GALION (Crawford County Now) — Gradey Harding took a weight off his shoulders Tuesday when he signed his letter of intent to wrestle at the University of Buffalo.
A lengthy process came to a positive close when Harding put pen to paper and committed to represent Galion High School on the mats for the Bulls. Buffalo was the first to call and Harding never wavered.
“I got a call from Buffalo the night I was allowed to be recruited,” Harding said. “It was exciting to me because that was my first college call.”
Buffalo is a member of the Mid-American Conference along with Ohio teams such as Bowling Green, Toledo, Ohio University, Miami, and Akron.
Receiving a full-ride scholarship in a sport other than football or basketball is significant. But it is something that is not as uncommon as it formerly was.
“The landscape’s changed just in college sports in general,” Galion wrestling coach Noah Blankenship said. “It’s opened some doors.”
Harding helped the Tigers to a second-place finish in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last season by winning the 126-pound weight class. This year, as a senior, he’ll compete at 132 and even move up to 138 in some matches.
“He’s been bumped up (in weight class),” Blankenship said. “We know it’s a long season. We’re trying to keep the weight issue, trying to hold it off as long (as we can). We have some big tournaments coming up and we’ll definitely drop (back) there.”
It was love at first sight for Harding when he arrived at Buffalo.
“We went up and visited. It was awesome,” Harding said. “I loved it since the moment I stepped there. I wanted to commit right there. My dad said, ‘No, we’ve got to take those other offers and take those other looks.’ None of them felt like home. None of them felt like Buffalo to me.”
Other serious suitors were Ohio University, Kent State, and Michigan State.
Harding plans to major in criminology and pursue a career in law enforcement.
Blankenship views the signing as a boon for the Galion program, encouraging younger athletes to join and current wrestlers to stay.
“I think the last time we had one (Division I signee) was Dustin Fox,” Blankenship said. “Obviously, we know how that ended up — was a national champion, right?”
Fox won the college heavyweight national championship wrestling for Northwestern in 2008.
“Hopefully, we can mirror that,” Blankenship said. “Gradey’s got all the attributes to do that — work ethic, coachability, competitive spirit, plus good in the classroom.”
With his college commitment decided, Harding can concentrate on the task at hand, his senior season at Galion.
“It’s relieving. I can strictly focus on wrestling and strictly focus on winning my matches,” Harding said. “And I don’t have to worry about this recruiting, and I don’t have to worry about the stress.”
“Gradey is a problem solver as well,” Blankenship said. “I think that goes with a competitive spirit, so I think he’ll be right where he needs to be.
“He’ll probably go in and either have a walk-in spot that he’ll have to earn or he’ll redshirt,” Blankenship added. “Redshirt wouldn’t be bad, let him adapt to campus life.”
In the meantime, Harding has some unfinished business at home.
“It’s a big deal. It’s awesome,” Harding said. “I feel accomplished, but I have so much more to accomplish. I still have to win a state title.”