Dad Wardell pushes, son Wardell responds
In many respects, Dow High junior Aidan Wardell is a normal, well-adjusted student-athlete. Still, he can’t help hearing conflicting voices in his head sometimes — particularly when he’s wrestling.
“It’s confusing sometimes,” said Wardell, one of the top wrestlers in the area, whose father Nick is the Chargers’ head coach. “A coach’s No. 1 priority is to make their student-athletes the best they can be, and to push them sometimes to help them become the best they can be. But it’s hard sometimes. I get confused because I can’t tell if it’s ‘dad’ or ‘coach’ who’s talking, and I sometimes get frustrated with that.
“It can be difficult, but it’s also really fun,” Wardell added. “He’s always around at practice, and afterward we can talk about practice and how it went and stuff like that.”
Nick Wardell agreed that his and his son’s relationship on the mat is “not always smooth.”
“Coaching your son is difficult,” Nick Wardell admitted. “He has to understand that it’s not always ‘dad’ talking; he’s got to hear ‘coach’ talking. For a long time, I relied on other coaches to help me (get through to Aidan).”
Nick noted that Aidan grew up wrestling alongside current Bullock Creek standout Peyton Brooks, who finished as state runner-up at 152 pounds in Division 3 last year.
“When the boys were little, I got them to wrestling with each other,” he said of Aidan and Peyton Brooks. “Aidan wrestled in the Bullock Creek youth program for many years, and he and Peyton were wrestling partners for a lot of that time. I relied a lot on Peyton’s father, Mike Brooks, to harp on (Aidan) when I knew he needed to hear it.
“Now, I lean on a couple of other people like (my assistant coaches at Dow) to say things he needs to hear, other than from ‘dad,'” Nick added. “It’s a difficult situation. It’s not easy.”
Whatever Nick Wardell — or his assistant coaches — are telling Aidan, it seems to be working just fine.
Aidan finished the regular season recently with an unblemished 24-0 record while competing at 189 and sometimes 215 pounds. He will be wrestling at 189 when the postseason commences.
And his father thinks Aidan can make another deep run after finishing seventh in the state in Division 1 at 171 pounds as a sophomore last year.
“His goal is to be as high on the podium (at the state final) as he can. … I think he has the potential to be near the top, if not on top, of the podium,” Nick said.
Aidan, 17, said he is pleased just to have had a wrestling season — pleased, yes, but not yet satisfied.
“I was really hoping we’d have a season, and I thought I would have a good season. For a while, it was looking like we would not have a season,” he noted, referring to the late start to winter sports due to the pandemic. “I was pretty upset about that, but then things turned around and we were able to start, and I’m happy.
” … I wanted to not get hurt and to have a healthy and happy season,” he added of his goals for 2021. “I also want to get back to state and place again, higher than last time. Right now, I’m thinking top three would be really, really cool.”
Aidan, who began wrestling competitively at the age of seven, admitted that it took him a while to warm up to the sport.
“For a little while, I didn’t have a choice (about whether or not I wrestled),” he said with a chuckle. “But then, once I got into high school, I found out that it’s pretty fun to go out there and win. It’s fun and rewarding when you win, and it’s disappointing when you lose. It’s all just part of the sport.”
Nick Wardell said that his son’s greatest attribute on the mat is “determination.”
“He’s tenacious. He doesn’t back down. He believes in his abilities, and when he gets his mind set on something, it’s hard to persuade him that it’s not going to happen,” Nick said. “Last year, he stepped out against some very tough opponents and faced off against some state champions and some state runners-up. He faced a lot of high-caliber wrestlers, and he’s not intimidated by that.
“He learned some lessons and continued to move forward. … He takes on challenges and does the best he can,” added Nick, whose daughter Ellie is a Midland High alum who is now playing soccer for Winona State University. ” … I’m proud of both of my children. They’re fantastic young people who work hard to do the best they can.”
Asked about a specific moment that stands out in his mind about this season, Aidan replied, “I don’t have a specific favorite moment. The highlight for me has just been how much fun I’ve been having. It’s been a lot of fun at meets, just watching my teammates wrestle and making jokes and laughing and having a good time.”
Aidan’s quest to make another postseason run will begin Thursday at Traverse City West in a team district tournament. The individual district tourney will be Saturday at Saginaw Heritage.
Aidan acknowledged that he probably will have to get by some very stiff competition if he is going to achieve his goal of standing on the podium at the state final.
“I’ve just got to show up and wrestle my hardest every match,” he said.
