This letter is being sent during some very strange times. Like many of you, I find myself working from home, and trying to keep some normal activities. During tough times I like to fall back on the things that make my world go round, God, family, wrestling, and outdoor activities. Today is the wrestling day. Let's be honest, as a head coach, everyday is a wrestling day. Let me update you on a few key points of this past season. It is almost too hard to find the words to recap the season with the way it ended. National tournament being cancelled. I will try to gather the momentum to fill it in.
We had a great recruiting class this past fall. We added 11 new faces to the program, while the teams foundation was solidified with 7 Sr. wrestlers. The schedule was very similar to the previous year. Our placing points at the tournaments went up at almost all events. That's a good sign that things are trending in the right direction. The regular season highlight was in Pella Iowa for the Under Armour Invitational. We had wrestlers at 3 weight classes win their bracket. All was looking good to return to the Al Hanke Invitational in Elmhurst Chicago. We were team champions here last year looking to repeat!! Then the storm of the century was just a few days away. 100 below zero, with 300 mile an hour winds, snow, rain, tornado's, and even a tsunami possible. The details of the storm might be a bit off, but the local bus company made the call to cancel the trip due to the upcoming storm. It turned out to be a very average storm. It was the right call to make when I have lives to keep safe on these trips.
We closed out the final dual of the year with a 42-6 win over the St. Olaf team. It will be the last wrestling event to be held at St. Olaf as they dropped their program at the end of the season. The Olaf team has had very low number of wrestlers in the program for several years. The head coach was part time as well. It seemed inevitable at some point.
On to the National Qualifier in Minneapolis. 17 teams and the top 3 at each weight class make the trip to the National Tournament in Iowa. We had a team of scrappers who wrestled their tails off in the toughest qualifier in the country. When the smoke cleared we had 2 placers. Senior Jerod Novak (6th) and Senior Noah Becker(2nd). Both of these individuals also had the stats and grades to become Scholar All-Americans for the 3rd time. Noah was off to his 2nd national tournament. This time he was going to place high.
We packed a van with Noah, Coach and a practice partner, and headed to Iowa. Had a great day of driving, we had practice on Wednesday when we arrived 7pm. All was looking great, Noah was healthy at the end of the year for the first time in the past two years. He is ready to put his picture on the wall in the practice room. Brackets are out on Thursday, Noah is the 3 seed, but knows he can win the whole thing. Another great practice on Thursday. His weight is good and he is ready to put some winning fuel in his body. It has been a Tradition for years to take the guys to Panera Bread for a winning meal. Minga Batsukh ate there three times and look what he did (3 time champ).
Last thing to do before wrestling starts is a national tournament coaches meeting. At the meeting we covered everything that we were to expect the next morning, from weigh-ins to officiating rules, and when the grappling begins. Meeting ended and I went back to the hotel to take Noah out for his supper so we could get to bed early like champions do. Then, I received a text from the tournament director. Worst text of my life! The tournament had been cancelled! Now the hard part comes. How do I tell my Senior wrestler who has worked so hard for so long for this chance to be National Champion. His last two seasons ended with injury.
The NCAA did not cover this in their manual. It was all up to me! All the other coaches for all the other teams and sports had to do the same thing. I hope that an event like this never happens again. Banquet has been postponed. All visits to campus for recruiting have been postponed. All work to keep this program going in the right direction is being done from home and my cell phone has to be close to a charger as I am on it most of the day texting and calling recruits.
I hope this letter finds all of the Johnnie family safe. We can all use this time to reconnect with teammates. As life has shown all of us in so many ways, we might not be here tomorrow. I will be planning more alumni gathering in the near future. Together, this Johnnie Wrestling Family will stay strong.
Kevin Schiltz
Head Wrestling Coach
Saint John's University