How top football recruit Elijah Golden is using wrestling to push his talents to next level

SARASOTA, Fla. — Elijah Golden arrived in the office of Cardinal Mooney coach Jared Clark just before 8 a.m. one day last week, dressed in a red sweatsuit furnished by the All-American Bowl. The outfit was another indicator of where the 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive lineman fits into the recruiting scene, with Golden a national prospect since his freshman year back in King George, Va., before a transfer to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., for his sophomore season and the move to Cardinal Mooney last summer.

Cardinal Mooney has seen at least three college head coaches visit Golden via helicopter. Even with offers from virtually every program in the country, Golden hits the combine circuit, looking to test himself. He has a spring unofficial visit tour set for Clemson, Virginia Tech, Alabama and Notre Dame, with the Crimson Tide getting two looks. Official visits will follow into summer and fall, with Golden leaning toward a late decision.

Former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden visited King George High almost three years ago. Head coach Marcus Freeman had a call with Golden’s father last week. Defensive line coach Al Washington has been by Cardinal Mooney, led by Clark, a former Notre Dame tight end. Golden has visited Notre Dame three times.

“I already know a lot about Notre Dame because before I came here they were already recruiting me,” Golden said. “Good academics. Good football. Good culture over there. Same thing as Mooney, think positive, good energy, it’s very nice up there.”

That Golden rates at the top of Notre Dame’s recruiting board hardly makes him unique. Beyond offers from those four spring visits, the defensive lineman lists Ohio State, Oregon, Texas A&M, Penn State, Miami and Georgia among his offers. 247Sports rates Golden as the No. 1 defensive lineman in the Class of 2026 and No. 40 overall. ESPN slots Golden at No. 9 at his position and No. 83 in the country.

Based on 247Sports’ evaluation, Golden’s ranking would trail only Kyle Hamilton’s, Michael Mayer’s Tommy Kraemer’s and Bryce Young’s in the past decade for Notre Dame signees.

And yet, what makes Golden a potential unicorn for Notre Dame (and the rest of college football) may have less to do with the sport that has developed him into a national prospect and more to do with one he may never take part in again.

Golden watched from the stands at Lakewood Ranch High as Cardinal Mooney’s varsity wrestling team competed for the first time in school history. He joined the team mostly for the practices, a chance to work on his conditioning and technique, taking the close combat principles of wrestling and applying them to the defensive line. Golden wanted to support the team.

Actually hitting the mat for public consumption? Maybe not. And yet, Golden saw enough during that first meet to convince him to compete in the second.

“To have a kid like that want to try something new, it’s awesome,” said Will Schenerlein, Cardinal Mooney’s wrestling coach and dean of students. “To put himself out there in front of all those people and put his reputation on the line, I have a ton of respect for him.”

Golden isn’t sure how he finished the season in terms of record, just that he won a little bit more than he lost.

“I ain’t trying to be no championship wrestler,” Golden said with a laugh.

Because Golden will enroll in college as a mid-year student, there won’t be a second season on the mat. But he has talked to Schenerlein about possibly training with the team during the summer. Golden has promoted the sport inside the football team, which already has about a half-dozen wrestlers on a roster that went 24-3 the past two seasons, including a state championship during the season before Golden arrived.

Schenerlein, who grew up in West Virginia as a state champion wrestler before leading Parkersburg’s wrestling program to multiple titles, is quick to advocate for the crossover between the sport that filled Golden’s winter and the one that will send him to college.

Notre Dame knows it, too, with starting left tackle Charles Jagusah being a former heavyweight state champion in Illinois. Even Freeman grew up on a wrestling mat in Ohio, with the sport likely to send his oldest son, Vinny, to college. The junior at Penn High finished third in the state this winter and hosted Michigan for an in-home visit.

Golden won’t take wrestling to the college level, but it might help push him further in football.

