11/25/2009 4:45:00 PM
Winter preview: prep wrestling
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| Matt Hinshaw/The Daily Courier
Junior Zerak Renner lifts freshman Brady Mengarelli at Prescott wrestling practice. The Badgers have a new coach a year after graduating two state champions and a runner-up. |
| | Koehler takes over at PHS for departed Payne | With the departure of the highly regarded Dan Payne, first-year Prescott High School wrestling coach Eric Koehler understands he's got big shoes to fill on the mat this season.
Last year, the Badgers finished fourth as a team at the Class 4A, Division I state meet. They had two individual state champions in Max Payne, Dan's son, and Jake Jarvis. In total, five senior wrestlers placed.
"Stepping into a program that Dan has built up over the past four years has been kind of nice, and I wanted to carry that on and keep it going," Koehler said from practice earlier this month. "This is my first year coaching varsity, and I'm excited about the challenge."
Koehler, 46, accepted the Badgers head-coaching job in August, not long after Payne departed. Koehler, whose sons wrestled for Payne, was an assistant coach at Mile High Middle School for the past six years where he developed a rapport with many of the PHS program's current grapplers.
"I'd come up here (to the PHS dome) and I'd work out with my boys every once and a while," said Koehler, a landscaper who has lived in Prescott since 1990. "I was not really looking for the job. Dan had some work obligations that he had to fulfill, so he wasn't able to be here for the wrestling season.
"So everyone said, 'You need to jump in there and help them out,' and I said, 'Why not?'"
Koehler, a three-time state champion wrestler from Nemeha Valley High School in Seneca, Kan., went on to grapple for Garden City (Kan.) Community College and the University of Nebraska for one season.
"I ended up injuring my knee and I couldn't get back into it," he said. "It was unfortunate."
Despite his injury, Koehler was taught in wrestling to never quit - a message he plans to pass along to his wrestlers early and often this winter.
He also said academics are a high priority of his.
"You should always give everything you can on the mat," he said. "We have to keep changing our coaching and our practices to keep it interesting and challenging for our guys."
One promising aspect to the campaign is that the 4A-I state tournament is being held at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.
Prescott opens its season next Monday at Coconino High School in Flagstaff. The Badgers play host to just one meet in 2009-10, which will be on Senior Night in January.
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While the Prescott wrestling team looks to contend for a Class 4A, Division I state championship in 2009-10, it might be more of an uphill climb for Bradshaw Mountain and Chino Valley.
Last year, the Badgers posted a top-five finish at state behind a sturdy contingent of seniors. They are gone, but Prescott has the talent to forge ahead - and plans to do even better this season.
The Bears and Cougars could be billed as possible upstarts in 4A-I and 3A, respectively. If they can acquire the depth necessary to compete, things might turn around quickly for both programs.
Prescott
A pair of state placers from the stalwart 2008-09 club, including senior 112-pounder Ben Zucker and senior 145-pounder Braden Hicks, return for first-year Badgers coach Eric Koehler.
"They will help out a lot, but we do have other seniors that will be doing very well," said Koehler, who has 52 grapplers on his roster and goes two to three deep in each weight class. "And we've got a lot of juniors that are going to step in and do quite well for the team."
Juniors Connor McKelvey at 160 and J.T. Tatum at 170 are among the other standout upperclassmen.
"It's kind of a rebuilding year, but we will be fine," Koehler said. "We have a very strong junior and sophomore class, and we have an exceptional freshman class. The latter won the state championship at the middle school level last year. There's probably two or three of them that are going to be varsity wrestlers this year."
The Badgers compete in the Western Sky Region, where they plan to contend for a title. Koehler said Prescott should at least finish in the top five again at the state meet.
"That's a pretty hefty goal, but I think we can accomplish it," he said. "Most everyone's healthy and we have a lot of good heart on this team."
Bradshaw Mountain
Jon Vick, who enters his fourth year as Bears coach, said he has four proven grapplers on his 2009 squad.
Tomas Medevielle, a 130-pound sophomore; Jason Rudder, a 140-pound senior; Josh Wilson, a 152-pound junior; and Chase Sullins, a 189-pound senior, all return to pace the unit. Last year, Bradshaw Mountain sent just two wrestlers to the Class 4A, Division II state tournament, including Sullins.
"I really think that these four boys legitimately have a shot at placing in the top six at state, if they train hard," Vick said.
This season, the Bears move up to the 4A-I West Valley Region after a tough year in the highly competitive Grand Canyon Region, where they finished last in 2008-09.
"We're still in a pretty tough region - not quite as tough as the Grand Canyon - but there's some strong schools there," Vick said.
Peoria and Peoria Sunrise Mountain should provide the stiffest tests in the region. Vick said Glendale Copper Canyon and Avondale Agua Fria are also respectable.
"There's more teams in this West Valley Region than there was in the Grand Canyon," Vick said. "I told the boys this year that it's time to start thinking about achievement as a team."
At this point, the Bears still need to plug some holes in their roster, including vacant spots at 103, 171, 215 and 285. Vick said he has a solid crop of 10 freshmen coming in, but they are untested.
On the horizon, the Bears are looking forward to having two feeder schools with wrestling programs. Glassford Hill Middle School, which formed its own program this year, now joins the ranks with Bradshaw Mountain Middle School.
"I continue to struggle to get a full team out," Vick said. "But if we get the right kind of match-ups, and we match up well with these other teams and fill some of these holes, it's not too far fetched to think that we will compete in the region."
Chino Valley
First-year Cougars coach Allen Foster, a former Prescott High state champion wrestler in 1991 who takes over for departed mentor Bruce Romick, said he has a junior-laden team full of potential.
One of those juniors, Class 3A two-time state placer Kyle Lindahl, a 112-pounder, leads CVHS.
Others to watch out for include 135-pound sophomore Jake Lund, a state qualifier from last year.
State qualifiers Ridge Hackett (jr., 140) and Patch Dalcerro (soph., 145), as well as Joe Leyva (jr., heavyweight), who was injured at the 3A West Regionals and did not make it to state, should make solid contributions, too.
Two wild cards should be freshman Michael Rocha, a junior high state champion who will grapple at 125, and James Scott, a transfer from Cottonwood Mingus at 130.
"We've got pretty good team unity going on right now," Foster said. "We haven't won a regional title since 2000, so everybody's set that as a goal and is super jazzed about it."
Foster added that leadership is the strength of the 2009 squad, which will play host to the 3A West Regionals in February. Parker is the West Region's defending champ.
"We've got a full team this year," said Foster, whose Cougars will have one home dual in January. "Some of those spots aren't settled yet, but that's the nice thing about this group. In the past we've been giving up forfeits, which we shouldn't have to do this year."
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Posted: Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Article comment by:
Gusto1972
I'm stinkin pumped!
Posted: Sunday, November 29, 2009
Article comment by:
fan
I hope Chino Valley has a go Joe great season they have some young kids this year. I looking forward to see Joe Leyva he has been working hard and wants it
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