Which makes Brody Adams’ senior year at Springfield Catholic all the more admirable.
Known more for his winter wrestling exploits — not to mention his football excellence in the fall — Adams dealt Irish mat coach Sheldon Kegley a bit of a stunner when he announced that he was trying out for the basketball team this season.
“That’s just not something you see a lot,” Kegley said. “It was definitely a surprise, but if anyone could do it, it’s Brody.
“At the beginning of the year, he told me he probably wouldn’t play much in basketball. But he ended up starting most of the games.”
But Adams’ hoops work didn’t adversely impact his wrestling excellence as he posted a 38-8 overall record for the Fighting Irish in the 215-pound weight classification. Adams will close out his career this weekend at the Division III State Championships at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.
“Brody worked his tail off all year,” Kegley said. “He’s a smart kid who understands techniques, and he picks up things very quickly.”
For Adams, one of the biggest challenges of the postseason is that he is the lone Clark County student-athlete to qualify for the state grappling event. Because of that, he has been forced to come up with different ways to train and practice without the usual benefit of a partner.
“We do have a 165-pounder in Matt Nye who is a state alternate, so they have worked together some, but that is a big weight difference,” Kegley said. “We don’t have a lot of guys on our team.
“But (former OSU standout) Anthony DeCarlo and myself have worked a lot with him, and Anthony obviously has a lot of knowledge from being at Ohio State.”
As the county’s lone representative, Adams would love to return to Springfield with at least a medal and a spot on the place podium to cap off his career.
“Brody excels in pressure situations,” Kegley said. “He knows he is the only person from Springfield there, and I think that is something that makes him feel good — he enjoys things like that. We would love to see him place.’’
This will be Adams’ final mat weekend as he will play football on the next level at Marian University in Indianapolis.
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