Looking For Reversal Wrestling Programs At Lc, Coeur D’Alene On Comeback Trail

If first-year Coeur d’Alene High wrestling coach Tom Bailey has his way, the bleachers some day will be more full than empty when the city’s schools face off.

He knows that day will likely be later than sooner.

“Winning takes care of that,” Bailey said. “You have to develop a product that sells.”

In the crosstown dual Thursday, LC topped visiting CdA 38-24 to retain the Ron TerHark Trophy before an estimated crowd of 250.

LC has captured the trophy each year since its inception in 1996.

CdA led 12-11 after four matches, but LC received consecutive wins by Luke Finney at 130 pounds (pin), Brandon Donat at 135 (technical fall) and Keith Kline at 140 (9-5) to take control.

“I thought the turnaround matches were Donat and Kline,” LC coach Tim Buzolich said. “They beat two of the toughest kids in (CdA’s) program.”

The TerHark trophy honors the man who established high school wrestling at CdA in 1966.

It’s been more than a decade since wrestling has thrived in CdA. And that was back when the town had just one school.

During that time, CdA’s best finish at state was fourth in 1986 under then-coach Don Owen.

The program’s foundation began to erode when the school district changed the junior highs to a middle school structure and dropped athletics for three years because of budget constraints.

Then a few days before the 1989-90 school year began, Owen took a teaching job and assistant coaching position at University High.

Four more coaches followed before Bailey arrived this year.

What further diluted the pool of athletes in the declining sport was when Lake City opened in 1994-95.

The most glaring problem through the years, though, is there’s been no off-season freestyle program designed to feed kids to the middle schools and ultimately the high schools.

North Idaho College’s wrestling program has offered a kids freestyle club since the early 1980s. But it has largely catered to elite-level kids.

“What (NIC) has done has been a great service to the community, but little kids have to be linked to a high school for it to benefit a high school,” Bailey said. “You have to have an off-season freestyle program to feed the high school.”

Bailey is qualified to speak to why the programs are not competitive in CdA. When he moved to CdA last summer, he left a highly successful Wooster High program in Reno, Nev.

“They haven’t had a program here,” Bailey said matter of factly. “We’re building it from scratch.”

Of a turnout of 32 at CdA, 25 were freshmen. Bailey has opted to send out seven to eight kids in varsity duals, holding back the freshmen.

“I’ve chosen to forfeit the varsity season for the good of the program,” Bailey said. “Most coaches wouldn’t do that. The seven or eight varsity kids will get every opportunity to wrestle. We’re not going to throw the freshmen to the wolves. We have to give them a chance to develop.”

At Reno, Bailey was involved in all the programs. Until he found capable coaches, he coached the freestyle and junior high teams along with the high school program.

“Sometimes I held three practices a day,” Bailey said.

The hard work paid off. Wooster went into this season seeking a fifth straight state title.

He’ll start an off-season program at CdA this spring.

Buzolich, in his second year at LC, hopes to start his own freestyle program or piggy tail either with CdA or NIC.

Before coming to LC, he encountered a similar situation in Watsonville, Calif., where he took over a consistently losing program. Four years later his team won a league title in an eight-school conference.

Buzolich enjoyed more immediate success at LC than Bailey has at CdA. The Timberwolves won six duals last year, filling most of the weights.

LC had a turnout of 56 for four grades this year. Buzolich said 34 are freshmen.

Another positive at both schools is the head football coaches have signed on as assistants and the head wrestling coaches are returning the favor in football.

“It’s a way to bridge the programs,” Buzolich said. “My philosophy is the more athletes we have out the better chances of them staying with you for four years.”

Both coaches expect participants to increase in the middle schools as a result of the freestyle programs. But they’d also like to see the sport offered to sixth-graders.

Last year, LC (four) and CdA (two) combined to send less than half a team to state.

The last medal winner from either school was CdA’s Paul Weseman, who won a state title at 140 pounds in 1995-96. LC’s lone state placer, John Conner (189), was the same year.

The medal drought could end this year. Producing state-title contenders will take more time.

“We can put all the pieces of the puzzle together,” Bailey said. “But it won’t happen overnight.”

CdA has been around longer than its sister school, but LC has an edge in the building process.

“I was pleased with some of our younger kids,” said Bailey, who fielded his first full lineup Thursday. “But (LC) is ahead of us. They have better, stronger athletes. And more of them.”