Whittle falls just short of state, coach reflects on program growth
Brandon Whittle placed third in the 220-pound weight class at the district tournament at Denver on Feb. 13, putting him just short of a trip to state. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The march to state for Central wrestling came to an end at districts on Feb. 13, as 220-pound Brandon Whittle missed qualifying with a third place finish.
Coach Joe Koehn said Whittle battled throughout the competition, and in the process, avenged a loss from earlier in the season. The experience will be fundamental in preparing for next season.
It was an up and down season for the Warriors, but the team met expectations, was competitive and learned a lot about themselves. While they ended the year with a 12-22 record in duals, Central hasn’t won 10 or more duals in at least 15 years.
“It was awesome to see…we are starting to get enough kids out to compete in duals and tournaments. Now that the season is over, I will have my individual meetings with the kids, go over off-season goals and make the push for next year. Very excited for this young group. We bring back a lot of fire power for next year and I expect us to be very strong,” Koehn said.
That belief rests on the fact that the program is only losing one athlete to graduation, Maria Medberry. The other members, should they return, will have a wealth of knowledge and experience to fall back on, as seven potential returners finished the season with records above .500.
As for the final records of each individual, Medberry went 23-1, Brandy Beatty 7-10, Rebecca Suhr 10-15, Sean Wilwert 29-23, Whittle 26-18, Daniel Royer 31-20, Nick Deitchler 31-17, Nate Shirbroun 17-15, Noah Diersen 7-6, Spencer Heer 26-22, Sam Fettkether 12-34 and Gabe Erickson 1-5.
But the numbers only tell half the story. The real story is the improvement the program made during the season, specifically how the wrestlers responded to being in bottom position.
As Koehn told it, “Our greatest improvement over the course of the season was definitely on bottom. At the beginning of the year, we were getting turned and put to our back when we had no business being there. By the end of the season, we were performing very well in the bottom position, fighting and taking pride in what we were doing. Very happy to see the improvement there.”
Another part of the story was the girls wrestling program, which is still in its infancy. With the departure of Medberry, there is cause for concern regarding its prospects for next season.
“She did a wonderful job this season and will be missed,” Koehn said of Medberry. It will now be up to Beatty and Suhr to lead the incoming underclassmen and propel the girls team to new heights. “The girls improved a lot from last year. Though their season didn’t end the way they had all hoped, we still improved a lot, and we will use it for next year.”
As for the future, Koehn is armed with high expectations and discussed areas where the team needs improvement: strength and technique.
“We need to get stronger and we need to improve our technique. That strength comes from getting to the weight room and putting the work in,” he said. “We still have some work to do and we’re going to do what we can to fix that as coaches and as a team. It’s a mindset thing and it will get figured out.”
