When Kaden Gfeller pointed to his heart amid a deafening cheer, emotions and memories filled his mind.
The tumultuous years of ankle injuries that followed a Big 12 title in 2019. Constant off the mat decisions involving drinking and vaping. Being beat out of a starting role by eager, trophy-starved teammates.
Two years gone from his first taste of minor college wrestling supremacy, Gfeller rededicated himself to the mat by ditching distractions and digging into a role as a dependable fifth year. On Saturday, Gfeller enters the Big 12 Tournament as the No. 1 seed at 149 pounds.
“I don’t really care who I all have to wrestle, I’m going out there and I’m looking to take some people’s heads off,” Gfeller said. “That’s how I’m feeling for this weekend.”
A resurgence two years in the making. Back in a full-time starting role for the second time in college, Gfeller emerged as one of the team’s vocal leaders. He possesses a quiet, mellow voice, but his words are strong.
He recovered from the past and learned to change his attitude, accepting the sacrifices necessary to anchor college wrestling’s winningest program. After the 2019 NCAA Tournament, reality settled in.
“I felt the urge to quit my bad habits,” he said in December. “It didn’t hit me until after. I was looking for answers. I was really mad, and I was angry of course. It was like a wakeup call and telling me, ‘You can’t be doing these things. You need to clean up your life.’”
He supported his teammates in messages of criticism and accountability. Entering this season, the expectations Smith placed on Gfeller were firm.
Especially after a season opening major decision loss at Stanford. After that, criticism flowed from Cowboy coach John Smith and disgruntled OSU fans.
“It was like, ‘Who are you?’ You know, almost like he was Houdini,” Smith said. “Like, ‘How’d you do this? And you look so good and then look so bad? It was just kind of odd. Really caught me off guard like you know, ‘What happened?”
Smith wasn’t and still isn’t satisfied. Enough double-digit rankings. Not only for Gfeller but the rest of the squad. That means you’re not placing at the NCAA Tournament. For a fifth-year wrestler at OSU, Smith isn’t satisfied with those results.
Gfeller consistently absorbed the criticism and turned extra drilling time into results. Enough to the point where he’s clearly OSU’s guy at 149.
But the real difference between lies within matches and his training.
It was noticed in December. The ability of wrestling to win, not wrestling to avoid losses. One of Smith’s most mentioned themes throughout the season. With other Big 12 programs catching up to OSU, his patience has been tested.
For the first time in years, Gfeller is wrestling to OSU’s baseline expectations.
“There’s a level of, ‘OK, I gotta go,’” Smith said. “So, he’s won a lot of close battles. That’s what he’s going to have to continue to do.”
In a weight class as nationally deep as 149, thin margins are abundant.
“He’s not head and shoulders over people and he’s learned to win some two point matches against some good people,” Smith said.
But Smith’s faith was restored in those battles. Gfeller is long past the ranking matches with teammates Victor Voinovich, Travis Mastrogiovanni and Joey Sanchez.
“At critical times in matches it seems likes he’s responded,” Smith said. “He’s the one that got the takedown. He’s the one that got the turn. He’s the one that got out. When it got real critical, he responded. He’s the one that made it happen where it just didn’t seem ever that he would win those situations.”
And part of Gfeller’s late growth is urged by the fact that time in his career is running out.
“It’s a little bit of fear like, ‘I gotta get myself on the right side of this,” Smith said. “Fear can be good as long as you don’t cripple yourself with it. Gfeller is never gonna cripple himself with it. He’s a low-keyed funny guy but there’s a level of seriousness about him that recognized, ‘I want to finish out on top of my senior year.”
In the final weeks of what could be his final year, Gfeller’s improvements are recognized. Gfeller, Daton Fix, OSU’s 133-pound starter and 174-pounder Dustin Plott are usually the first three in the wrestling room hours before practice. It’s a level of commitment that is seen in Gfeller.
“We kind of had an ongoing joke he’s aging like fine wine,” Plott said about Gfeller. “Each match it seems like he’s getting better at extending his leads and it’s really awesome to see one of the leaders in the room stepping up and separate scores.”