COLLEGE WRESTLING: ATHENS' SETZER SIGNS TO WRESTLE AT DIVISION I KENT STATE (3 PHOTOS) (2022-05-16)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
ATHENS — Athens senior Kaden Setzer will take his skills to the next level, signing a National Letter-of-Intent to wrestle at Division I Kent State during a brief ceremony Monday afternoon in the high school gymnasium.

Setzer said he liked everything about Kent State.

“It felt like home, it was nice,” he said. “I really liked the campus.”

Setzer’s route to the Golden Flashes wasn’t typical, but once coach Jim Andrassy saw him, the recruitment wheels started to turn.

“My dad emailed the coach … and he called me,” said Setzer. “It kind of went from there.”

Setzer knows he has a lot of work ahead of him as he prepares for life in the Division I wrestling room.

“Everything … I really need to work on everything,” he said, agreeing he needs to get bigger, faster, and stronger.

Athens coach Shawn Bradley has little doubt will prove himself at the next level.

“His work ethic is tremendous … in a short amount of time, he’s come an awful long way.

“I have no doubt he would have won a state medal this year had he stayed healthy. He was wrestling at a super-high level, and he beat a couple kids who did win state medals this year,” said Bradley. “Things happen, he knows that, and he’s working through it, and he’s going to be better for it.

“It’s unfortunate what happened this year, having his season cut short, but he’s no where near peaking yet — he can get a lot better,” he noted.

“He’s explosive, and his style is conducive to upper-level wrestling, so he can definitely develop and get better there,” Bradley added.

Bradley believes the mental aspect will be the main adjustment for Setzer.

“It’s not much different that the stuff we work on … a lot of positioning,” he said. “The difference is in college, especially in a Division I room … you can have a go-off day in the high school room, you don’t get that in a Division I room.

“Every go, you’d better be ready to go, or you’re going to get beat up,” he noted. “That’s the biggest difference; steel sharpens steel and that’s what happens.

“It’s a grind,” added Bradley, who wrestled at Cornell. “He’s going to learn that, but he’ll step up to the challenge.”

Setzer doesn’t have a personal timetable on getting into the Kent State line-up.

“I really don’t know what to expect,” he said. “I’ll have to see what happens when I get out there.”

Setzer is looking forward to competing at the next level.

“Im really excited,” he said.

Setzer will major in Architecture.

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IN PHOTO 1: Athens senior Kaden Setzer. IN PHOTO 2: Seated, from left,: Kelly and Scott Setzer (father), Kaden Setzer, and Denise (mother) and Dr. Bill Bresser. Standing: Kyler Setzer (brother). IN PHOTO 3:  Seated, from left,: Kelly and Scott Setzer (father), Kaden Setzer, and Denise (mother) and Dr. Bill Bresser. Standing, from left: Assistant Athens coaches David White and Jay White, Kyler Setzer (brother), and Athens wrestling coach Shawn Bradley. … PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.