Here's how Bloomington's Derek Blubaugh made himself a college wrestling champion

Derek Blubaugh was staring at the summit for the third straight year, the remaining few feet unobtainable in 2022 and 2023.

That was the history staring back at Blubaugh after the Bloomington South grad and University of Indianapolis redshirt junior stubbornly made the arduous trek back to the finals of the NCAA Division II national wrestling tournament in mid-March.

As the No. 2 seed again, everyone at 197 pounds was gunning for him now. But he worked his way through the regionals and to the title match in Wichita, Kansas with an itch to scratch and a grudge to settle. Just getting there again this year was unprecedented in UIndy history.

"I'd say I felt a little bit of relief after the semifinals and the quarterfinals also," Blubaugh said. "After the semifinals, I knew the job wasn't done, but I did feel some relief. 'OK, one more. Now, it's time."

Waiting in the final for the third year in a row was his nemesis, Central Oklahoma senior Dalton Abney. They'd meet nine times, Abney had won eight. Blubaugh would not be denied this time, pulling out a 5-1 win, finally, planting his flag at the pinnacle of his sport.

"I knew it would be close," Blubaugh said. "I figured it would be won off a takedown, so I knew there would be a lot of hand-fighting. He's big on it as much as I am, so I knew it would be tough in there. Being on top helped me with that win, just being relentless, make him work the whole time.

"My conditioning and the way I approached the match. I was calm and treated it like any other day."

It was not, of course. He became only the second Greyhound to win a national title after Nick Walpole in 2011. And before the meet was over, he had also earned the Outstanding Wrestler of the meet. It also secured a piece in his family's wrestling legacy, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Doug, who was a national title winner at Oklahoma State in 1957 and an Olympic gold medalist in 1960.

So yeah, it's a big deal. Just surviving the journey to the finals three times in a row is amazing.

"You don't see a lot of guys who can do that," said UIndy coach Jason Warthan. "There are kids who can make it as sophomores, then can't duplicate that success and have all those variables go your way.

"To make the finals three years in a row, that's incredible. I think I was more nervous for the quarterfinals and semis than the finals and I think he was as well. I knew how difficult as well it is to be the guy everyone is hunting. And he did a really good navigating through that."

Getting settled in Indianapolis

Blubaugh came out of South as a two-time state medalist, sixth as a junior and fourth as a senior, with a career record of 153-26. As a senior, he was named the Herald-Times Co-Wrestler of the Year in 2019 along with Edgewood standout Levon Bellemy.

Warthan is the son of North cross country track coach Charlie Warthan, so he had strong connections in Bloomington and as a standout wrestler himself, the Blubaugh name resonated.

"Derek went to school with some of my nephews," Warthan said. "My sister knew his mom, so I followed his high school career. He's very soft-spoken. A man of few words. I reached out to his coach and my sister talked to his mom and they thought (UIndy) might be a good fit.

"He had a very good career Early on, he knew he wanted to do nursing and we have a good program history of sending our athletes through the program. It checked the boxes for both of us. It was easy after that."

Blubaugh wrestled at 170 in high school and came in and had some immediate success at 174, winning his first frosh-soph meet. But varsity would have to wait as the Hounds had returners at 165, 174 and 184. Redshirting was an obvious choice since getting through nursing school would be easy to stretch over five years.

COVID cut off the end of the 2019-20 season anyway and would provide an extra year for Blubaugh to compete.

The next year, a pair of transfers came in, made the nationals and were All-Americans. Blubaugh was competitive with them but a wrist injury at the end of the year scuttled any postseason plans. Going forward, Warthan had to find a way to spread out the talent.

"Derek liked to attack the weight room and with how strong he was, his wrestling style made more sense at 197," he said. "I'm not sure he would have come up with that solution on his own, but he said, 'If that's what you think is best, let's go for it.'"

"If coach told me to run into a wall, I'd probably ask, 'How hard?'" Blubaugh said. "I have complete faith in my coaches and teammates."

Blubaugh admits he's not the quickest wrestler and he's heavy on handfighting and more methodical.

"(Arm) drag has always been in college one of my big success moves," he said. "It's the simple things. I'm not a super complex wrestler."

Breakthrough to nationals

His third year, Blubaugh was still listed as a redshirt freshman but had built up plenty of experience to go with his bigger frame, which was still only 190 pounds, eight under the upper limit.

"The first time he made it to the national title match, he was still pretty small for his weight," Warthan said. "They had the parade of champions with all those All-Americans and he walked in with Dalton Abney, the size difference was evident. He's worked hard in the weight room and looks a lot more like a 197-pounder than he did last year."

The weight class was loaded in 2021, Warthan noted, but Blubaugh started to win, including several close matches, one of them over the top-ranked wrestler in the country at the time. So winning it all didn't seem so far-fetched. Abney was too much again in the final, winning all four of his bouts with Blubaugh that year. But the season was a success.

"It definitely told me that I was doing the right things," Blubaugh said. "If anything, it was relieving to know, OK, these things are working and these things don't. It was eye-opening to what needed to be worked on. It was a good building block."

Blubaugh made it back last year and even beat Abney during the season, in overtime. But Abney prevailed again.

"My second year, I definitely had more nerves than I had previously," Blubaugh said. "I don't like to make excuses but I had something to prove, that I could hold my level. I never tried to get upset with a loss. Abney is a tough guy and he beat me numerous times and I used that as fuel, as motivation to make things better."

