MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon Wrestling Preview gave area high school coaches an opportunity to see how well their teams are prepared for the upcoming season. The annual square-off, held at Pleasant Street Elementary School on Friday evening, also gave local wrestling programs a chance to grow stronger.
“I think that it is good thing for the area,” Mount Vernon coach John Brown said. “We bring seven wrestling teams here, including ourselves. We match up and have everybody come and watch. I think that is a good thing for all of us to see what we are good at and what we can work on.”
Brown had a chance to see some areas in need of improvement for the Yellow Jackets.
“We’re a little greenish in some areas,” said Brown. “A lot of penalty points, but we are doing a lot of good things, a lot of aggression. Some of our young kids are really aggressive and really going after people. I think that we are off to a good start. We have to clean some stuff up, but I am really impressed with the way we are going after people. Mistakes we can take care of.”
Centerburg coach Mike Linkenhoeker, in his second year at the helm of the Trojans, expects a good bit of improvement over last year.
“The good thing for us is that we are starting out with better numbers than last year,” said Linkenhoeker. “We started out with 19 kids and, right now, we still have 15. We’re just going to have to have more kids out there and, when we do, and then it will continue to build down to the junior high level.”
The young Trojans will have to take their lumps this winter, but Linkenhoeker will have a little more experience this year.
“I just want to get these young guys their first taste of varsity wrestling experience,” said Linkenhoeker.
Northridge coach Bill Perry wanted to get the most that he could out of this opportunity.
“We’ve only got six kids,” said Perry, “but so far we are wrestling pretty good. We’ve got three seniors and we’ve got three guys that are starting to pick it up pretty well. Mostly, I just try to get them the toughest matches that I could. Win or not, I just wanted to see how we reacted against the tough competition.”
Terry Wooff brings a very experienced Highland Scots team into this season.
“There is a commitment within themselves that we are here to make things happen. We don’t want to let them happen — we want to make them happen. You need continuity, you need structure and you need routine. It starts all the way down from the little guy program, to the middle school and continues up to the high school.”
For newcomer Steve Herbst, in his first year as coach of the Fredericktown Freddies, it is all about taking charge on the mat.
“My guys have learned in the first couple of weeks about the keys to controlling your opponent and controlling his hands whether you are on top or on bottom,” said Herbst. “In my view, hand control is how you are going to control your opponent and how you are going to win matches.”
Mike Garven, coach of the Utica Redskins, came in to the match eager to see how his newcomers would do.
“Hopefully, our young guys will get some good matchups so they know what they are going to expect this year, because we do have a lot of young kids this year. We will be relying — big time — on our seniors this year,” said Garven.
Ken Kauffman of East Knox will also have a boatload of new talent this year.
“We didn’t pair up with the weaker kids,” explained Kauffman. “We wanted to pair up with strength and see what the competition was and build from there.”
Going up against a Division I team like Mount Vernon gives the young Bulldogs valuable experience.
“You have to admire what Mount Vernon has done in wrestling and it’s something that we can shape our program around. There’s a lot of future for wrestling in this county,” Kauffman said.
“I think that it’s really nice that we all work so well together,” said Brown of his fellow coaches. “We get together and we help each other in this area, and it works out really good.”
