The Courier Electronic Edition

Tears prevail on OHSAA tourney trail


Whenever I see Elmwood wrestling coach Dave Lee, he steps right up to me and extends his hand.We shake hands and he always says, ?Jamie, I appreciate you.?

Well Dave, I appreciate you. That goes for all of the other coaches I deal with throughout the long winter sports season.

Sometimes as a reporter you have to ask tough questions and I knew Dave and his Royals were having a tough day Thursday at the state wrestling tournament.

I asked him about it, every last detail, from his son Mitchell not passing the skin check to the traffic mishap the team had Thursday morning.

Lee answered all of my questions and got a little red-eyed and emotional when I asked him about his son?s disappointment in not getting to compete at the state tournament.

Later in the tournament, I asked Arcadia coach Dane Kirian about junior Lee Schumaker?s loss in the semifinals.

He began recapping the match and stopped in midsentence, paused, and puts his hands over his eyes. He fought to hold in his emotions and told me how tough it was to watch one of his wrestlers be so close to their state championship dream only to watch it slip through their fingers.

In an individual sport, like wrestling where ego and machismo are frequently on display, it might be surprising to find out that wrestling coaches do have a softer side.

There?s no crying in wrestling, at least most people wouldn?t think so. But the time to get emotional for coaches is at the state tournament.

?It?s all the blood, sweat and tears. And all of the hours that coaches know their guys put in to get to this level,? Kirian said. ?You bond with the kids in wrestling like in no other sport because you spend entire weekends with them.

?Kids grow up wrestling together. They become great friends, their parents get to know each other and the coaches become close with the kids and the parents. It?s a family.?

Maybe that?s why coaches get so emotional when talking about their wrestlers, especially seniors.

Besides spending so much time with them, coaches often even wrestle with the kids in practice.

?It?s an interesting relationship. They get mad at us because we?re constantly pushing them and we get mad at them because we think they aren?t working hard enough. It?s just like it would be in any family relationship,? said Bluffton coach Jeff Kleman.

?It?s a great feeling to be down here with my seniors. When they make it to that podium you feel like they?ve accomplished what they set out to do. But you do get a little emotional when you look at them and start to realize that it?s the last time they are going to wrestle for you.?

I?ve seen hundreds of tournament games and matches over the years and just realized this weekend that the tournament trail is lined with tears of joy and sadness along the way.

It?s one of the reasons people enjoy reading about prep sports.

Contact staff writer Jamie Baker at: (419) 427-8409 Send an e-mail to Jamie Baker