mat in the center of the Henning High School gym. In just a few short hours the Henning School gym will be filled with fans from both Otter Tail Central and the visiting Border West for Bulldogs home wrestling opener. 

Naddy can relate to the swiftness and importance of making sure the mat is in the right place from the get go, after all, he was in the very position that most of these junior high wrestlers are in today just a few short years ago. Five years after wrapping up his high school wrestling career with just the second individual state championship in Henning or Otter Tail Central history, Naddy has returned to the Bulldogs as the head coach. 

“It’s kind of a full circle thing,” said Naddy of his road back to OTC.

After wrapping up his high school career with an astonishing 148-13 record from 9-12th grade and a state championship during his senior year, Naddy attended St. Cloud State University. With two brothers at home with muscular dystrophy, Naddy opted to quit attending college during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to avoid unknowingly bringing home the virus from school. 

He returned to the area and was working construction when he was approached by former OTC head coach Jason Rogers about returning to the program as an assistant coach. While he was a bit reluctant at first to accept the offer due to being unsure if he would actually like being a coach on the sidelines, Naddy agreed to try coaching for his former program. It didn’t take long for him to find a passion in helping the next generation of Bulldog wrestlers grow both on and off the mat. 

“I was working a summer job shingling and Rogers threw the idea out there for me to coach,” he said. “I fell in love with it.”

After most recently working as an assistant coach, Naddy was once again approached with a unique opportunity—to be the head coach of OTC. Naddy said Rogers, who was an assistant coach during his time wrestling for OTC, was looking to step down as head coach. However, before stepping away from the sidelines, Rogers wanted to make sure the right person was willing to step up to be in charge of the program.

“Rogers brought it up and said ‘I am only gong to step down if someone would be willing to step up and take the job,’” said Naddy. “I thought it would be cool to be leading the program I was part of and change their lives for the better.”

Naddy enjoyed quite a bit of success on and off the mat during his time for OTC. He was routinely seen throughout town running before school and after practice, while also qualifying for four state tournaments. He was also a member of OTC’s only state tournament team in 2018. That team placed fifth in the state as he wrestled on the same team as first-year assistant coach Hayden Hart, as well as Hayden’s older brother Nate, who were both sons of former head coach Scott Hart.

Naddy also wrestled for several seasons with his older brother Sam, who advanced to a pair of state tournaments during his time at OTC. Naddy’s state championship in 2018 was just the second individual state championship in either Henning’s or OTC’s history. Jacob Volkmann won three straight state championships from 1997-99 and is the only other person in OTC history to win a state title in wrestling. 

While the team has yet to win a match in a dual this season they are busy building for the future. Not only has OTC nearly doubled the number of kids in wrestling this year, currently there are 43 participants in wrestling in grades 7-12, but the Bulldogs are young with a number of the members of the team in just 7-8th grade. 

With such a young team, the Bulldogs have put an emphasis this season on growing together both on and off the mat, not simply focusing on wins and losses. For example, Naddy said the team had a number of kids who were declared ineligible due to academics to start the season. Today, the team is at full strength due to their growth in the classroom and they have also grown on the mat as well. The growth on and off the mat has been what Naddy has enjoyed the most so far this season.

“Seeing the development of the kids. It’s not just about wins and losses,” he said. “It’s more seeing them grow. (For example) getting kids off the deficiency lists. I think that has been cool to see.”

Today, Naddy is a paraprofessional in the Underwood School District and drives school bus as well. He has stayed in contact with his former head coach Scott Hart, who will routinely send a text message after a match or tournament to the first-year head coach. 

Even though he is a new head coach, Naddy has some familiar faces joining him on the bench this season. Longtime assistant coaches Randy Witt and Adam Schwartz are returning for another year with the program, as are two longtime wrestling friends who came up in the same program as Naddy.

Brendan Hart, who advanced to state as an OTC wrestler in 2011, and Hayden Hart, who was a member of the 2018 state tournament team and advanced to state individually as a senior, will also join the program this year as assistant coaches. Both of the Hart brothers are the son of longtime OTC head wrestling coach and Henning High School alum Scott Hart.

Brendan was hired as a the new maintenance and grounds supervisor last year and said he has enjoyed the opportunity to work with the next generation of OTC wrestlers. 

“It’s in my blood,” he said. “I enjoy everything about it.”

Hayden graduated from high school in 2020 and is currently attending online classes at M-State in Fergus Falls. He said he always wanted to get into coaching and is enjoying the opportunity to help the OTC program grow both on and off the mat.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and you don’t get too many chances to do something like this,” he said.

After competing in the annual Red River Rumble in Fargo, N.D. over the Christmas break, the Bulldogs will be back in action on Friday when they compete at the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa tournament.