PALATINE, Ill. – Josh Tardy (Naperville, Ill., Naperville Central) had no plans of wrestling after high school.  After he graduated from Naperville Central, Tardy didn't think he would attend college, either.  But after a fourth place finish at 135 pounds in the 2011 state meet, Tardy began to reconsider his plans.
 
“I wasn't sure how good of a wrestler that I actually was so I wanted to continue to see how good I actually was,” Tardy said.  “That's how I decided to keep wrestling in college.  It was between Harper and Lincoln.  Harper was a lot closer so I decided to choose Harper, and I'm glad I did.”
 
And so is the Harper College wrestling team.  In his second season with the Hawks, Tardy is 23-6 and currently ranked 11^th nationally at 149 pounds heading into this weekend's national meet in Des Moines, Iowa.  For his efforts, Tardy is Harper College's 15^th Athlete of the Week.
 
“Josh is a coach's dream,” said head coach Dan Loprieno.  “He works his butt off and is a technician in the (wrestling) room.  He's one of the true leaders.  I've had kids place really high that I don't miss- Josh is going to be a kid that I really miss.  Him and Steven Dewitt (Sterling, Ill., Sterling) have both been working hard and pushing each other.  He's just a good kid to have around.  It's going to be tough when goes.”
 
In his first year at Harper, Tardy wrestled primarily at 141 pounds and the weight cut started to weigh on him towards the end of the season.  He placed third at regionals to qualify for the national meet, but his performance there was a bit disappointing to him.
 
“I had a pretty good national tournament; just a couple of things didn't go my way,” Tardy said.  “I wasn't an All-American, and I felt like I could have been in the top five.  Coming in this year, I was just keeping my mind on the national title.  And I feel a lot better at 149 than I did at 141.”
 
The bump up in weight has meant more success for Tardy, who won titles at Coe College, the Art Kraft Memorial Open, the Harper Open and also has second place finishes at the Pointer Open, the Harper College Wrestling Invitational and the Midwest District meet.
 
“A lot of those wins helped me realize I'm in the hunt for a national title,” Tardy said.  “I just keep pushing myself during practice so I feel like I'm peaking at the right time.  My minds in the right place and I feel pretty good right now.”
 
Once his successful career at Harper wraps up this weekend, Tardy hopes to continue wrestling at a four-year school.  Where he winds up largely depends on how he does this weekend.  Tardy says the bracket sets up favorably for him and Loprieno adds that anything less than an appearance in the finals would be a disappointment to Tardy.  Regardless, the absence of Tardy will not be hard to notice next season.
 
“He's one of those kids who are very hard to replace,” Loprieno said.  “That's the hard part about junior colleges is that you only get them for a couple years and they're gone.  Just when this kid is mature enough to be a leader and do what you ask him to do, it's time for him to go.  He's going to be very successful when he leaves.  He works hard and does what he's supposed to do in the classroom.  Someone is going to have a potential All-American in the room next year, no matter where he goes.  He's the kind of kid you get into coaching for.”