Blubaugh's title a group effort

Blubaugh got to work, as he'd always done, fortunate, he said, to have so many great practice partners to keep pushing him.

"I have had tons of great teammates or other people come into the room," Blubaugh said. "My freshman year, it was Brody Conner, a three-time national qualifier. (Assistant coach) George Lopez got me to a different level. Phoenix Rogers, Aidan Petersen, guys like that were instrumental to my success as practice partners.

"Then Ryan Vasbinder, a decorated wrestler at Michigan State and McKendree happened to be in the area and wanted to help out."

The goal was simply to be better at something when the day was done.

"That mindset this year, more than in the post ended up helping a lot," Blubaugh said. "I enjoy the process, the moments. I know my time on the mat is limited and I'm thankful for the opportunity.

"I'm not so much focused on the outcomes as getting better every day. Work on one thing instead of five. I'm thankful to God for everyone around me."

He started this past season as prepared as he's ever been.

"It's a testament to his determination," Warthan said. "Not being stagnant, getting better at what you do. He's certainly bought into that.

"At the end of last year, we reminded him, you can't forget what got you to this spot, what you do well, scoring off defense, hand fighting someone into taking a bad shot. He's quick to get someone cornered and get takedowns. More of his scoring comes from doing exactly that."

'We've closed that gap'

Blubaugh was the No. 2 seed as the postseason began. At nationals, he used a tech fall and a 9-4 win to make it to the semifinals. Abney beat his unranked foe 6-3 while Blubaugh beat the No. 3 seed, 5-2.

"Abney had beaten him three times this year going into the final," Warthan said. "They were competitive even if the score wasn't super close. I thought, 'We've closed that gap.'"

Warthan also saw a different demeanor from Blubaugh during the finals.

"I saw him be more relaxed after made that final," Warthan said. "He was joking around and able to enjoy the moment more than has in the past.

"He had a neck and shoulder thing in the middle of the season and had been bothered by it. He still won the Midwest Classic with one arm. So he had to find other ways to win. I was trying to not say anything but then he was able to trust things with that arm."

His takedown came on an arm drag as Abney took a quick shot and the mat points went Blubaugh's way in the 5-1 win in their last time meeting on the mat.

"In a different world, I would call him a friend," Blubaugh said. "He's always a class act. We talked after the match and he has nothing but respect for me and he made me better."

Beating Abney was never an obsession for Blubaugh, but winning a title was. With just over 70 or so DII schools sponsoring the spot and a similar number in DI, only the best of the best high schoolers get a chance at any level of college wrestling.

"Obviously, in practice, I wasn't just focused on Abney," Blubaugh said. "Every guy in college is good. I did have those trophies. I would see them every time I came into my room. The motivation was to not have that feeling again of being so close."

A champion, but unchanged

Nursing was not Blubaugh's first choice as a college major.

"It was something I decided on after my first semester," he said. "My whole life, I thought I was going to be a paleontologist. I was interested in dinosaurs. I was always drawn to going out in the field and digging stuff up. But as I got closer to college, I thought maybe that was something I could do on the side, but not make a career of."

He's always been a hands-on guy, a jack-of-all-trades says Warthan, who wouldn't hesitate to hire him to hang drywall. The team bus had a flat tire and Blubaugh was the first one off, grabbing the jack and tire iron to get to work. Blubaugh is a helper.

"I decided on athletic training and physical therapy for a semester, and then I looked into nursing," he said. "I felt like I could make a bigger impact with acute patients. I thought it would be interesting to be able to save a life. To have that challenge and responsibility would be new to me."

It would certainly be more demanding of his time, but he embraces that.

"It's definitely not easy, but I wouldn't want it any other way," Blubaugh said. "I'm definitely someone who likes to stay busy. And having a hard major and liking what I do as well helps me stay focused not on other things but the next test or next practice. So I see it as a blessing and not a hindrance."

Nope. Blubaugh carries a 3.6 GPA while working as a nursing tech at Community Hospital North, even thought the season. He'll have his undergrad work done in May with plans to head straight to grad school this fall. He was recently asked by his professors to apply for a spot in a nursing management and leadership track that would cover the next couple of years. It would allow him to be a director of nursing.

"He's very organized," Warthan said. "He's on top of it."

With the season at an end, Blubaugh took a well-deserved short break.

"I'm trying to force myself as I'm getting older, to take time off and let my body heal and my mind ease," Blubaugh said. "It's not easy with nursing school, but I'm taking a week or two off, let myself enjoy the moment.

"I'm sure in the next few days I'll get that itch to go to the gym and get back in there."

In the meantime, Blubaugh will carry himself like a champion, which is to say no one will be able to tell he's one of the best wrestlers in UIndy history.

"He's such a hard-working kid," Warthan said. "We were home later that Saturday after the finals. They make fun of him as an old man, up at 5 a.m., reading the newspaper, checking Twitter and watching the news with his coffee.

"I woke up at 6 and went down to the hotel lobby and there he is, watching the news with his feet up on the coffee table. I joked, 'Boy, you've really changed.' You always know what you're going to get with him. He's not super flashy, but he's really good."

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: How Bloomington's Derek Blubaugh pinned down college wrestling title