Tommy Pickens Becomes 5th National Qualifier

Tommy Pickens joins Kasey Cates, Josh Smith, Jobi Hambrick, and Nathan Downs as the 5th National Qualifier for HLG this season. Pickens Finished in fifth place at the University of Dubuque's Jim Fox Open last Saturday. The Jim Fox Open had wrestlers from all NCAA divisions wrestling. Jobi Hambrick and Nathan Down's both defeated solid opponents, however, only Hambrick was able to place 4th in the tournament. Curt Trimmell wrestled his best tournament of the season and finished in 3rd place. Trimmell finished higher than any other Trojan wrestler on the day. I predicted in an earlier post this year that we had the potential of having 5 or 6 wrestlers qualify for the National Tournament this season. I'm proud to report that our wrestlers have proven me correct! I wonder who will be the sixth to qualify?

Trojan Wrestlers Receive Ranking

Three Trojan wrestlers receive regional ratings in the NAIA. Kasey Cates, Josh Smith, and Nathan Downs all received their ratings in the Central Group Rating. Both Cates (141 lbs) and Smith ((149) are ranked in sixth place for their weight classes and Downs (174 lbs) is currently ranked 4th. Downs is also ranked 12th in the NAIA national rating.

Nathan Downs


















Josh Smith




















Kasey Cates

Trojan Wrestlers Bring Home the Gold

Kasey Cates (1st picture) and Jobi Hambrick (2nd picture) came home from Milwaukee School of Engineering’s Invitational wrestling tournament with the best tournament finishes of any other Trojan wrestlers in a single tournament. Cates who injured his knee in practice a few months ago has been fighting through the nagging pain in his knee through the last couple of weeks. His toughness has paid off with a 141 lb Championship. Cates started the tournament as the 5th seed. In the first round Cates had a major decision over Ricardo Rosas (Lakeland College). In the second round Cates defeated the 4th seeded Andy Casper (UW-Platteville) 12-10. Cates defeated Kaleb Stephens (UW-Oshkosh) in the semi-finals and then defeated the 3rd seeded Eric Wilkerson (Central College) 8-7 in the finals. Cates was the first HLG wrestler to be a College Varsity Tournament Champion. Jobi Hambrick joined Cates to be the second wrestler to be a College Varsity Tournament Champion. Hambrick’s began as the number 2 seed winning his first match by fall over Alec Hakes (UW-Oshkosh). Hambrick won his second match with a come from behind victory over fellow Missourian Aaron Bergen (Concordia University, WI). In the semi-finals Hambrick was challenged by Wheaton College’s Justin Tomal. Tomal was narrowly defeated by Hambrick in double overtime the last time they met. Hambrick once again was victorious over Tomal winning by a takedown in overtime winning the match 3-1. In the finals Hambrick wrestled Central Colleges Ivan Gaeta. Gaeta had victories over the 4th and 5th seed wrestlers and received a free pass to the finals as the 1st seeded wrestler injury defaulted to him in the semi-finals. Gaeta lost to Hambrick by the score of 3-2. Hambrick’s 1st place finish places him in the lead with the most tournament place finishes with 4 tournaments placing in the top 5 and he also has a 22-6 record this far into the season. Tommy Pickens, Curt Trimmell and Shane Brandl all won matches for the Trojans. HLG had two other national qualifiers who could have been in the finals, however, due to injuries they were unable to compete in the tournament. There are only two more dates of competition left in the semester. HLG will be wrestling against Truman State University this Thursday night. December 18th HLG will travel back to Dubuque, Iowa for the University of Dubuque Open.

Nathan Downs Becomes The First Nationally Ranked Trojan Wrestler in School History

HLG’s Nathan Downs (Freshman from Hawk Point, MO) became the first Trojan wrestler to be given a national ranking for the 174 lb weight class. Downs has been wrestling tough and opened the season with a 6th place finish at the season tournament opener at the Lindenwood University Open. Anyone who observes practice will find Downs and his practice partner, Jobi Hambrick, working hard to get better every day. Their hard work has paid off. Trojan wrestling also received an honorable mention vote for national ranking as well. This is also a first for our young program. I don’t think it will be long before we see Downs joined by other Trojan wrestlers in the national ranking poll. Congratulations Nathan!
Click here to see the NAIA press release.

Cates Joins Smith, Hambrick, and Downs As The Fourth Trojan National Tournament Qualifier

