The 2023 wrestling season is in full swing, and the Owensboro Times reached out to the local coaches to get their thoughts on the season. Here’s what the local coaches had to say:
What are your expectations/goals for this year?
Apollo Head Coach Courtney Johns: As a team I would like to see us return to the team state dual meet. We won this meet 2 years ago and last year we had a three way tie for 1st and got bumped out due to criteria. For girls, the last two years we have had a top 10 finish, I’d like to see our girls finish in the top five at the girls state meet.
Daviess County Head Coach Curtis Martinson: Goals and Expectations are to repeat as Sectional Champions and to win the city/county title which eluded us the past couple years.
Owensboro Head Coach Griffin Kelley: Our program is young but continues to grow. Our athletes are very hungry and eager to work. We want to keep developing and moving forward in a positive direction on and off the mat. We are very excited about the new KHSAA female division. We have a full squad of ladies who are excited to get to compete.
Owensboro Catholic Head Coach William Allen: The expectations/goals this year are just to continue growing as a program and help our wrestlers reach their top athletic potential. We have added some new coaching staff; I have taken over as the Head Coach this year after Chip Pride stepped down, Eric Dewig has stepped into our Middle School Associate Head Coach Position, and we have hired Aaron Pace and Trent Smith as assistant coaches for the Varsity team. Matt Devault has returned to help coach the Varsity team as well this year. With their experience and dedication to the team, I foresee us getting some guys out of Region and into the State Tournament for the first time this year. We are going to miss Coach Pride and everything he brought to the table as he was a great asset to the team and a founding father of the program.
What will be the biggest challenges on the schedule?
AHS: The biggest challenge on our schedule is the king of the bluegrass @ fairdale hs. This tournament will be a good test for us, we will see alot of quality teams with state qualifiers and placers. For girls it would be Harrison county Fillies invitational. This is another tournament where our girls will see some of the top girls teams in the state along with state qualifiers and placers.
DCHS: Biggest challenge will be right out of the gate as we travel to Union County Nov 30th for our first match of the year. They were last year state runner up and won the previous 7 straight titles prior to that always tough. As for Sectionals Apollo & McCracken will be tough to beat and we will have to be at Apollo twice in order to win City/ County too.
OHS: Our local area and region are always pretty tough. We have a couple tournaments along the way, but we are focused on the end of season sectionals and regional competitions.
OCHS: We look at the regular season as nothing more than preparation for our Region Tournament, with the goal of finishing top 4 in your weight class to move on to State. We have some tough tournaments on the schedule where we will see some tough competition, but getting guys placed top 4 in the Region 1 Tournament is the biggest challenge due to how stacked Region 1 is. Region 1 has three of the top 10 wrestling programs in the state and two of them are top 3, so year after year the Region Tournament is the biggest challenge we face. We continue to focus on what we can control, our attitude, effort, and preparation for Regions.
Who are your top returning athletes and why?
AHS: Jake Ramsey is our only returning state placer. Tavius Walker was a state qualifier last year. Patrick Glen, Damon Crockett, Clayton Pendley I feel have realistic chances of getting to the state tournament this year.
On the girls’ side Lydia Gardner was ranked 6th in girls state before being injured and not being able to compete in the girls’ state meet, and Mayte Lopez who finished 2nd in girls state and is currently ranked 2nd in her weight class.
DCHS: My top returning athletes are my two seniors. First, Gill Nicodemus, weight class 215, is currently ranked #4 in the state and he is a returning State Medalist. Koyln Cruz is the other senior weight class 285 currently ranked #14 in the state. He was a returning State Qualifier.
OHS: On the boys’ side we only have three returning athletes- Juan Lopez Quintana (11th grade), Jaxon Weissend (11th grade), and Dayton Dowdy (10th grade). Each of these young men have been leaders during our preseason training. They are quality athletes. They are routinely the first guys to show up and the last to leave, and they are in the gym anytime they have the chance.
On our girls’ team we have one returning wrestler, Graycen Roberts. Graycen is a freshman and wrestled on the team last season as an 8th grader. She has been a great leader for her teammates and always gives her best effort each day in practice.
OCHS: Cameron Devine is our most experienced wrestler and a senior this year. He had close to 30 wins last season but fell short at regions to make it to the State Tournament. He is currently ranked 27th at 144 pounds but I think he will end up climbing in the rankings as the year progresses. We also have a Freshman, Sam Brauer, who is ranked 20th in the State. Sam looked really good this past weekend at Evansville Reitz going 4-1 on the day. He is set up to have a big season this year. We have two other seniors Andrew Brauer and Todd Riter who are stepping into their fourth season and could make some noise as the season progresses. Another up-and-coming wrestler for OC is Chaz Mohen, who is in his second year with the team but went 5-0 this past weekend at our first tournament of the year.
Who do you expect/need to step up and why?
AHS: Patrick Glen, Damon Crockett, and Clayton Pendley. All three of these guys were 1 match away from making it to the state tournament last yearFor girls, Lydia Gardner is a senior and was unable to participate in the girls tournament due to injuries. I’d like to see her place this year. Junior Mayte Lopez finished 2nd last year and she has the chance to be the first girls champion in Owensboro/Daviess county.
DCHS: Last year we had a group of 8th graders that had to get thrown to the fire and we responded with our first trip to State Duals. So, I am looking forward to seeing those freshmen compete this season as well as a couple sophomores Aiden Ranburger, Luke McLamb. Both of them should have great seasons as well as these freshmen Jackson Stoner, Kaden Nichols, Ollie Ezell and Kobe Nichols.
OHS: We have added a few more team members on both the girls and boys teams. We look for each of our athletes to step up and make an immediate impact. We opened up our season this past Saturday 12/4 and had a couple new athletes have solid performances, Tristan Stapleton (9th gr), and Justin Woodrome (10th gr).
OCHS: We do not have the biggest team this year, with only 14 guys on the roster. We need everyone to step up and work hard week in and week out to be able to compete throughout the season. We have a few first-year wrestlers that are really progressing quickly and we hope to see them win several matches for the team this year.
What areas are you hoping to improve on this year and why?
AHS: In general, improve as a team. We have a lot of new guys, so I am hoping that we have the growth that we need to compete at regionals.
DCHS: I am hoping to improve in the middle of our line-up. We lost so many kids last year and it really affected the middle weights. We just had no experience anywhere for 7 weight classes straight. Even though they are still freshmen at least they have some experience and trained hard during the off season so that should help those areas. With us only losing one senior from last year that should help too.
OHS: Our biggest areas of focus have been doing the little things right and emphasizing that we have to practice how we compete. For any athlete hoping to be competitive at the varsity level- you must be locked in and make the most of each rep that you get. We routinely remind the team that we have to make the most of our time because we don’t get to go back and repeat practices or meets. They get tired of hearing me say it, but I often say “We can’t go back and change what we did or said yesterday… You may have a tough match or a practice that you’re not pleased with- we can’t dwell on that. We have to keep moving forward.”
OCHS: We just want to see growth week over week from our wrestlers, not only on the wrestling mat but in the classroom and the community as well. Our focus is to help our wrestlers be leaders on the wrestling mat, in the classroom, and in the community. We want to grow and improve as a team but also grow in our Faith and in all aspects of these young mens’ lives. I truly believe we have the program, the support from Owensboro Catholic’s administration, and the coaching staff to make that possible.
