Oklahoma State wrestler Kaden Gfeller 'grateful' to chase NCAA goal with daughter watching

TULSA — A year ago, Kaden Gfeller stood in a tunnel beneath the BOK Center doing an interview about the Big 12 wrestling championship he had just won.

He was a month away from the birth of his daughter and two weeks away from what he thought was going to be the final wrestling match of his Oklahoma State career.

Though he had an extra year of eligibility remaining, thanks to the NCAA’s waiver granted to athletes who competed during the COVID-impacted 2020 season, Gfeller was ready to move to the next chapter of his life.

Be a father, get a job, leave wrestling behind.

And he did all that. But a phone call last August changed his mind about the last part, and over the next three days, Gfeller will wrestle what will really be his final matches as a Cowboy.

The NCAA Championships begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at the BOK Center, with Gfeller slotted as the No. 10 seed in the 157-pound bracket, chasing All-America status that is granted to the top eight finishers in each weight class.

The reasons he returned were many, but above all, the pursuit of All-America was central.

More:Oklahoma wrestler Tate Picklo 'super-grateful for where I am' as NCAA Championships arrive

“I’m glad he came back, and he’s got a couple more matches and some goals he wants to achieve,” said teammate and longtime friend Daton Fix, who is the No. 2 seed at 133 pounds. “It’s gonna be fun to be right there with him.”

A year ago, Gfeller was content walking away from the sport.

He celebrated the birth of his daughter, Charlotte, in April. He proposed to his fiancé, Cassidy Watters, and they’ve targeted an October wedding.

He got a job at RX Medical in his hometown of Oklahoma City.

He was present. He was providing. He was fulfilling the role he felt he was meant for.

On the other side of the equation, OSU coaches had begun calling him. They had lost their top recruit at Gfeller’s weight, and were trying to lure him back.

“I was done,” Gfeller said. “I didn’t wanna talk to the coaches. I just wanted to focus on being a good dad. They would call me, I wouldn’t answer.”

The owners of RX Medical were former wrestlers themselves, and multiple employees had wrestled in college. So the topic would often come up during the course of a day’s work.

“Then just on a normal day at work, I found myself watching videos,” Gfeller said. “I was like, ‘Aw, s--t, here we go.’ I started missing it.”

So when the coaches called in mid-August, Gfeller answered.

More:Digging into postseason situations for Oklahoma State basketball teams

Watters, who met Gfeller when they were college freshmen, understands competitive drive. A Kansas native, she came to OSU on an equestrian scholarship. So when she saw Gfeller’s desire to return bubbling up, she could appreciate where it was coming from. And she was prepared to support him, whatever he decided.

“I think he felt like he left some stones unturned,” Watters said. “He felt like he had a chance to go back. If he wanted to go be an All-American, he had another shot.”

So she offered her opinion.

“You might as well give it a try, because wrestling is a very short amount of time,” she told him. “You can work for the rest of your life.”

Once the decision was official, Gfeller made his first call, to Fix.

No words were necessary. Gfeller simply played the song that blares over the Gallagher-Iba Arena speakers every time he takes the mat for home duals: “Coming Home” By Diddy.

I’m coming home. I’m coming home. Tell the world I’m coming home.

“Then he hung up,” Fix said. “He’s been my best friend for a long time. When he finally told me he was gonna come back, it was awesome. I’ve never been on this team without him. It was weird there for a couple months. I was feeling like I was alone, because I didn’t have my best friend with me.”

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as just showing up and wrestling again.

First, Gfeller and Watters had to make sure the finances were going to work. He would have to leave his job, but still needed to make sure his family wouldn’t suffer because of it. That required conversations and strategy and planning.

Then there was the issue of his weight.

Gfeller wrestled at 149 pounds in 2022. When he stepped on the scale upon his return to the workout room inside Gallagher-Iba Arena, he topped 200.

“You know, he likes food,” OSU coach John Smith said with a smile. “That’s why he’s always wrestled a weight up.

“Really, he’s having one of his better years discipline-wise.”

More:Dustin Plott, Daton Fix win as Oklahoma State takes second at Big 12 wrestling championships

When Smith spoke to reporters to preview the season last November, he didn’t envision Gfeller being in the lineup before mid-December. Yet there he was, starting the first match of the year against Lehigh on Nov. 12, wrestling at 157, which became his new home.

Now, he’s 21-6 on the season. He reached the finals of the Big 12 Championships. And he’s set on chasing that All-America dream this weekend as Gfeller concludes what he calls the best year of his career.

“Having a baby, I think he has a little bit of a different mindset,” Watters said. “I think he enjoys it more than in the past. Wrestling is a really big deal, but he realizes there’s more to life, and that takes a little bit of pressure off.”

Gfeller spends his mornings with Charlotte before going to practice. Then he’s back at home with her in the evenings. All of his classes are online, so he’s home more now than he was when he was working a full-time job.

From time to time, he’ll take Charlotte to GIA. She’ll toddle around the weight room or play with him in the wrestling room.

Charlotte doesn’t know what she’s watching, and she won’t remember it. But she and Watters will be in the stands each day this week, and that’s what matters most.

“I think it’s cool I’ll be able to tell Charlotte one day that she came to watch me wrestle,” Gfeller said. “To have those pictures of us, I think that’ll be really cool for her to see when she gets older.

“I’m grateful I came back to get to experience these moments.”

NCAA Championships

Thursday-Saturday at BOK Center in Tulsa

THURSDAY: Session I at 11 a.m. (ESPNU), Session II at 6 p.m. (ESPN)

FRIDAY: Session III at 11 a.m. (ESPNU), Session IV at 7 p.m. (ESPN)

SATURDAY: Session V at 10 a.m. (ESPNU), Session VI at 6 p.m. (ESPN)

More:Oklahoma State Cowboys send three to finals at Big 12 wrestling championships

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State wrestler Kaden Gfeller 'grateful' to chase NCAA goal