Tom Knotts holds the 2014 trophy after winning the Hamilton Heights wrestling sectional, one of 11 titles the Millers won with Knotts as the coach. (Brian Reddick/File photo)
Noblesville wrestling coach Tom Knotts, who retired after 19 seasons with the Millers, had this to say about what he would miss the most.
“I’ll miss my other coaches – my staff and my competitors,” said Knotts. “Wrestling coaches are a breed apart.”
If anyone stood apart from other coaches, it was Knotts. He coached at Noblesville from 1984-93, then returned for 10 highly successful seasons, 2007-17. In those 19 years, Knotts won 11 team sectional championships, plus a regional title in 1991- in addition to numerous individual champs.
During his first period with the Millers, Knotts won five sectional titles, claiming those in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991 and 1992. With a stint at Tipton in between, Knotts came back and added six more sectional championships. Five of those came in a spectacular streak that lasted from 2010-14, and another sectional victory in 2016 made it six out of seven.
Knotts said that some of those sectional wins are memorable because there were a few that no one thought the Millers had a chance to win, “because those victories came with everyone on the team performing at their highest level of the year and beating opponents who beat them before.”
“The 2016 team was one of those,” said Knotts. The Millers thought it would take a miracle to win, but “we found the miracle,” said the coach.
“I will also remember the times we competed head to head against great teams like Cathedral – we didn’t win but we scared them to death,” said Knotts.
The Millers usually had to go up against the Irish, a true wrestling powerhouse, in the regional. Noblesville came close a couple times, falling by just five points (176-171) in 2013, a year the Millers had eight sectional champions.
“Our final match this year against Tipton will stand out because one of my assistants coordinated a return of kids who wrestled for me at Noblesville and at Tipton,” said Knotts. “I sort of knew something was up – but it was really nice.”
Knotts said there are no secrets to successful wrestling. He and his assistants were able to get the best out of their wrestlers because they expected their best effort. Knotts also credits Noblesville’s wrestling technique style with always giving the Millers an opportunity to win.
“Hard work pays off and ‘one for all and all for one’ have been our slogans year after year,” said the coach.
That’s not to say the Noblesville wrestlers didn’t have fun. Visit one of Knotts’ practices over the years and one will find a nice amount of positive energy. The wrestlers were focused on the task at hand, but the room was also filled with smiles and upbeat chatter.
“A long time ago I realized that I could not control everything in a wrestling program,” said Knotts, “so I decided I could make sure every wrestler had a good experience – everyone could have fun, yet work hard and find some level of success. We tried to make our practices fun and not too long. There is a law of diminishing returns – do your work but let them be kids.”
Many championships, great kids, fun practices – is there anything Knotts won’t miss about coaching?
“I may miss the competition but not the 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturdays every week during the season and the sleepless nights trying to make a better team and trying to find a way to beat quality programs,” said Knotts.