Michael Homan, the new Shawano Community High School wrestling coach, knows a little bit about the program he’s taking over from former coach Adam Bieber.
“I started wrestling in this room,” Homan said Monday after practice in the SCHS wrestling room.
A 2004 SCHS graduate, Homan was a state qualifier his senior year. After graduation, Homan went to the University of Wisconsin-Stout and began building his coaching credentials at the Menomonie high and middle schools.
For the last two years, Homan coached wrestling at Shawano Community Middle School and was an assistant football coach at SCHS.
“The nice thing is, I’m coaching football, I see a lot of these kids in the hallways, in the weight room,” Homan said. “It’s a good group of kids. The freshmen that I have up here, this will be my fourth year with them; a lot of experience with that group.”
While Homan and assistant coach Jared Kust are familiar with the kids, they promised the team a clean slate after a down season — both in numbers and on the mat — last year. The Hawks went 4-12 and were winless in the Bay Conference.
“We’re starting fresh,” Homan said. “We’re going to take everybody we have and we’re going to work to the best of our ability. Nobody is going to outwork us. … We said we’re going to go back down to basics. That’s something that I’ve tried to coach as long as I’ve been coaching.
“You see a lot of basics down at the state tournament, and that’s where you see good wrestlers. You come in and focus on the basics, get in good physical condition, which we’ve been working on, and I think those are the building blocks for success.”
The Hawks lost state qualifier Cody Urban and sectional qualifier Mike Meisner to graduation, but return sectional qualifier Dalton Parson. Parson, a 132-pound senior, went 23-14 at 126 pounds last year.
“Dalton has been a big part of being back and bringing that leadership in,” Homan said. “We have some seniors that have taken an absence from the program that last couple of years that have come back. We’re wrestling with six seniors right now, and they all have been contributing very well so far.”
The group includes Mason Boogren (182), Jordan Rodriguiz (120), Paul Wilber (220), Rashawn Bell (138) and Curtis Waupoose (160).
Boogren has had the fastest start of all the Shawano wrestlers.
“Mason has been doing an excellent job for us,” Homan said. “He’s currently 9-0. He’s been wrestling hard.”
Rounding out the team are juniors Dylan Enno (195), Damon Braatz (285) and Wyatt Welch (106); sophomores Jacob Sackett (170) and Austin Oreskovic (126); and freshmen Jarrett Laatch (145), Danny Darling (113), Anthony Strege (152) and Devon Strege (145).
The Hawks split a pair of duals against Seymour to open the season and took fourth at the eight-team Brillion Invitational on Saturday.
“They’re coming together. We’re young and we’ve got a little bit of inexperience, but they’ve been impressive,” Homan said. “They are working. We’ve had our bumps along the way, but the kids have been coming in and willing to work. We’re getting better every day, and that’s all that I’m asking for.”
Part of the focus for Homan is on how the team is perceived. The team will wear shirts and ties on match days.
“We’re going to be businesslike when we go in there,” Homan said. “We’re going to be respectful. We’re going to be a good group of young men and coaches. I really want to show good sportsmanship, good personal skills.”
On Saturday, SCHS will host the 29th annual Shawano Holiday Classic wrestling tournament.
“The Holiday Classic, that’s a tradition unto itself,” Homan said. “… It’s a great tournament. It’s a great local tournament. Bonduel is going to be here. Wittenberg-Birnamwood is going to be here. Of course we’ll be wrestling. You’re going to have teams like Coleman and Berlin. …
“(It’s) just a great day of wrestling for anybody that wants to come down and support the Shawano program with sales of food and stuff like that. Just an awesome day of wrestling. It’s really hard to beat.”
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