From little to Giant: Gard signs with Wabash for wrestling

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Rochester senior Declan Gard signs with Wabash College to continue his academic and wrestling careers. Front, from left – Kelly Gard, Declan’s mother; Declan; Clint Gard, Declan’s father; Back – former Rochester football coach Ron Shaffer, Rochester assistant boys wrestling coach Bryce Roberts, Rochester wrestling coach Tristan Wilson.

The athletic teams at Wabash College are known as the Little Giants.

Perhaps it is appropriate that Rochester senior Declan Gard signed with Wabash, an NCAA Division III school located in Crawfordsville, to continue his academic and wrestling careers.

After all, Gard started out little and turned into a giant in what has been an unprecedented wrestling career.

Gard wrestled at 144 pounds as a freshman, but he had a losing record and did not advance to the regional. To add injury to insult, he broke his wrist his freshman season.

He moved up four weight classes to 175 for his sophomore season in 2023-24 and advanced to semistate. Last year, as a junior, he moved up three more weight classes to heavyweight and finished fourth at the IHSAA state finals.

Gard also came out for football this fall and made first-team all-Three Rivers Conference as an offensive lineman after taking a two-year break from the sport. He said it helped keep him in shape for wrestling.

He is currently undefeated and ranked No. 5 in the state at heavyweight, per IndianaMat.com.

“For sure,” Gard said of his weight gain. “I wrestled 175 my sophomore year, and then I was going to go to 190, and then I was going to go to 215, and then I weighed about 230, and all of the coaches and I agreed that heavyweight was my best bet just because I’m a stubborn guy.”

Gard also made the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Academic All-State team last year.

Gard said he received “anywhere from 12 to 15” offers from colleges.

“It was fun having people reach out to me,” Gard said. “I kind of always knew it was going to be Wabash. They’re a good campus, they’re a good school, and they have a good wrestling team.”

Jake Fredricksen is in his third season as the coach at Wabash. He has coached 14 All-Americans and two D3 national champions.

“He’s a really nice guy, and he stayed on top of me,” Gard said. “He was really the only coach that reached out to me multiple times a week. So that’s brownie points for him.”

Gard said he wants to major in pre-law with hopes to become a lawyer.

“Education comes before sports, so I wanted to go somewhere with a good education before I wanted to go somewhere with a good wrestling program,” Gard said.

Gard said he became interested in the law around his freshman year.

“I was actually watching a true crime show, and it just sparked my mind for it,” Gard said.

Gard’s brothers Drew Sailors and Greyson Gard both wrestled for Rochester, and his father Clint is the former Rochester coach and a current Rochester faculty member.

Clint Gard wrestled collegiately at Manchester University.

“My dad wrestled in college,” Gard said. “I look up to him, so I did want to wrestle in college throughout my whole entire career. And then my freshman year, I was like 8-14, and I told myself I wasn’t good enough, but I trained throughout the offseason, and here I am.”