The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Darmstadt, Gillespie shine at meet
Elyria assistant coach Gillespie is given national honor
When Elyria graduate Ben Darmstadt was a freshman, assistant wrestling coach Jack Gillespie asked why he was there.
Darmstadt answered, “Because I want to win stuff.”
It is safe to say Darmstadt has been a man of his word, especially after capturing the national 195-pound Junior Freestyle championship on July 23 at Fargo, N.D., by beating two-time Virginia state champion John Borst, 10-0. He also earned the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler award, not surrendering a point.
It was the only glaring hole on the resume of Elyria’s two-time state champion, after falling in the semis the prior two years, and now that hole has been filled.
“It’s still kind of surreal,” Darmstadt said. “That’s the one thing I haven’t been able to accomplish. It’s (the trophy) sitting in my room right now and it’s really cool. I found things I needed to work on and kept fine-tuning it. This year, I really think the best of me went out and wrestled.
“Back when the season was still going on, I knew I wanted to go to Fargo because I knew it was my last chance.”
With Darmstadt closing the final chapter in his Elyria career, which title is he most proud of?
“I would say my first state title was really something,” he said. “Just because when you’re a little kid, you always want to be in the state tournament. But Fargo from a national level is a tougher tournament, so to win that is also a
great accomplishment. But the first title is the most important to me.”
For the 36-year-old Gillespie, who just completed his 12th year at Elyria, seeing Darmstadt accomplish his goal is all he needs for gratification. He isn’t in it for the awards or recognition.
But at Fargo, Gillespie was named National Developmental Coach of the Year by USA Wrestling and even he had to admit it was a special thing.
“It’s pretty cool,” Gillespie said. “It’s taken a couple days for it to sink in because I got it during the Cadet finals and we still had our junior guys still in the tournament wrestling, so I was focused on them. So it’s finally sunk in and feels great.”
It’s because of the success of wrestlers that Gillespie has helped develop — like Darmstadt — that has led to recognition as one of the premier assistants in the nation.
Gillespie has been right by head coach Erik Burnett’s side through most of Elyria’s transformation into a juggernaut.
“I’ve learned how to manage things from Erik,” Gillespie said. “How to help
people with their different skill sets, how to lead people differently. What buttons to push here and there. We’re all constantly learning and you have to constantly keep evolving.”
Gillespie wrestled at Elyria in high school from 1994 to 1998, and Burnett came in the fall of 1997 and coached Gillespie for his senior year.
At that time, little did Gillespie know 19 years later they would be in the position that they’re in.
“Elyria wasn’t what it is now,” he said. “Erik came in and did a lot of things to get things going. Then I went to Iowa (for college) and was gone for six years. Erik built things up and I came home in the fall of ’04 and things started there. Erik allowed me to work my way through and here we are now.”
Darmstadt acknowledges that without the help of Gillespie, winning at Fargo and state titles wouldn’t be possible.
“Jack is that person that’s always there for you,” Darmstadt said. “If you needed to lose four pounds the night before and it’s midnight, he wouldn’t think twice about coming in and helping you work out. He’s the guy that I can call and he’s there for me. I love the dude and he deserves the award more than anyone.”
And Gillespie knows that he or Burnett can’t take
all of the credit as to why Darmstadt has become the most successful wrestler in program history. It takes that person wanting the desire to become great and it’s something no coach can teach.
“He has the drive to become great,” Gillespie said. “He constantly works hard. His driving force was that he didn’t win a national title at Fargo. He mentioned that losing helped him focus on making adjustments.
“He’s a kid, but he was always business-like and on top of things with his cardio workouts, technique drills. He wanted to do phenomenal things.”
Burnett has had the pleasure of seeing both Darmstadt and Gillespie flourish in their roles under his watchful eye.
“Darmstadt made progress and never gave up,” Burnett said, describing his career. “We always ask that out of our kids and he’s pretty much the poster boy for that, man. He kept grinding and kept working at it.
“And with Jack, he lives wrestling. He wants to help kids. Obviously, he wants Elyria to succeed, but he’s willing to help any individual, whether it’s a kid from Lorain County or neighboring states. He just wants to see kids get better.”
Darmstadt talked about being a role model for the
younger wrestlers coming up in the program, and an example of that was center stage at Fargo when Dylan Shawver finished fourth at the Cadet Freestyle Nationals in his first year there.
Burnett added that wrestlers like Shawver want to win when they notice how Darmstadt performs.
“Kids see that,” Burnett said. “It becomes easier to believe they can do it when they train in the same room as them during the offseason in the freestyle club.”
As Darmstadt embarks on a new adventure at Cornell, he walks out accomplishing everything a wrestler dreams of doing.
Now he can begin setting his sights on the next grand prize.
“I think he can win a national title, maybe two,” Gillespie said. “The most important thing is he thinks he can do it, and that’s where it all starts.”
“My next goal is to become a national champion,” Darmstadt added. “Setting a goal less than that is selling myself short. If my goal is to be an All-American, if I train to become that, maybe I’ll fall short. But if I’m training to be a national champ and being the best college wrestler out there, and I fall a little short of that, I’m still All-American. You always have to set your goals as high as possible.”