Kasey Cates and Jobi Hambrick advanced to the championship semi- finals at the Concordia University Open before losing their first matches of the tournament. Cates’s loss came to Austin Bautista (UW-Whitewater). Bautista was the number one seed in the tournament and is also currently ranked 2nd in the NCAA D-3. Cates finished 4-3 on the day and in sixth place becoming HLG’s fourth NAIA National Tournament Qualifier of the season. Hambrick lost his semi-final match 8-7 to the number 2 seed Chris Karl (UW-Stevens Point) who also went on to win the tournament. Karl is also ranked by D3 wrestling in the top 20 NCAA D-3 wrestlers. Our other wrestlers did not finish as well as Cates and Hambrick, but as a team we were able to garner 13 wins on the day! Seth Revelle, Josh Smith, Kyle Blankenship, and Nathan Downs all made contributions to the win column.
Once again I had many compliments shared from other college coaches on the marked improvement of this year’s team over last season. Here is one such comment sent to me by e-mail just even today, “I wanted to tell you on Saturday how good your team looked. You have done a great job with that program. It is hard to believe that your program is only in the second year. You will have to share your success secrets with me. ;-)” The keys to our success this season have simply been having better team cohesion and the wrestler’s hard work. Our wrestlers have bought into our philosophy and it is paying off on the mat and others are noticing. The types of statements above from other coaches, officials, and fans are very encouraging to us as coaches and next season we hope to build on top of the success our wrestlers are experience this season.
The next major challenge our wrestlers will face over this Thanksgiving Break is keeping their weight down. To all you Moms, Dads, Grandpas, Grandmas and Uncles and Aunts -one piece of pie is enough!;-) Don’t make them eat a whole pie!;-) The wrestlers have to make weight two days in a row the week they return back to campus!

Trojan Wrestlers Travel to the Frozen Land of Brats and Cheese This Weekend!

Tomorrow we will be departing for the frozen tundra of Mequon, WI for the Concordia University Open. Concordia University is located north of Milwaukee, WI and will host some of the best Wisconsin and Illinois D-2 and D-3 schools. We will return back to the Show-me state in the early hours of Sunday morning. I will not be able to post a tournament summary until Monday. Follow the link above for instant results Saturday evening.
-Coach Hawes

HLG vs. #13 Missouri Baptist Results

Last night a victory over #13 Missouri Baptist University was within our reach. If two of our freshmen who didn’t make weight last Saturday a the Knox Invitational would have been able to wrestle last night and one more match would have been won we could have beaten Missouri Baptist. Instead we lost the dual 13-34. Kasey Cates, Jobi Hambrick, and Nathan Downs all had impressive wins on the evening. Alos last night was the first time HLG Wrestling was seen live on the web. If you enjoyed the broadcast send me some feedback and any suggestions so we can make the view experience even better. Thanks to Ben Yarnell and the Hannibal Courier Post we had some nice coverage of our first home dual. Click here to read Ben’s article!

-Coach Hawes

Hambrick Places Fifth at Knox Invite

Jobi Hambrick led the way for the Trojans in a what was like a “wrestling marathon” finishing the day in 5^th place at the Knox College Invitational tournament. Jobi wrestled an HLG record of 8 matches in one day with one match going into overtime. Jobi’s record on the day was 6 wins and 2 losses which also is the best single day win record for a Trojan wrestler. Kasey Cates, Josh Smith, and Kyle Blankenship were all 2-2 on the day. We had three wrestlers make the freshmen mistake of not making weight last Saturday which cost them dearly. They all ended up wrestling up a weight class and did not wrestle as competitively at the heavier weight class as compared to their normal weight class. Hopefully these wrestlers will learn from this experience and will not miss weight again in the future.

Free Streaming Video Coverage of Home Duals

Get your Live Sports Video login and password set up right away! This year we are providing free streaming video for all home wrestling dual meets. Simply click on the logo HLG Go Live logo above and it will direct you to the registration/login page. To register is free and to watch is free. Next Tuesday will be our first home dual of the season against Missouri Baptist University. Missouri Baptist starts the season off with a solid preseason ranking of #13 in the nation. If you can’t attend our home dual, watch us on line at Live Sports Video.
-Coach Hawes

Hambrick and Smith will join Downs for the 2010 NAIA Championships

I’m pleased to announce that Jobi Hambrick and Josh Smith have joined Nathan Downs in his achievement of being a 2010 NAIA National Wrestling Tournament Qualifier. Hambrick’s 1st place and Smith’s 3rd place finish at the Loras Open was high enough for National Tournament qualification. Now that these wrestlers have qualified for the NAIA Championships, their focus will be on getting better every time they compete in preparation for individual goals that they have set for the Championships this year. I’m confident that this trio is only the first three qualifiers we have this year. I anticipate several other wrestlers joining these three in Oklahoma City to compete in the NAIA national tournament.
- Coach Hawes

Support HLG Wrestling

In August of 2009 I was one of 30 college wrestling coaches selected to participate in the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s Coaches Leadership Academy. One of the key areas we were challenged with in developing our programs was in the area of fundraising. Because of the size of our institution we do not have the luxury of having individuals dedicated to raising funds for our program so the responsibility falls on the coach’s shoulders. There are two key areas of need financially that we have in our program. One is with equipment and the other is underwriting a portion of our summer wrestling camp expenses.

