It’s easy to quit when things don’t go as planned. In Eli Cash’s case, sitting on the sidelines for three years while his wrestling teammates felt the rush of taking down their respective opponent at the varsity level could’ve pushed him away from the sport.
But it didn’t.
Instead, Cash patiently waited his turn while chipping away at his craft. Now in his final year with the Spartan wrestling program, his number was finally called, and he showed what he could do with an electric comeback victory in his final match at Solon High School.
“Cash is the absolute model of what wrestling can do,” Hadenfeldt said. “You’re happy for any kid when they have some success with kids like Eli Cash, who goes through what happens up in a wrestling room for four years and then it pays off for him, as far as getting in the lineup.”
His first three years of high school wrestling were spent with junior varsity, stuck behind Teague Williams and Carson Kidwell. He took mental notes from watching his Spartan counterparts wrestle and emulated some moves of theirs into his arsenal.
Why Cash stayed patient, however, was because he felt the good intentions from his coaches. He never doubted what was being said.
“I really felt the belief that the coaches had in me. They trusted the process, and then I kind of believed in it,” Cash said. “They had a plan for me, so it’s just what kept me going.”
The highs and lows of his senior season led him to his Senior Night matchup against West Liberty’s Enrique Michel, where Solon held a 20-17 team lead up to his matchup.
A disappointing 3-0 first period in Michel’s favor was cancelled out with Cash’s late takedown in the second period for the 3-3 tie. The beach blonde-haired Spartan took down his opponent and held him down on his back, to which the ref slapped the mat with authority indicating a match-changing pin.
The roof of the gym nearly blew off with screeches from the Spartan faithful as Solon now held a two-match lead. And while West Liberty won the next two matches for a 28-26 lead, Williams’ pin and Tripp Johnson’s tech fall helped secure the Senior Night victory, 49-28.
“[It] felt great. Just felt like I did it for the last four years,” Cash said. “All the work I put in kind of paid off right there. Last match in that gym.”
Cash’s college plans consist of studying Kinesiology at either Iowa State or Iowa Central. But for now, he’s focused on making the most of his wrestling career with wrestling regionals vastly approaching.
“He’s a kid that does things the right way. Good kid inside of the room, out of the room,” Hadenfeldt said. “In the hallways of our school, outside of the school, he’ll be successful no matter what he decides to do.”
Solon 49 West Liberty 28 – 106: Anderson Osgood (SOLON) over Maddex Maurer (W. Liberty) (TF 19-4, 5:25), 113: Zander Goodale (W. Liberty) over Evan Gleason (SOLON) (Fall 5:02), 120: Kaleb Brown (W. Liberty) over Grayson Waddell (SOLON) (Fall 2:58), 126: Jayden Steapp (SOLON) over Noah Garcia (W. Liberty) (Fall 1:21), 132: Isaac Aragon (W. Liberty) over Justin Moore (SOLON) (TF 20-4, 3;22), 138: Michael Bigelow (SOLON) over Robinson Paredes Morado (W. Liberty) (Fall 4:46), 144: Jadyn Bevans (SOLON) over Gable Underbakke (W. Liberty) (Dec 8-3), 150: Eli Cash (SOLON) over Enrique Michel (W. Liberty) (Fall 5:06), 157: Kaden Wiele (W. Liberty) over Carson Kidwell (SOLON) (Fall 1:50), 165: Briggs Collins (W. Liberty) over Drew O’Neill (SOLON) (TF 17-1, 2:40), 190: Tripp Johnson (SOLON) over Augie Kress (W. Liberty) (TF 17-2, 5:23), 215: Kyler Jensen (SOLON) over W. Liberty (For.), 285: Lucas Feuerbach (SOLON) over (W. Liberty) (For.)
JV matches – 113: Creighton Nebergall (W. Liberty) over Joshua Vazquez-Neri (SOLON) (Fall 1:54), 126: Joel Kramer (SOLON) over Carter Lampe (W. Liberty) (Fall 2:23), 132: Kramer (SOLON) over Jaziel Castillo (W. Liberty) (Fall 1:04), 138: Quinten Henning (SOLON) over Lincoln Daufeldt (W. Liberty) (Dec 5-2), 150: Calvin Dunn (SOLON) over Aidan Brown (W. Liberty) (Fall 1:55), 165: Tate Rudish (SOLON) over Ellioth Lopez (W. Liberty) (Fall 1:33)