Two of the most decorated wrestlers to ever don Gilmer High’s lightning-clad singlets are set to return next week.
Matthew Waddell and brother Caleb Waddell will run Gilmer’s annual Homegrown Camp for the second year in a row. Sixty wrestlers are set to receive eight hours of top-level instruction over two days.
GHS head coach Josh Ghobadpoor discussed the camp and why he is excited to have a pair of former Bobcats back in Ellijay.
“These are two great wrestlers from our high school who went on to the collegiate level. They’re super great with kids and great technicians. I think it’s a great platform for them and for our kids to see people who are high level from our school that are returning to give back to them,” he said.
The camp’s “homegrown” name is a point of pride for the Gilmer program. It is derived from the fact that an overwhelming majority of Gilmer High’s wrestlers have been part of the program since the youth level.
“When I see that name, I think of Gilmer wrestling,” Ghobadpoor said. “We’ve used that title for a long time, and I like reminding people that we’re not like every other training facility (fed school) out there. We do a lot in town with our kids. Some go outside the county as well, which only improves them.
“It’s great to have quality individuals come back and work with our kids. For many, many years, this program has been homegrown from the youth to middle school to the high school. It’s a reminder that it’s important to get kids in here for these opportunities.”
With that in mind, it made perfect sense to Ghobadpoor for the Waddell brothers have a heavy hand in the camp.
Matthew was a three-time state champion at GHS and seven-time All-American. He went on to wrestle at the University of Oklahoma for two years before spending the last four at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. He was a three-time NCAA qualifier for the Mocs and the 2022 Southern Conference champion at 197 pounds.
“I enjoy getting to see all the kids after being gone for so long,” Matthew said. “Last year there were a bunch of new kids I had never seen before, and the ones that I had seen were no longer 10 years old.”
Caleb racked up 190 victories in 208 matches at GHS. He was a three-time state finalist and a two-time champ. He earned All-American status at Fargo Nationals, one of the most lauded national tournaments in the country.
“Last year was a blast,” Caleb said. “I haven’t been able to come around much and it was so nice to meet everyone. We got to meet all the youth, middle school and high school wrestlers. It was just awesome to meet them and see what the future holds.”
The Waddell brothers will have a lot of discretion when it comes to what they teach at the camp. Ghobadpoor will offer input, and the Waddells will implement it with the needed tweaks.
“Everything they do is good, and they have a lot of leeway on what they want to show in the time we have,” Ghobadpoor said. “They stayed after camp last year to spend extra time with the kids and answer any questions. Whatever they feel is very beneficial to the campers, that’s also foundational, I’m giving them the ability to create that curriculum.”
Matthew noted, “Me, Ghobad and Caleb all wrestled in college, and we want to teach things we wished we knew when we were their age. You don’t have to teach fancy high-flying moves, but solid technique that would have helped when you were coming up through the program.
“Coaches (of teams) teach things for a group of kids. One thing we teach at the camp might be helpful to four or five kids, and the next thing might help 15 or 20 kids. Wrestling is all about how you want to wrestle and how your body is designed to wrestle.”
Matthew graduated from UTC last spring with a sports management degree and is currently pursuing a second bachelor’s degree in engineering management.
Caleb’s mat time at UTC was minimized because of an array of injuries and subsequent surgeries and recovery. He was sidelined as a freshman because of what he called “basically a complete knee replacement.” He was healthy headed into his sophomore season when a shoulder injury was followed by bicep, labrum and rotator cuff surgeries, as well as the arrival of spinal bone spurs.
While Caleb’s days as a wrestler have concluded, he will stay on with UTC’s program to assist with strength and conditioning. He is set to graduate next spring with a degree in physical education and hopes to return to Ellijay as a GHS assistant.
“Growing up, we had to travel to go and get the opportunity to learn from someone at the national level,” he said. “It’s awesome to be able to come into the room and teach those kids what we learned or what we didn’t learn until way later on in our career. It may not even be a new move. It could be a tweak to a move they learned their first day of wrestling, and that tweak turns out to be a game changer.”