Winning first place and wearing gold medals used to happen only in Aidan Abad’s mind.
Lately, though, Abad has been turning those dreams into reality.
“It’s coming to life now,” he said.
Abad’s roller-coaster ride of a high school career, which included no competitive wrestling at all for a year, is on the way up again after the 215-pound senior closed 2024 with a first-place finish at one of the state’s largest regular-season tournaments.
Abad (20-0) won his weight class during the two-day Al Smith Invitational in Mishawaka at the end of December, one year after finishing seventh at the meet. Performances like that have propelled Abad to the No. 6 ranking at 215 by IndianaMat, although his success this season started long before that event.
“It’s not just from the day itself,” he said. “It’s the preparation throughout the summer, making sure you’re getting the work in.
“Going into that tournament, there were a lot of nerves. I remember taking seventh last year, and there were all of these top-ranked guys there, so it was kind of weird coming in as the top-ranked guy.”
Lowell coach Kevin English said Abad’s success this season is the result of a more aggressive approach on the mat.
“Last year was about him not having confidence, and he wasn’t getting to his offense,” English said. “We had to get him to believe in himself and understand his abilities, and that’s made a world of difference.”
Lowell freshman Kameron Hazelett (18-1), who is ranked No. 5 at 285 by IndianaMat, has encountered Abad’s new approach during their daily practice sessions.
“He’s been pushing me,” Hazelett said. “Sometimes I’ll take him down or he’ll take me down, and I’ll be sitting there on my knees because I’m tired. But he’s just like, ‘No, come on, we have to keep going.’”
Abad has been going nonstop since he rejoined the program. After a freshman season that fell below his lofty standards, Abad didn’t go out for the team during his sophomore year and had no intention of wrestling again.
“I was just going to work out and get bigger,” he said. “But my brother convinced me.”
Abad said his older brother Kaleb, a former semistate qualifier who wrestles at Marian, would nudge him toward Lowell’s practices. Their time on the mat steadily increased in duration and frequency.
“He was always trying to get me to go to a practice, and I’d go with him every once in a while, just to help him get some extra work in,” Abad said. “And I just went more and more until I was like, ‘All right, I’ll get back into it.’”
Abad returned to the team for his junior season and went 25-12, finishing one win shy of qualifying for the state meet.
He has found another gear this season, and his rapid improvement has been paralleled by the Red Devils, who are 15-0 in dual meets. The team has several state-ranked wrestlers, including freshman Noel Verduzco (No. 3 at 113) and sophomore Evan Stanley (No. 1 at 138).
Abad said the younger wrestlers have been particularly vital for Lowell.
“There’s just a better urgency with some of the newer guys coming in,” he said. “Even though they’re freshmen, they’re wanting to win, and they’re pushing other people in the room, which is helping everyone improve.”
That improvement will be tested Saturday at the team state meet, the annual tournament hosted by the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association, and in the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s state tournament that begins Feb. 1.
Abad believes he knows what he has to do to continue winning.
“I just need to keep being consistent,” he said. “I need to keep looking back at matches to see what I need to improve upon in different positions and make sure I’m consistently going against good drill partners in practice who’ll keep pushing me.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
