In the early 1960s, Otterbein University had a wrestling team, but in 1974 it was disbanded. In 2015, Otterbein hired a new head coach, Brent Rastetter, to re-start the program. Now the program is starting off its third season with multiple starters going undefeated.
“We purposely made the beginning part of the schedule really tough," Rastetter said. "We faced a lot of D1 and D2 teams the first two weeks of the season, so we took a few lumps, but that was kinda intentional.”
The team’s first OAC match of the season was against Ohio Northern, who beat the Cardinals last year 48-0.
“The boys came away with a 27-15 win, so that was a pretty big turn around for us, so we were pretty excited about that," Rastetter said. "We have something good to build off of."
Last season the team faced multiple devastating setbacks because of player injuries. Before the start of the season, starter and team captain Corbin Bunsold broke his leg and was out for the whole season.
“It was the first time I had ever broken a bone, and it was the first time I had ever missed out on wrestling since I was four, so it was hard," Bunsold said. "It was hard to come back and watch the team wrestle while it was broken.”
Bunsold came back this year as a starter in a new weight class.
“Since I missed last year, coming in and having some success early on against good kids has been a boost,” Bunsold said.
This year the team will host three home matches against Mount Union, Lourdes and Wilmington.
