In a sport that is based so heavily on feel and an intimate knowledge of the grapplers at your disposal, coaching relationships are tantamount to success. Duke head coach Glen Lanham and his staff place a premium on this relationship—to the point that the coaches join in on the action.
Grappling the coaching staff has been instrumental for Conner Hartmann in taking his game to the next level.
After his first season of competition, Hartmann was battling his way through a grueling training session, wrestling both assistant coach Ben Wissel and volunteer assistant coach Corey Bell when, in the midst of the fray, Wissel and Hartmann butted heads.
"I asked him if he needed time to recover and the dude was furious that I even asked. It was his mentality," Wissel said. "Right then, I knew the dude was going to be whatever he wanted to be.”
Flash-forward a few years, and what Hartmann has turned out to be is a three-time NCAA qualifier and the reigning ACC champion at 197 pounds. Part of that success can be traced back to Wissel, who has worked with the redshirt senior on and off the mat to mold Hartmann into a contender for the NCAA title.
“I know that [Wissel]’s going to come in here and work hard and he’s going to give these guys 100 percent of what he’s got,” Lanham said. “And the guy’s been hurt. He’s had a neck surgery, different surgeries, but he comes back in and he wants to get these guys to perform. Conner wouldn’t be where he is if it weren't for Coach Wissel for sure.”
A former four-time NCAA qualifier and two-time All-American at 184 pounds at Purdue, Wissel joined Lanham’s staff in July 2012 and works with the Blue Devils’ upper weight classes. The Richmond, Ind., native has spent plenty of time on the mat with Hartmann, providing pivotal guidance in his development.
Since his redshirt freshman season, Hartmann has amassed an 86-28 record, All-America honors in his redshirt sophomore and redshirt junior seasons and an invite to the NWCA All-Star Classic in Atlanta to kick off his final season in a Duke singlet.
“[Wissel] has been a huge factor in making me good enough to be an All-American for sure, and good enough to be a national champion,” Hartmann said. “When I first met him and started practicing with him, I just decided that no matter what, I was going to trust what he had to say…. I’m not going to question [anything] with him unless I know he wants me to or he’s open to it.”
The consistent competition between the two has led to a unique bond on and off the mats. Hartmann is the oldest of three children, and is quick to describe his relationship with his coach as a brotherhood. But once they hit the mats, the intensity ramps up. The Port Orchard, Wash., native calls Wissel “tough,” and the Blue Devil assistant returns the compliment by calling Hartmann a “competitor.”
From his perspective off the mat, Lanham understands that the trust the two have built is a key part of their success, even if neither wrestler will give an inch once the headgear is strapped on.
“It’s a trust factor, when you get a student-athlete that trusts you and believes in what you’re trying to tell him,” he said. “I think that they have that bond and it’s not a 'thinking about it'—it’s just doing it.... If Coach Wissel tells Conner to do something, Conner’s not going to think about it, and say, ‘Ah, you know.’ He’s just going to do it and believe in him and trust him.”
As a former wrestler, Wissel has become a mentor for Hartmann, in addition to their work on the mat to get him into championship form. The former Boilermaker prides himself in taking the lessons he learned from pitfalls during his own collegiate career and passing them on to the Blue Devils.
Wissel knew early on that Hartmann would heed that advice without any second-guessing.
“Recently I had a clavicle problem and right when it happened, [Wissel] knew that it was bad and he actually had me finish the match anyway,” Hartmann said. “He said, ‘I’m not going to hurt you, but you’ve got to keep going because you never know, you might have a time during NCAAs when you get hurt and you need to keep pushing through the pain.’ I hated him at the moment, but that’s probably a good decision.”
Wissel knows that pushing Hartmann to such extremes could yield a national championship in his final season at Duke. The 197-pounder has already defeated two opponents who have beaten world champion Kyle Snyder and is 5-1 against ranked foes this season.
The redshirt senior's drive to meet his goals and commitment to his craft has left his coaching staff doubting whether his potential has any sort of ceiling.
“The dude hates losing, period. That’s his driving force,” Wissel said. “There’s a special group of people that no matter how hard competition gets, they still despise losing as much as when competition was easy for them, so they’ll do the necessary things to get to that success level again…. He definitely could have his hand raised in his final match. Hopefully that’s five matches into the [NCAA] tournament without a loss on the top of the podium.”
Although Hartmann will have to wait until March to determine his fate in the final NCAA tournament of his career, the Blue Devil grappler will be on full display Wednesday against Gardner-Webb at Card Gymnasium. Duke (4-5) will face the Runnin’ Bulldogs (5-5) on Senior Night, honoring Hartmann and six other grapplers prior to the contest.
Correction: The original version of this article stated that Duke would honor four total seniors Wednesday. The Blue Devils will honor seven. The Chronicle regrets the error.
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