Mike Homan’s roots in Shawano’s wrestling program go back more than two decades.
He wrestled for the Hawks before graduating from Shawano Community High School in 2004 and took over as varsity coach in 2014.
Under his leadership, the Hawks have sent at least one wrestler to the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament in Madison for the past nine years. This year added to that streak, as Dane Hodkiewicz, Marcus Brezgel and Drew Chelberg competed in Division 2 at 126, 165 and 190 pounds, respectively.
Although none of the wrestlers placed this year, getting to state is always a big deal for the program, according to Homan.
“The kids put the work in, that’s the main thing,” he said. “When you go back and look at all the individuals that made it over the last nine years, they were willing to put the work in. They’re the ones doing the work and they’re the ones getting themselves here. We’re just there to guide and help them out where we can. It’s youth coaches, it’s the middle school coaches, it’s administration allowing us to do some of the things that we do, like getting in and teaching a phy ed class about wrestling. Kids want to be a part of something positive.”
The Hawks have competed for years in the Bay Conference.
“It was always competitive,” Homan said. “We were in the Bay Conference with Pulaski and Bay Port and were always right there, just kind of hanging around.”
Homan said the number of wrestlers has increased since he took the program over 12 years ago.
“The first day we walked in the room, we had five kids,” he said. “A lot of work to do, but you do it one brick at a time; that’s all you can do.”
It only took a few years before the Hawks began sending wrestlers to state.
“It was four or five years before we kind of broke through,” Homan said. “Sam Tourtillott was our first kid we brought down to Madison. You remember a kid that goes into regionals with a 22-18 record and comes out as a sectional champ. What I remember about him is he was the hardest worker in the room. You’ll find that consistently when you look back at all the kids we’ve had down here.”
Shawano wrestler Dane Hodkiewicz faces Whitnall’s Damien Thomas in a Division 2 126-pound match. (Greg Seubert)
Shawano’s Marcus Brezgel has his hands full with Shoreland Lutheran’s Adam Haas in a Division 2 165-pound match at the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament in Madison. (Greg Seubert)
