Two South Whidbey coaches, once contemplating retirement at the end of the winter sports season, decided to stick it out for at least one more year.
Falcon wrestling head coach Jim Thompson and assistant Paul Newman, who have coached for more than 12 years, agreed to another season after the Mat Classic State Championships this past weekend in Tacoma. With state qualifiers Hunter Newman and Chase Barthlett and freshman Aryeh Rohde returning to what Thompson called a dedicated and passionate team, the coaches found the pull of the sport to be too strong.
Thompson, who turns 70 in March, is among the oldest wrestling coaches in the state, said Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association Assistant Executive Director Brian Smith. The Falcon coach had his mind made up for most of the season that it would be his last, even going as far as informing South Whidbey High School Athletic Director Paul Lagerstedt. Thompson made a similar statement after the 2014-15 season. He could not leave then, and he could not leave now.
“When it comes down to it, I just wasn’t ready to give the sport up yet,” Thompson said.
Newman and Thompson have coached together for more than a decade. They were assistant coaches under former head coach Wes Helseth in the early 2000s before Thompson took over the program. They’ve grown close in the countless hours they’ve spent in practice and at tournaments, so close that Thompson refers to Newman as his “second wife.”
“It’s gonna be awesome,” Newman said of returning to coach. “I love working with (Thompson). The amount of energy and knowledge he gives to that team is phenomenal.”
Though Hunter Newman, Paul’s son, was sure that his father would see him through all four seasons with the Falcons, the elder Newman’s decision to return wasn’t easily made.
“I was really thinking about it. It was tough for me,” he said.
Thompson felt that staying with the program for at least one more year will also provide adequate time for Langley Middle School head wrestling coach Robbie Bozin to observe practices and adopt some of his coaching techniques.
The coaches are well aware of the stress and long hours that are on the horizon. They often spend 12 to 16 hours at wrestling tournaments on weekends, coaching up to 50 bouts in a day. But it’s the moments, Thompson said, when a wrestler wins his first match or qualifies for the state tournament that make all of the hard work worth it.
Thompson recalled one recent example with freshman 152-pounder Owen Boram, who won his first-ever match at the Everett Classic junior varsity tournament.
“I love to see kids who never wrestled at all go through a whole season and fall in love with the sport,” Thompson said. “Anybody that wrestles, it helps them for the rest of their lives.”
The coaches are asking for something in return for their commitment to the program. They expect Hunter Newman, who was eliminated in the placers-round of the state tournament, to earn a medal next season. They are also setting the bar high for Barthlett and Rohde, who they expect to be on the podium in every tournament.
Core members of the wrestling team will participate in several offseason activities this summer. Newman and juniors Logan Madsen and Jack Nielsen have an arrangement with Sultan High School to wrestle with members of their team as well as compete in freestyle tournaments. The Turks have finished in the 1A classification’s top-10 team standings for two consecutive seasons and have a host of returning wrestlers who placed in the top eight at the state championship.
Rohde and Falcon sophomore Julian Fifield will attend the J Robinson Intensive Wrestling Camps.
Thompson said the team will host clinics for youth wrestlers this summer at the high school. Several Falcon wrestlers will lead the activities and lessons. The idea is to reinvigorate a passion for the sport at younger ages, so they are better equipped to succeed when they reach the middle school and high school ranks, Thompson said. The time and date of the clinics are not yet scheduled.
