The state qualifiers: Declan Gard

Gard relies on faith to get back to state

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Declan Gard

Rochester senior wrestler Declan Gard’s story is one of one.

From not getting out of sectional as a 144-pound freshman to being a semistate qualifier at 175 as a sophomore to finishing fourth place at state as a junior would be enough to be a most unique wrestling tale.

Except that Gard still had one more year to go, and it turned out to be his most dominant year on the mat. He is 41-3. He won the Three Rivers Conference, Plymouth sectional and Penn regional titles.

And despite being placed in what wrestling aficionados call a “death draw,” he finished third at the East Chicago semistate to make it back to state. That included a grueling 7-5 win over Crown Point’s sixth-ranked Tony Brooks in the ticket round in which he got two takedowns in the third period.

“Brooks in the round to go is tough, but I found a way to persevere,” Gard said.

He said a website’s prediction that he would lose to Brooks put a “chip on my shoulder.”

Wilson said Gard has been putting in extra work after practice, but he has also grown mentally as a wrestler.

“We have a mindset coach too that we video,” Rochester coach Tristan Wilson said. “So they work on their mental game too. And he told him to give something up. And Declan gave up drinking pop, which he shouldn’t have been doing anyway. But he gave that up and he’s been staying after, and all of that just plays a little role in your head, like I should win because of this, because of that, because of this. This is all mental.

“I wouldn’t even say he wrestled his best match against Brooks, but he had to dig deep inside of him and figure out does he want this or not. He hasn’t been called on this – not this year, I would say. Him getting to that point and still prevailing is going to really set him up well next weekend. Because he’s willing to go there. He’s willing to get deep. He’s willing to wrestle a kid he’s not supposed to beat and beat him.”

Asked about where he derives his mental strength, Gard said he has relied more on his faith.

“A lot of stuff,” Gard said. “I started reading my Bible more, and I put my trust in God – praying before my match, praying before bed – and journaling about it. Mentally, I think I’m just in the right mind right now. I’m excited for next week.”

Gard, ranked 14th, will wrestle Warren Central’s No. 8 Jacari Markey in the first round of the state finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis today. Gard will wrestle in the afternoon session beginning at 3 p.m.

Gard beat Markey in an ultimate tiebreaker at Gainbridge in last year’s state quarterfinals. If he wins, a rematch with Elkhart’s Kyle Sommer, whom he lost to at the Rochester John McKee Memorial Invitational Dec. 20, or Heritage Hills’ undefeated Hayden Smith looms.