Dogies/Bobcats are ready to rumble

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Editor
 
The Newcastle/Upton wrestling team hit the mats with athletes ready to grapple their way onto the podium at the 3A State meet this year. It’s a mix of veterans and rookies who co-head coaches Lee McCoy of Upton and Jason Wheeler of Newcastle have to prep for competition, and according to McCoy, his guys are hungry and working hard to be ready.
“We are up a couple of guys from last year with a bunch of new faces — both guys who are new to the sport and freshmen who are new to 3A high school wrestling,” McCoy began. “And we have quite a few guys whose goal is to either get on the podium at state or be state champions so we have to get them ready to make that run.”
Fortunately, the state has once again allowed for volunteers to assist paid coaches this year, and McCoy is pleased to have four extra hands to help the new wrestlers along while he and Wheeler, among others, will be able to focus on getting the veterans on the right track to make their title run.
“It really is awesome that we have so many that are volunteering to help us out,” McCoy nodded. “They can work with the newbies one on one while we forge ahead with our other guys.”
Returning seniors, and those who have that state podium on their radar, include Cael Holmes, Johnny Carlson, Josh Womack and Aidan Coberley. Robert Hobbs, also a senior, is one of the young men who has decided to try his hand at wrestling for the first time. 
“Robert is very athletic and very coachable, and he is diligent about learning,” McCoy noted. “I’ve never seen a kid do this, but after practice he will ask questions and take notes to clarify any questions he has so that’s kinda nice to see someone putting in that much effort. We want to make sure he has a positive experience.”
Womack returns as the highest placer at last year’s state tournament bringing home fourth place at 195. 
“I think Josh will be right in the hunt to be a state champ this year,” McCoy predicted. “We just have to keep him healthy and get his weight down because 195 is a good weight for him.” 
Holmes was close to being a placer last year, Coberley was a match away from placing, and Carlson was another one who was a match away from placing.
“Those guys all know this is their last chance to get it done so they’ve been working hard to get on the podium,” McCoy began. “Aidan lost a heartbreaker in overtime which put him out of the hunt for the podium, so all of those guys are hungry this year.”
Returning juniors include Jacob Prell, Kyah Miller and Heath Henkle. Henkle was sidelined for the last two years so this is his first year as a high school wrestler, and as such, will have some ground to make up.
“It’s great to have Kyah back out,” McCoy stated. “We were hopeful we’d get girls wrestling sanctioned this year, but it’s looking like it will be next year. All the coaches are the driving force behind making this a reality, but it’s taking a little longer with the WHSAA than we thought it might. We are about the only state west of the Mississippi who doesn’t have it, and we are the ‘Equality State’ after all, so we should be putting that in for our girls.”
Sophomores returning include Ian Simmons, Walker Simianer, and Thomas Prell while Eric Edlund is on board for his inaugural season. 
“Sophomore year is kind of special because they aren’t at the bottom of the totem pole anymore, but don’t have as much pressure on them as the juniors and seniors, so it’s a great year for those athletes to grow,” McCoy nodded. “Ian, Thomas and Walker have a lot of potential so I’m excited to see what they do this year.”
There are also five freshmen — three from Upton and two from Newcastle — who are coming in with quite a bit of wrestling experience between club and middle school, so McCoy anticipates that they will have a big impact on the team right away.
The Dogies/Bobcats won’t be able to fill about three weight classes this season as they are short a 113-pounder, a 182-pounder and will be missing a heavyweight after the early season competitions. 
“We’re spread out a lot better than we’ve been in the past,” McCoy acknowledged. “We may be able to shift some guys around for the 182 slot, but we won’t fill the heavyweight and 113-pound class.”
COVID restrictions from last season have been lifted so the Dogies are back to early season tournament action, which McCoy admitted is exciting for his team.
“It’s great that we can get back into doing tournaments so we are making sure that we are getting the guys in shape so they are ready to wrestle five matches in a day,” he said. “We’re focused on getting guys on the podium in March, because we have some tough competition out there, but anything can happen. Everything is practice until regionals and state because that’s when we want to start peaking.”
The squad will get things started this weekend as they travel to Lusk on Friday for an invitational. 
“It’s a round-robin tournament rather than a bracket tournament so the kids are guaranteed four or five matches which is just what we need,” McCoy said. “We are looking forward to getting on the mat and knocking the rust off.”