Published November 5, 2024
BY SAVANNA RADOWICZ
As winter sports kick off, the Carmel High wrestling team takes on a new opponent: figuring out how to carry on without a head coach.
Following the 2023-2024 season, longtime head coach Russ Shugars resigned from his positions at both Carmel High School and Carmel Middle School. Athletic director Golden Anderson reports that, as of now, the wrestling program is still seeking for a head coach to fill in this position.
Team captain Zack Lander was a fierce competitor at last year’s CCS tournament. (courtesy of ZACK LANDER)
While teams around the county gear up for their first tournaments, Carmel’s search to find the right leader continues, leading to an uncertain start to their season. However, Anderson believes that with a sound set of assistant coaches, the team will be in good hands.
Players like sophomore Skyler Madsen note that, in general, there are fewer people who have experience with and fully understand the complex and demanding sport. Anderson realizes that this has led to a much smaller pool of potential candidates compared to much more well known sports like basketball and volleyball. While these teams have been able to find strong candidates and compile effective coaching, the wrestling team has had a much more difficult experience.
“Our last coach was a really great influence on the team, and it is going to be hard to replace him,” claims Madsen.
Despite the lack of official leadership, senior team captain Zack Lander has high hopes for the season ahead.
“Last year did not go quite as well as we planned, so…this year I hope that we can win our division no matter how hard that could be,” says Lander, who looks forward to a new season and to helping recruits gain more confidence and experience as many of them embrace the sport for the first time.
With such a young team, it seems like the future of Carmel wrestling is a bright one. However, the athletic director is aware of the challenge that comes with keeping up the level of interest in such a physically demanding sport.
Alexander Noto-Hagan faces off against his opponent moments before a match. (courtesy of ZACK LANDER)
According to both Anderson, who oversees athletics, and Lander, who has been involved in the program for many years, former head coach Shugars did a great job at cultivating a love for wrestling at the middle school level through summer programs and camps.
Last season, the team had 23 athletes with only two graduating seniors. Despite a pretty substantial team, filling each weight class is often a difficult task. Anderson notes that the goal is to keep the level of interest that has been demonstrated, saying that they want to keep the level of energy that was ingrained in the program.
As the district searches for a new coach, they will be looking for someone who is not only experienced, but who brings that same encouragement and enthusiasm to help build young men and women of character through wrestling.
“You’re always anxious leading into the season, but we have some confidence that we’ll get this resolved,” says Anderson.
The team will participate in their first meet of the season against Greenfield and King City on Jan. 9 at Greenfield High School.
