When then-sophomore Eddie Goss beat Western’s Tanner Tishner, it threw the whole bracket into chaos.
After all, the Western wrestler had only lost twice the whole season, and in the first round of the State Championships of the 120 lb bracket, Tishner had lived up to expectation.
A 6-4 decision later, everybody but Goss was left stunned.
The same story continued later down the bracket, as Goss wrestled Neal Mosier from Delta, who was 40-3 on the season and a year older. With third place on the line, Mosier’s experience seemed to give him an edge.
A 4-3 tiebreaker later, the little kid from Center Grove had made it into the top three.
Throughout the tournament, and throughout his career, Goss’ journey has caused chaos. A year later, in that same state tournament, he would beat Tishner, who had a better record than him for a second straight season, again, en route to a 5th place finish in the tournament. If chaos is rampant, and Goss is its agent.
“I’d say my best quality is definitely the hard work,” Goss said. “Being tough enough to get through it, because wrestling builds a lot of character and toughness. Getting through those practices, and the grind of cutting weight and still being able to work your butt off and win, it’s tough. [It’s] probably my best quality, [however], trying to get through those [moments] and staying mentally tough through it.”
Goss has wrestled people, and those moments, since he was four, creating chaos in his living room. 14 years and an introduction to wrestling later, he creates chaos in the ring.
“Mostly just the fun at first, and then the competition was really fun,” Goss said. “Once I got older, I understood what wrestling was. The grind is probably my favorite part [along with] becoming tougher and going through practices and getting what I earn.”
In order to work his way up to a #2 ranking in the semi-state this year, Goss had to transition from middle school wrestling to high school wrestling in his freshman year, which involved wrestling much higher level opposition.
“I only weighed 96 pounds, so I was wrestling kids cutting from 130, some way bigger kids than I was,” Goss said. “I went into the year thinking I’d get my butt kicked, and I wouldn’t be able to have the success I did. Eventually, throughout my freshman year, I learned what the difference was: the maturity of wrestling and strength difference between a middle school wrestler and a high school wrestler. It was a big transition, but I would say the weight room from Marty helped a lot with that.”
Aided by newfound experience, Goss would eventually place 3rd in the 120 lb bracket as a sophomore, and 5th in the 132 lbs as a junior, contributing to Center Grove’s second place finishes in both state tournaments.
“Last year and my sophomore year were probably my best two years, but those years were kind of my mentally staying straight forward just on wrestling,” Goss said. “Focusing on wrestling all year kind of helped out a lot. Confidence, and just knowing that I could beat the best guys in the state and the best guys in the country, kind of helped me push myself past my limit.”
Even with the success he’s garnered in the state tournament, Goss has had to have an ability to overcome the lows of wrestling as well, which he attributes to the support system around him.
“I’d say mainly probably my family, [and] just knowing that they’ll always believe in me,” Goss said. “I [have] a big family: tons of cousins and grandparents. They’re always texting me about wrestling and how I’ve been doing throughout the season. Wrestling is one of the hardest sports both mentally and physically when it comes to your body. Everybody tries to stay close to me and talk to me whenever I can. My family is probably my biggest component of staying strong throughout the season.”
Part of his support system has also been the leaders that have shaped Goss along his high school career. Reese Courtney and Charlie LaRocca, both of whom graduated last year, were role models for Goss earlier in his career.
“One thing about Eddie that I always admired is that he always found a way,” LaRocca said. “Whether he was ranked below a guy, told he wasn’t supposed to win a match or any other circumstance that would cause some athletes to lose confidence, he never backed down and often ended up on top. It all comes down to the fact that he is an incredibly hard worker who knows the work he puts in is worthy of the results he gets out. He always believed in himself and his training.”
With LaRocca and Courtney now graduated, it will be up to Goss to become a leader for the team in the same way the graduated duo did for him.
“Since I’ve been on varsity all four years and wrestled at State in the big stages, I know that feeling of being stressed,” Goss said. “To the kids who are younger, they go into a varsity match and are like ‘Oh my gosh, this is the super bowl or something,’ and I try to be the person that tries to calm them down and tell them win or lose it doesn’t matter. Take a deep breath, go out there and wrestle your way. If they have any questions on certain positions in wrestling, I’m always there to answer questions or help out. Hopefully that’ll help kids keep on the team more and help them improve a lot as a person from wrestling too.”
Confidence will be key in the Trojans’ season as they look to build upon two straight #2 finishes in the State tournament as a team. WIth the Al Smith Tourney and the Iron Man Tourney coming up, Goss and the team will look to gain confidence against tougher opposition.
“[The tournaments] show you that you can always get better,” Goss said. “There’s no plateau of the best. Knowing that we will always have that national competition inside of our state is good, but also going to that Iron Man tournament really shows us where we are as a team and individually against those guys. Sometimes it can put your confidence down, but it can also build your confidence, so hopefully this year for our team it’ll be a big turning point in confidence.”
As Goss transitions from being an underdog in seasons past to having a target on his back as the #2 wrestler in the semi-state this season, his opponents will be looking to throw him off his confidence, and his rhythm.
They’ll have to be careful though. Goss has caused chaos before. One could say he thrives on it.
