OLIVESBURG — The way Steve Haverdill sees it, he’s spent nine seasons laying the foundation for the Crestview wrestling program.
Now he hopes to see Nate Godsey build a skyscraper on top of it.
Godsey has spent years constructing a unique background on the mats that has steered him to his first varsity head coaching job. He recently was named the next lead man for the Cougars after Haverdill rejuvenated a program that had just two upperclassmen when he took over in 2014.
Also the Crestview football head coach since 2019, Haverdill was looking for a reprieve in his schedule, which had grown to nearly year-round coaching. Godsey’s arrival last season as an assistant wrestling coach while in his first year as a teacher at CHS showed Haverdill all he needed to see to know the Cougars had a new leader moving forward.
“As well as we’ve done over the nine years to build that program, I think he can take it to another level. He’s that good,” said Haverdill, whose Cougars won four Firelands Conference titles since 2017. “It’s exciting to have him in there. It’s exciting to pass that torch to him, because I think he’s going to do great things with the program.”
The huge expectations might seem a little rushed considering Godsey hasn’t technically sat mat-side as a head coach yet. But Haverdill said he practically ran practices last year.
Then consider that Godsey has experience as an assistant at four high schools and as a wrestler at three different college programs — including an almost unthinkable redshirt season as a 35-year-old in 2021-22 at Ashland University — and there’s more than enough of a résumé.
“When you get into coaching, I think everyone — if they’re honest with you — at some point in time dreams that they’re a head coach, and you’re kind of just waiting for your opportunity,” said Godsey, who spent time from 2017 to 2021 inside the high-powered wrestling program at Ashland High School, where he also was an assistant football coach for three years. “I feel like I’ve been preparing to be a head coach for a while.”
Godsey said his network of friends who are wrestling coaches spreads throughout Ohio. Prior to his time at Ashland and Crestview, he was an assistant at his alma mater, Vandalia Butler, and then at Olmsted Falls. Godsey also competed collegiately at both the University of Findlay and Cumberland University before his out-of-the-norm arrival two years ago on the team at Ashland University.
While participating in a teaching program at AU, Godsey linked up with Eagles head coach Colt Sponseller and worked out a way to get onto the roster 12 years after last competing. He compiled a 2-6 record at 133 pounds for AU despite a schedule featuring classes, a full-time job and a family at home that included his wife, Kalie, and two young sons, Nash and Nixon. The family has since added a daughter, Kaycie.
In the workout room at Ashland High School and then Crestview, Godsey was able to get onto the mats with multiple state qualifiers, drill and teach techniques as a coach who had literally just gone through it competitively.
Part of his work last season came with senior Hayden Kuhn, who graduated as a three-time state placer and the only Cougar wrestler to ever win four FC titles.
Godsey said he might have been the most coachable athlete he’s ever worked with on the mat. Kuhn’s father, Crestview athletic director Tim Kuhn, said Godsey showed how valuable he could be as a coach as well.
“He’s got a great pedigree in the sport. He did great things for us last year as an assistant, so I’m just really excited for the trajectory of the program to continue on with Nate like we have been with Steve,” Kuhn said. “You have to try to get a coach that has connections that can open doors for your kids in freestyle season, your summer dual schedules and all those different things.”
For his part, Kuhn feels pretty spoiled by the stability he’s had with wrestling at CHS. Haverdill took over the same year Kuhn became Crestview’s athletic director and reestablished a program that had lost momentum just a few years after a five-year run atop the FC from 2007 through 2011.
Haverdill guided rebuilds of programs at Delaware Hayes and Marion Elgin, getting his first experience as a head coach in his mid-20s. He then spent time as an assistant at Lexington, Northmor and Ashland before arriving at Crestview.
“You count your blessings if you can get your staff to stick around that long,” Kuhn said of the stability under Haverdill. “Programs grow with consistency, and that’s definitely one of the things Steve gave us.”
It didn’t take the Cougars long to transform back into one of the most consistent winners in north central Ohio. They never finished lower than third in the FC under Haverdill, winning league crowns four times in five seasons.
“I had made a pact that it wasn’t going to be a rebuild and then move on, like in the past,” said Haverdill, whose first team at CHS didn’t even fill out half the weight classes. “I really wanted to get my feet wet and stay and see it through, and we were able to do that.”
Crestview had at least three individual conference champs every year since 2017. In the last six seasons, the Cougars had 11 state qualifiers and seven state placers.
Haverdill, who also led CHS to three FC titles in football, said a critical component to Crestview’s wrestling success was a grueling schedule, something he said Kuhn helped put together.
“I’ve had some really good athletes come through during that period of time. I’ve had some great assistant coaches that put the work in and sacrificed time,” Haverdill said. “Once you get that, success is bound to be there.”
The veteran coach added that, despite all the titles and accolades his teams piled up, the moment that still sits in his heart the most actually was a runner-up performance.
After assistant coach Jesse Campbell tragically died in a car accident in late 2019, Haverdill said he considered pulling the Cougars out of the upcoming J.C. Gorman Invitational. The team, though, took a poll and wanted to compete in the late coach’s honor.
“Our kids went out and finished second, which is the highest placement ever for Crestview at the Gorman,” Haverdill said. “It was a testament to our kids, how they battled through that. It was a pretty special weekend.”
Since then, Crestview has hosted the Jesse Campbell Memorial Duals, which is where Haverdill (128-47 at CHS) collected his 200th career dual win last season.
The long-time coach believes Godsey can help the Cougars dig for that kind of effort consistently. They should have two returning FC champs in state placer Caleb Cunningham and Jaden Hedrick, and they also will feature four sophomores who won at least a match at the district tournament last season.
Add in a talented group of incoming freshmen and Godsey said all the opportunities Haverdill provided him with should be a perfect springboard into a new era at Crestview.
“They took hard coaching last year and they blossomed,” Godsey said. “I really want to talk to them about being the best version of themselves, but part of that comes with that name on your chest, you’re going to get everyone’s best shot.
“Nobody’s going to overlook us because of what’s been established here.”
