<p>Those who don’t know Bob Hasseman can be fast to judge.</p><p>Combine the hitch in his stride, thick build, gravelly voice and occasional crusty demeanor and the 66-year-old is the prototypical wrestling coach from a long-gone generation. His appearance all but screams, “Get down and give me 20.”</p><p>Hasseman’s reputation is for being demanding inside the walls of the Franklin Community High School wrestling room, though there’s the other side most don’t get a chance to see.</p><p>“You see coach Hasseman from a distance and it’s hilarious,” said Skyler Lykins, a four-year starter for the Grizzly Cubs and the winner the Ward E. Brown Mental Attitude Award at the 2014 state finals.</p><p>“He’s big, he’s strong and he’s loud. But you walk up to him and he’s the most approachable guy. The more you get to know him the more interesting he is. But he was more than a coach. He cares a lot about how his athletes do in life.”</p><p>On June 28, Hasseman, a teacher and head wrestling coach at Franklin since 1986, surprised many when he notified his superintendent, principal and athletic director that he would be retiring immediately.</p><p>The short notice, combined with summer vacation, meant no pep rally or party, no cake, balloons or presents. Then again, none of that is Hasseman’s style.</p><p>It isn’t stopping the outpouring of support from a community thankful for what the coach accomplished in 33 seasons. In recent days, Hasseman has received calls, texts and a tremendous sendoff on social media.</p><p>The coach’s influence isn’t limited solely to current or former Franklin wrestlers.</p><p>Upon becoming the Grizzly Cubs’ girls and boys swimming coach as a 23-year-old in 2012, Zach DeWitt was inspired by Hasseman’s accomplishments.</p><p>“Bob had built something excellent, and, of course, excellence is what I was pursuing,” said DeWitt, who led both his swim teams to second-place finishes at the state meet in Indianapolis last winter. “Bob has always wanted to do things his own way. He taught me as a coach that you didn’t have to fit into any certain mold.</p><p>“If you put relationships with your coaches and athletes first, good things will happen. He lives that out every single day.”</p><p>Hasseman coached four individual state champions at Franklin — Bryce Hasseman (160 pounds in 2000), Aaron Clark (103 in 2001), D.J. Smith (113 in 2014) and Jacob Stevenson (170 in 2014) — and a number of others made the awards podium at the state finals.</p><p>One was Pat Dowty, a 1997 Franklin graduate who placed fourth at 119 pounds as a senior.</p><p>Dowty, now the Indian Creek wrestling coach, laughs telling the story how he was approached by Hasseman as a 98-pound freshman. The coach told Dowty, who was more into playing basketball at that stage of his life, that he needed a 103-pounder for the upcoming season.</p><p>Dowty spent the 1993-94 season on junior varsity; his next three seasons concluded at the state finals.</p><p>Asked how he made such an impressive jump from his freshman to sophomore seasons, Dowty doesn’t hesitate:</p><p>“I had a good coach,” he said.</p><p>“Bob’s got a big heart,” Dowty continued. “Outsiders don’t get to see that side of him. He has a way of communicating with kids most other coaches don’t have. As a coach, he got every single thing out of you. The other thing is that he’s a father figure to a lot of those kids.”</p><p>Before coming to Franklin, Hasseman was head coach at New London High School in Ohio. He was there 12 seasons and watched four of his wrestlers win individual state championships, just as he did with the Grizzly Cubs.</p><p>Hasseman coached Franklin for 10 seasons before the Grizzly Cubs won the school’s first sectional team title. They then captured 17 of the next 23, including one this past season at Mooresville.</p><p>He also impacted those in the school’s football program as its longtime defensive coordinator. Hasseman served in that role under many head coaches at Franklin, including the past two seasons as part of Chris Coll’s staff.</p><p>Cale Hoover spent 12 years coaching Center Grove wrestling before stepping down after the 2017-18 season. Franklin served as both a rival and a measuring stick for Hoover’s Trojan teams.</p><p>“We actually got along really well. Bob was a wrestling coach longer than I’ve been alive. He’s got a lot of stories,” said Hoover, 42. “What Bob did incredibly well is get his kids to believe in their system and wrestle hard.”</p><p>Smith compiled a 111-14 career record at Franklin before going on to wrestle at the University of Indianapolis. He said wrestling for Hasseman, while rewarding, wasn’t for everyone.</p><p>“He did a great job of developing a culture there from elementary school through high school,” Smith said. “We would pride ourselves on winning and on character. In a way it could be difficult because he was tough on athletes, but it brought toughness to the team.”</p><p>Lykins wrestles for Colorado School of Mines and is about to enter his senior season. Lessons learned from Hasseman are ones he continues to apply today.</p><p>“Coach Hasseman ran a tight ship and definitely knew what he was doing,” Lykins said. “It was almost a science the way he ran the wrestling program.”</p><p>DeWitt believes Hasseman is one of the rare individuals capable of being a success coaching any sport.</p><p>And yes, that includes swimming.</p><p>“It just wouldn’t matter,” DeWitt said. “Bob’s got a personality and relationship-building skills that he would be able to do it.”</p>
