Wrestling clubs laying foundation for high schools

By Bill Knust

Northland area coaches mince no words when it comes to the impact of club wrestling. Clubs like Team Central and Victory (formerly Competitors) have helped lay a solid foundation for high schools like Park Hill and Oak Park.

Oak Park has won five straight high state championships in Missouri’s largest class, while Park Hill was a back-to-back champion in Class 3 in 2005 and 2006, and also was the last school to win a state championship in the state’s largest class before Oak Park started its run.

At the 2007-08 Missouri High School State Championships, 28 Northland athletes finished as medalists.

“Without the coaches who train the athletes at Victory Wrestling Club, Oak Park would not be what it is today,” Oak Park coach Tim Rupp said. “This is the way I see it, all Oak Park wrestlers are Victory-trained. By the time we get the kids at Oak Park, our biggest job is to not screw them up.”

Park Hill coach Bill Erneste feels the same way about Team Central, a feeder program to Park Hill and other schools in the area.

“I deeply owe Team Central,” Erneste said. “Deron Winn, who was a three-time state champ from Liberty, came from Team Central. (Liberty coach) Mike Hammer did a great job with him and got him to the next level. It is not just like they help Park Hill, they help everyone.

“By helping everybody, I am more of a trainer than a coach by the time they get to high school. That is definitely a tribute to Jason Keck, who has been the coach of Team Central. He is the guy that keeps it going.”

The benefits of working with coaches like Keck and Victory’s Randy Smith are not lost on the wrestlers.

“It has helped a ton,” Oak Park graduate Brent Haynes said. “Before (Victory) I wrestled for a North Kansas City club. I was not ever very good. I think the highest I ever placed was fifth at state. I came over to (Victory) and Randy Smith promised me if I came over and wrestled for him, I would win state. My first year I won state. From there on I got better and better because of Randy Smith and coach (Gary) Mayabb.”

Park Hill’s Alan Waters said Keck helped prepare him for what high school wrestling is all about.

“Keck would run high school style practices with us,” Waters said. “He would treat us like high schoolers so we knew what to expect when we got to there. You know that practices are going to be hard, but it has made me better.”

While schools in the area have reaped the benefits of club wrestling, Smithville is just now starting to see some of the same effects. Smithville Wrestling Club was started four years ago, and Smithville High head coach Taylor Middleton said he could see things on the upswing.

“We are seeing them now,” Middleton said. “We really are. Some of the kids moving into the middle school this year have been a part of the club and know the level you have to work at. (Club coach Erik Tipton) and I talk quite a bit and try and make plans for what is going on in the future.”

Coming from Oak Grove where he was an assistant, Middleton said it was no secret how much having a strong wrestling club can pay off at the high school level.

“That is probably the No. 1 most important thing about helping your high school program,” Middleton said. “You have to get your youth club going strong and have the right people in place. It is also probably one of the toughest things, because the hours as a high school coach that you put in make it tough to be involved that much more with the youth club.”

Rupp said schools with strong clubs enjoy a nice advantage over high schools that are lacking such a thing.

“Those kids that go through Victory are learning the same things we would teach them at the high school level,” Rupp said. “That kid is going to be in the same system from beginning to end. You cannot have a great wrestling program without that.”

Not only does club wrestling provide kids with a place to start and build a foundation of technique and fundamentals, it also gives older kids an outlet during the summer to ply their trade.

“Club wrestling provides an opportunity for kids to wrestle in the offseason,” Erneste said. “One of the goals for Park Hill kids is to make the next level. The goal for our kids is to place at Fargo (the Cadet and Junior National Championships), because if you place at Fargo, that means you are one of the best in the nation.

“If you are one of the best in the nation then the ultimate goal for a Park Hill kid is to get a college education.”

Sports writer Bill Knust can be reached at 389-6605 or billknust@npgco.com.