WPI alum wrestles with debut season as head coach
By Kimberly Dunbar

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has something that no other Central Massachusetts college has: a wrestling team. Known more for their brains than their brawn, one would not immediately suspect that the Engineers would be able to school opponents on a wrestling mat.

“As a coach, I’d say by far my biggest challenge is recruiting,” said WPI alum and first-year head coach Lance Baden. “I am working from a fairly small pool of student-athletes who have the academic record to get accepted and the athletic prowess to succeed on the wrestling mat.”

A 1999 alum, Baden enjoyed a fruitful wrestling career as a two-time New England champion in two different weight classes and a four-time All-New England place winner. Baden finished with a 46-11 dual meet record and many of WPI’s records boast his name. After spending a year as an assistant coach at MIT, Baden returned to WPI where he spent the next six years as an assistant coach of the WPI wrestling team.

Although it was hard last year for Baden to leave the team that had been a part of his life for almost a decade, it was even harder to commute to Worcester from his job in Watertown. “I needed a break from the travel,” he said. But when the head coaching job became available at WPI, he was able to work out a situation that allows him to be committed to both.

According to Baden, the differences between being an assistant and a head coach are “night and day.” “As an assistant, you have certain responsibilities, but ultimately everything falls back on the head coach,” said Baden. “If things don’t go right, there’s no one else to blame, but when it goes right, there’s no one who gets more satisfaction from it,” he added.

Some of the challenges Baden faces include adapting to what he calls the “Nintendo age” attitude of this generation’s wrestlers and a convoluted image of the sport thanks to the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). But Baden refuses to give in to either.

The sport of wrestling requires a combination of confidence, strength and technique, but Baden insists that a wrestler won’t get far without the right attitude. “I think the most important thing is refusal to accept mediocrity,” he said. “I’m not looking for people who want to coast along and only be as good as the status quo. I want wrestlers who are determined to be as good as they can be.” Baden added that using this method will translate into a positive work ethic, toughness, and a drive to win.

And anyone who walks into Harrington Auditorium shouldn’t expect to throw it down like The Rock or Hulk Hogan. While Baden agrees that the WWE is a very athletic and difficult venture, it is not a real sport. “The issue lies when people think that amateur wrestling is anything like that stuff,” he said. “I typically don’t bother defending our sport to people who think it’s like the WWE. If they care to understand it, they’ll come to a meet and see what it is really like.”

WPI, a member of the Division III branch of the New England Wrestling Association, instituted wresting in the early 1960s. When Baden’s former coach, Phil Grebinar, took the reigns in 1972, he quickly turned the team into a winning program. “Through his tenure, WPI was constantly at or near the top of our conference,” said Baden, who added that the school’s great alumni are behind the team as they climb their way back to the top.

As far as adding a women’s team to the department, Baden isn’t sure it is on the school’s immediate agenda. “I’ve never coached women and I’m sure it would add a new set of challenges. It is definitely something to think about for the future,” he said.

Baden describes this year’s team as young, intelligent and eager. “We’ve had a few exciting wins and some heartbreaking losses,” he said. Baden added that his biggest goal for this year is to get the very talented freshman class as much experience as possible and to bring them together as a team. And in his opinion, they have succeeded. “I think we’ve developed a very solid core to build on in the next few seasons.”