Wrestling is a family affair for Michael Weimer, the Noblesville boys wrestling head coach, and his sons Blake (gray sweatshirt) and Brody (blue sweatshirt). Michael Weimer has been the Millers head coach for nine years, while Blake and Brody are varsity wrestlers on the team. (Quinn Matthews)
By QUINN MATTHEWS
Most can say that their school sports team is like a family—but for the Weimers, it’s more than a figure of speech.
Michael Weimer has been the head wrestling coach at Noblesville for nine years. His coaching journey, which started in 2002, has always been a family affair. Following in his footsteps are his sons Blake Weimer, who wrestles at 140 pounds as a sophomore, and Brody Weimer, who wrestles at 126 pounds as a freshman. For their family, wrestling is at the heart of it all.
“I applied for my job here because I wanted to build something amazing for my sons, selfishly, because the best friends that I have in my life are still my former wrestling teammates from high school and college, and I just wanted to create something amazing for them, so they would always have a cool place to go to, a nice, safe haven,” said Michael.
Blake and Brody were practically born on the mat, with their dad sharing his love for wrestling with them since day one.
“I always called them mat rats. When they were babies, I had to carry them both in there, [the wrestling room], because they’re only 15 months apart, and they would sit there and watch practice,” said Michael.
Not only did they sit and watch on the sidelines, they jumped in and learned to wrestle.
“We just enjoyed talking to all the wrestlers and learning little moves on the side and wrestling with everybody, and then it just kind of stuck with us as we got older,” said Blake.
Michael always made tagging along to wrestling meets fun for Blake and Brody, and he loved to bring that fun home.
“We always did something called Singlet Sundays. So when they were little on Sundays, they would put a singlet on, and I’d put a singlet on, and we would just run around the house, wrestle around, and have fun,” said Michael. “Then Singlet Sundays turned into Sunday Funday, because that’s when we would go compete at the youth level.”
They believe that this lifestyle would never be possible without their “rock”; Lisa Weimer.
“My wife is the biggest supporter of this program,” said Michael. “Our wintertime is family time. A lot of other sports, sometimes the coaches, you know, aren’t around their families or around their wives. In wrestling, our whole family does everything together, we go to every tournament together, so it’s pretty cool.”
Not every family gets to be together in almost every aspect of their lives, but for the Weimers it’s a central part of their lives. They feel grateful for this connection through a sport and recognize that it is rare.
“He gets to see the different sides of us, he sees our home life all the time, obviously. And then he sees us come in the [wrestling] room, flip the switch, and we work our butts off with everybody in the room, and make each other better every single day,” said Brody.
It’s hard for Blake and Brody to imagine wrestling without their family at the center, because that’s where their love for the sport comes from.
“If my dad wasn’t my coach, I probably wouldn’t be wrestling. Without him, I don’t think I would have found an interest in it,” said Blake. “Growing up, it’s really been a part of me, and I’m just not gonna change. I’m gonna keep wrestling.”
