POULSBO — New coaches aren’t the only thing that’s a little different on the mats at North Kitsap High School.
“We believe we can win here,” said new assistant coach Mike Derda. “(Coach Jon Cooke) believes in these kids.”
A primary focus for this year’s squad is attitude — and Derda and Cooke want their team to know anything is possible for the upcoming season.
“I’ve seen state champs lose to freshman,” he said. “Anybody can win in this sport.”
Cooke was the assistant coach for the Central Kitsap High School wrestling team for 12 years before taking the head coaching job at Klahowya Secondary School when it opened in 1997. Derda has been wrestling 16 years, and is a two-time Indiana state champion.
The obvious challenge for newcomers Derda and Cooke to overcome is to get quickly acclimated to the program. Being coaches for mere weeks in the school district has also made recruiting more of a challenge. Cooke said he used school lunch times to talk to students who might be interested in coming out for the team.
“It’s hard when you don’t know the kids and they don’t know you,” Cooke said.
With 19 players on the squad, the team is still small. Though Cooke would like more, he said he’s happy to have a distributed group.
“I’d like to have 25 guys and above,” said Cooke. “But they’re spread out fairly well (among weight classes), which is a definite plus.”
The team is also spread out in terms of experience.
“We have a really good bunch of kids,” Cooke added. “Two seniors, five juniors that should do well, and even have a couple sophomores.”
Cooke also said he hopes the junior high schools form a good grass-roots approach to the program.
“The number of sophomores (we have) is a good base, and its good to get those kids from the junior highs,” Cooke commented. “If they’re excited in junior high, they’ll be excited for high school.”
Wrestling, a sport less team-oriented than most, has a bigger emphasis on individual competition. Cooke said he tries to instill a feeling of responsibility on the mat.
“I tell these guys everyday that they put themselves on the line when they’re on the mat. There’s no teammate to blame, no referee to blame, only yourself,” he said. “They need to feel proud about that.”
Conditioning is a key part of Cooke’s strategy for the season. The team started training early in order to give the team an edge.
“When they step on the mat, we want them to always be in better shape than their opponents,” Cooke said.
“By pushing them as hard as they can go in practice, (the wrestlers) know they’ve worked harder than anyone else,” said Derda. “That puts them a step above because they know they’ve been pushed that hard.”
Small steps will be the key to a successful grappler season, Derda added.
“We set small goals and once you reach each goal you build on it,” Derda said. “Each time, we’re building on their confidence.”
2003-04 NKHS Wrestling roster
Doug Piehl Senior
Will Rapp Senior
Anthony Thuma Senior
Cory Bast Junior
Danny Harris Junior
Miles Pendergraft Junior
Mike Story Junior
Curtis Travelstead Junior
Kyle Cetnarowski Junior
Tim Beckwith Sophomore
Matt Grimes Sophomore
Noah Hieronymus Sophomore
Brian Newcomb Sophomore
Lee Rapp Sophomore
Jerrell Smith Sophomore
Kyle Hollenbach Sophomore
Danny Paulson Sophomore
Kenny LeMay Sophomore
Cory Maxwell Sophomore
Peter Thompson Sophomore
