By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Logan Erdman’s high school wrestling career has been a slow and steady climb to the top. The Ryle senior didn’t become a state champion until this fourth year of varsity competition and it took an extra effort on his part to attain that title.
Erdman practices and competes year-round. He also attends high-level wrestling camps in Columbus, Ohio, that are conducted by Miron Kharchilava, an internationally known coach and trainer.
“Logan has worked hard and done all the things you’re supposed to do to get where he’s at,” said Ryle coach Tim Ruschell. “After our practices at school, he drives up to Columbus and works out at Miron’s camps. A lot of kids aren’t going to do that. They’re ready to call it a day and just go home.”
Erdman, who accepted a wrestling scholarship from Ohio University, has a 26-2 record competing in the 138-pound weight class this season. Both of his losses came in matches against Ohio opponents and he evened the score against one of them when they met again in the consolation finals of a tournament.
Erdman went undefeated in two other tournaments during December, including the Northern Kentucky Conference Championships. This week, he took third place with a 6-1 record at the Greater Miami Valley Wrestling Association Holiday Tournament that included some of the top wrestlers in Ohio.
“I have a lot of confidence because I don’t just train during the season, I train year round,” Erdman said. “I learned a lot from my coaches (at Ryle). And my other coach in Columbus is Russian. He taught me all the moves that I do right now.”
Erdman began competing on Ryle’s varsity team as an eighth-grader. He won the 106-pound weight class in the Region 6 tournament that year and had a 2-2 record in state tournament matches.
He qualified for the state tournament as a regional runner-up his freshman year and went 2-2 at state once again. In his sophomore season, he was a regional champion and state runner-up in the 120-pound division.
Last year, he moved up to the 126-pound weight class and posted a 45-4 record that included his first state championship.
“Everybody pays their dues,” coach Ruschell said of Erdman’s varsity career. “He had a good season in eighth grade and in his freshman season he kind of went through some growing pains. His sophomore year he lost in the finals and last year he won state. This year, I look for him to be in the state finals again.”
Moving up two weight classes to 138 pounds this season has not been a difficult transition for Erdman. With his strength and quickness, he has the ability to score points on his feet with take-downs and get more points on the mat with tilt moves from the top position. All six of his wins at the tournament this week came on pins or technical falls where he outscored his opponent by 15 points or more.
“The quickness catches (opponents) off guard, especially when doing moves,” he said. “You can’t do anything slow because then they’ll know it’s coming.”
In the latest statewide rankings, Erdman is listed second at 138 pounds behind Lexington Lafayette senior Angel Vazquez, who won the state title in that weight class last year.
Ryle will compete in the Lexington Tates Creek Invitational on Saturday. If Lafayette enters that same tournament, Erdman and Vazquez could face each other on the mat for the first time this season.
“There’s three or four good kids in there and on any given day anybody could beat anybody,” coach Ruschell said of the highly competitive 138-pound weight class in Kentucky. “But Logan could wrestle at 132, 138 or 145 and I can see him reaching the (state) finals in any of those classes.”