Fri Jul 30 2010
With 12 underclassmen on a 17-man squad, to say the Western Hills wrestling team is rebuilding is an understatement.
But even without a lot of experience, the program is heading in the right direction.
“(They’re) athletic and young … very young,” WHHS coach Adam Bowser said of his team. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores. I think we’ll be pretty good for being as young as we are.”
The Wolverines have had a youthful team for the last few seasons, with little more than one or two seniors on the team at one time. Last season, the lone senior was two-time state qualifier Josh Bell who is credited as being an integral part of building the program in his four years.
This season, the Wolverines have about as much experience as they have had in some time with senior Mark Davis, junior Ken Holbrook and sophomore Christian Wilkins.
“They are helping them out tremendously – leaps and bounds,” Bowser said of the trio. “They are crucial to this team. All three of them help out our young guys a lot especially with making weight and little stuff like that. They also help show them moves before and after matches when the coaches are busy.”
Davis has twice been a state alternate – last season he made it into the tournament draw due to a late scratch – and Wilkins and Holbrook both showed a lot of promise at the end of last season.
Davis is currently ranked 15th in the state at 171 pounds by KentuckyWrestling.com. Holbrook is No. 20 at 215 and Wilkins is No. 16 in the heavyweight division.
“We’re expecting (Mark) to go to state and make a run at placing at state,” Bowser said. “With Ken, we’re of course going to try to get him to state, but he is in a stacked weight class in the region.”
The Wolverines also boast a full team this season with 17 wrestlers, which is important when trying to compete for team titles at tournaments. It has already helped in the team’s first two tournaments at Bryan Station and Oldham County the last two weeks.
“They competed,” Bowser said. “Having full weight classes and not having six empty slots has helped a lot.”
WHHS is also looking to expand its program to the middle school and elementary level as interest grows.
“We have three seventh-graders wrestling now on our team and we have six or seven sixth-graders as well,” Bowser said. “They can’t wrestle at the high school level but we have talked about starting (a middle school team) late this year or just having them practice and starting one next year.”
Between word of mouth about the success of Bell over his career as well as Davis and help from WHHS football coach Don Miller getting players to go out for the team, the Wolverine wrestling program looks to be in good hands.
Even with experience and numbers at a premium, Bowser has a simple philosophy for this season.
“Learn,” Bowser said. “We’ll be in good shape if we can retain what we have now and this year we want to see Mark and Ken go as far as they can and help the younger kids start learning for next year.”
The Wolverines hit the mat again Saturday at the Capital City Duals hosted by Franklin County.
Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed.
State-Journal.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Login above or Register to comment.
0 Total Comments Home | Back
Copyright Frankfort Publishing Co., LLC 1995-2010. All Rights Reserved.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Dix Communications