Assistant Ludwig replaces Cysewski at C-G

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Two years serving in Cary-Grove’s wrestling program was enough to sell the administration on Ryan Ludwig.

Ludwig, 25, has been hired as the Trojans’ new wrestling coach, replacing Dan Cysewski, who is stepping down after 27 seasons. Ludwig has coached with Cysewski for two seasons and taught special education at C-G for those two years.

“I feel like I’m prepared,” said Ludwig, a 2004 Prairie Ridge graduate. “I’m excited for the opportunity. I’ve been with some great coaches in Dan Cysewski, [and assistants] Jim Miller and Kevin Beers. They have tons of experience and are some great mentors for me.”

Ludwig wrestled, played football and competed in track and field at Prairie Ridge. He attended Northern Illinois University, then came to C-G to teach and coach. He also is head freshman football coach.

“The first thing I think I showed was a willingness to work hard and a commitment to how we do things at Cary-Grove,” Ludwig said. “We’ve had a lot of success here [in all sports] and it’s not by accident. I’m a high-energy guy and I also have a willingness to be open to ideas and be coachable myself.”

C-G assistant athletic director Jim Altendorf, who will take over for retiring AD Bruce Kay next year, announced the hiring Wednesday.

“Ryan’s young and energetic and really wants to do well,” Altendorf said. “He’s very mature and very enthusiastic.”

Ludwig competed in three sports for all four years at Prairie Ridge. He started wrestling in fourth grade with the Crystal Lake Wizards.

Cysewski will remain at C-G as a teacher in health and driver education and hopes to take a position on Ludwig’s staff.

“You kind of know when you’re ready [to step down as head coach],” Cysewski said. “The last couple years I went to [principal] Jay Sargeant and said we should be looking for a quality person. You can tell when somebody has it and somebody doesn’t, and Ryan has it.”

Cysewski said one of the most special things he has from his head coaching stint was the relationships with his athletes.

“I like to think there’s something about wrestling that teaches you about adversity,” Cysewski said. “Wrestling great Dan Gable [the former Iowa coach] said after wrestling, challenges in life come a little easier.”