“He was thinking about the advantages in physicality, hand fighting, hand placement, feeling his hips. I don’t think he realized what it was going to do for him mentally until he got there,” Schenerlein said. “Having to push himself in a way he hasn’t had to push himself before through the adversity of going out and it being just him, taking the loss, learning from it, trying to go out and do better the next time.”

For a football prospect who doesn’t lose often at the line of scrimmage — there’s a reason he played in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio as a junior — learning from failure probably did Golden some good. It also means whichever program lands him will enjoy that fringe benefit.

“Let’s just say you win some, you lose some. But it wasn’t terrible,” Golden said. “Technique matters in wrestling. You’ve got to be sharp. Everything’s got to be crisp. If not … pinned.”

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Asked when he knew that football might take him somewhere, Golden leaned back in the chair inside Clark’s office.

“That’s a good question,” he said, needing a second to think through his answer.

Golden settled on the seventh or eighth grade at Dixon-Smith Middle School back in Stafford, Va., about an hour south of Washington, D.C. And that’s about the time the sport got serious, both for how Golden would play it and where it might take him. The family thought about sending Golden toward one of the D.C. area powerhouses like DeMatha if his freshman year at King George went well. But when IMG reached out, it seemed like a logical next step with its college-based schedule and college-style training.

Golden relocated to Florida on his own, a standard practice for transfers into IMG. At the boarding school that doubles as an athletic factory, Golden would wake up, head to the field house, attend meetings, get treatment and go to classes and then to practice. Classes met two or three times per week, a more college-style schedule than a typical high school. He was on his own.

IMG didn’t build its defensive line around Golden because that’s not how it works at a school with Power 4 prospects up and down the roster. IMG produced signees for Alabama, Oregon, Georgia, Colorado, Washington, SMU and three for Michigan during the last cycle. It has three top-100 prospects already this cycle.

“It gave me a look at how college is going to be,” Golden said. “Kids nowadays, they get homesick. I know that’s not going to happen because I’ve been here for most of my high school career. It’s definitely going to be an easy change for me.”

Still, IMG lacked something Golden couldn’t entirely articulate. He wanted the high level of competition of Florida but something more traditional at the same time. Cardinal Mooney offered a different kind of structure, a dress code, regular mass attendance and a place where he would stand out but wouldn’t be treated much differently from the rest of the student body.

The football part appealed to Golden too, a chance to lead a defensive line instead of just fitting into it. He wants to develop as a defensive end, three technique and nose guard for the next level, which wasn’t exactly in the cards at IMG. Making the move to Cardinal Mooney meant his mother, Tina, had to relocate to Florida while his father, Ketaa, stayed back in Virginia.

“Cardinal Mooney, they let you play free. They don’t make you play stiff. It’s not like, ‘You gotta do this, this and this or you’re out of the game.’ They let me play free,” Golden said. “Me playing free is me dominating, and we’re winning games. They let us play free and just play football.”

Golden posted 61 tackles last season with 29 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.

As much as IMG has a reputation for producing talent for college football’s biggest programs, Cardinal Mooney will get Golden to the next level just the same. Clark was recruited to Notre Dame by Urban Meyer, who lives in the area and stops by the school. There’s no shortage of college advice when Golden wants it, including from Schenerlein if he wanted it. Schenerlein’s older brother was recruited by Gerry Faust at Notre Dame but signed with West Virginia.

“I think it’s been a good fit for him because he was able to come here and not be one of the top dogs,” Schenerlein said. “At IMG, it’s a business. Here, you build more of a team atmosphere.”

Golden benefited from both experiences, just like he benefited from starring in football while experimenting with wrestling. Three high schools in three years might complicate the path of college for most prospects, but in Golden’s case, it illuminated it. Where that ultimately takes him won’t be clear for months. And that’s fine. After finding this fit at Cardinal Mooney, Golden isn’t in a hurry to leave.

“That’s been one challenge for Elijah, learning how to adapt,” his father said. “He’s a quiet kid. Stays to himself. But being able to adapt has been important because once he gets it, he gets it.”

(Top photo: Jon Santucci / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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