Whitnall's Jayvee Wrestlers Supply Depth, Energy

They're eager and enthused, energetic and essential. But most of this group of athletes won't be wearing the Whitnall varsity wrestling singlet until next year, maybe not until the year after.

The junior varsity members of the wrestling team follow the same regimen as their varsity counterparts: learn the moves, improve strength and conditioning, control weight, and practice, practice, practice.

With 40 athletes participating in the sport and just 14 of them competing in the varsity lineup, that leaves 26 lumped into the jayvee category. While the elite 14 are in the spotlight, most of the others are competing with their counterparts from other schools, either on an adjacent mat or at a separate location.

As co-head coaches Craig Austin and John Quinlan and assistant Mike Howard are coaxing the starters through their matches, junior varsity coaches Nick Doerflinger and Russ Martiny are doing likewise for the reserves. Doerflinger and Martiny are new to the coaching staff, but not to wrestling or Whitnall: both were Falcon wrestlers while in high school.

And both are enthusiastic about the prospects for their youngsters as they take on the learning curve. "Most of them are pretty well prepared when they get to high school," said Martiny, recognizing the middle school program. "We concentrate more on the basics in the first few weeks, but by now we've moved on to the fun part: learning the tricks."

"And that's probably the best part of coaching," added Doerflinger, "seeing them use things you've taught them in practice and they come off the mat with a big smile on their face because it worked."

Mat time--gaining experience in actual competition--is the focus of the program. "It's about getting them out there, getting matches," said Doerflinger. "We want them to know there's nothing like getting out there and getting their hand raised," he said, referring to the conclusion of a match when the referee raises the hand of the winning wrestler.

Besides experience, there's competition within the team. "We want them pushing the varsity guys so (the starters) get better, too," said Martiny. Practice matches with the varsity also prepare the jayvees to step up when they're needed, and sometimes that can occur with only a few minutes notice.

The chess match that coaches play with lineups is intended to maximize the team's matchups with its opponent. For instance, in Whitnall's opener against Pewaukee, there were 14 changes of either personnel or weight class between the time the lineups were printed and when the matches occurred. Those changes affected half the participants, and in a few cases junior varsity wrestlers were promoted to starters moments before the start of a match.

More likely is the need to replace an injured or ill starter, as has been the case with "super-subs" Blake Leslie and Zach Barnhart. Leslie, a freshman, has very capably covered the 120-pound division while starter Peter Moore recovered from an early-season injury. Barnhart has filled slots at 160 and above, sometimes at a weight disadvantage of more than 20 pounds.

Shifts between varsity and jayvee can make it difficult for a coach to put together a jayvee lineup, but Martiny and Doerflinger agree that it comes with the territory. "The head coaches tell us who we're going to have, and we take it from there," said Martiny. "Primarily, in practice, we coach everybody."

Through the first six weeks of the season, a few iof the reserves have asserted their readiness to replace some of the seven seniiors who will graduate from the squad. "Ethan Harycki, Ty Rabideaux and Mike Langenohl have been wrestling real tough," said Martiny.

"And Josh Rinka is going to be real tough at 103 pounds," added Doerflinger, though he confided that Rinka has a bit of a weight problem. Not the usual one: Rinka currently tips the scales "at about 82," said the coach.

Team scores aren't often kept at jayvee matches, because the intent is to get match experience for as many participants as possible. According to the coaches, though, the Whitnall contingent is way ahead in the win-loss column.