Here is a list of equipment that we would like to raise funds for this year
· 2 Schwinn Airdyne Bikes
· 2,000 lbs of Olympic -Style weights , trees, and lifting bars
· Universal Racks
· Weight lifting floor mats
· Pull-Up Bars
· 1,500 lbs of Kettle Bells and Racks
· Wrestling Technique Video Library
· Laptop with Fire wire connection
· Video Camera with FireWire connection for Live Sports Video

Summer Camp Needs
Because this is the first year we will be running a summer camp we do not know how many will attend in this first year. My goal is to raise money in order to make sure we run a quality camp and keep the camp affordable for families. The more campers we have the more likely we are to be able to cover all the expenses. However, we don’t know what the final number of campers will be. So I want to have a contingency fund set up in order to cover any areas we may fall short in. Unlike many other sports camps none of the HLG coaching staff will be taking any payment from running this camp. The purpose of this camp is not to supplement the coaching staff’s income, but instead is intended to raise awareness of our HLG wrestling program and also benefit the camper who one day could be an HLG Trojan wrestler. This camp is an investment in our programs future. Therefore all funds raised will go directly to the HLG wrestling program and will cover the expenses of the clinicians and college wrestlers. If there is a short fall in revenue from the camp your gift would go towards offsetting the expense of camp. Any profit from the camp will go back into the wrestling program.

Small financial gifts are as important as the large ones. If you are not able to give a large gift consider a smaller monthly gift and over the course of a year the small gifts adds up. If you would be willing to make a Tax Deductable donation, follow the link below and please designate in the comment portion on your donation page which category (Equipment or Summer Camp) you would like your donation applied towards!

Thank you for considering how you might give towards the future of HLG Wrestling!

Scott Hawes
Head Wrestling Coach
Hannibal-LaGrange College

Click here to make your tax deductable donation!

Loras University Open Report

Trojan wrestlers showed up in force to wrestle at the Loras University Open Saturday. Five wrestlers placed in the Silver Division of the tournament with Jobi Hambrick and Nathan Downs facing off in the finals for bragging rights at 174 lbs. Altogether HLG wrestlers collected 15 wins on the day which is a new tournament collective win record for the young program. Zach Fish placed 6th at 133 lbs. Josh Smith finished in 3rd place at 149 lbs. Jobi Hambrick had a victory over Nathan Downs in the finals of 174 lbs. and Shane Brandl finished 5th at 184 lbs. Seth Revelle and Kasey Cates picked up their first wins of the season as well. The success that HLG saw on the mat at the LU Open was a result of working hard in the wrestling room. There is a lot of work to be done this week in preparation for our next competition which is the Knox Invitational Tournament in Galesburg, IL.
Written by Coach Hawes

Heading to Dubuque for the Loras Open

This Friday evening after a light practice the Trojan grapplers will be traveling to Dubuque, Iowa for the Loras Open. The Loras Open has a freshmen division so many of our freshmen will have an opportunity to wrestle against other college freshmen however; this doesn’t mean they will have an easy tournament. It is likely HLG will once again run into Big Ten and possibly some Big Twelve freshmen wrestlers. Hopefully this weekend we will see more wrestlers join Nathan Downs as a 2010 National Qualifier. It would be great to have to take a bus to Oklahoma City this year because we have so many national qualifiers!

-Coach Hawes

Trojan Wrestler Selected for 2009 Homecoming Court

Trojan Wrestler Ryan Stark (Quincy, IL) was selected to be part of the 2009 Hannibal-LaGrange College Homecoming Court. Stark is the only wrestler who was part of the new wrestling program in the fall of 2007-08 who also wrestled in the first season of competition in 2008-09. Stark is finishing his college wrestling career this season and will be the first senior to graduate from Trojan wrestling. Congratulations Ryan!

Trojan Wrestling Has It's First National Qualifier Of The Season At The LU Open

Freshmen Nathan Downs led the way for Trojan wrestling at the Lindenwood University Open with 3 wins to qualify for the NAIA national tournament in Oklahoma City, OK in March. Downs’s 8-2 victory over John Gurule (Lindenwood University) put him in a position to face number one seed and defending NAIA national Champion Aaron Winning. Winning came out on top with a fall over Downs in 1:15. Downs did not lose his focus or resolve to continue his run toward qualifying for the national tournament. Downs’s first match in the consolation bracket matched him against senior Andrew Cheesman (McKendree College). It was evident that Downs’s conditioning came through for him as he outworked Cheesman. Downs won the match 8-6 over Cheesman. Downs’s freshmen initiation to college wrestling did not stop with Cheesman as he wrestled Colten Unzicker (Lindenwood University). Downs won in triple overtime with a score of 5-3. Downs was then finally stopped in the consolation finals by junior and third place finisher Robbie Hinkle (Lindenwood University). Downs’s only losses on the day were from the second and third place finishers of the tournament. Because Downs finished in the top 6 of 25 wrestlers he qualified for the national tournament. Freshmen Kyle Blankenship was one match away from qualifying when Senior Clint Arlis from the University of Illinois stopped Blankenship’s run. Fellow freshmen Josh Smith finished the day with two victories and junior Daniel Yuriatis and freshmen Jobi Hambrick both captured wins on the day. I believe history will show that the LU Open helped our young wrestlers realize that they can compete at a high level. Even though we lost some matches against some tough opponents and even to Big Ten and Big Twelve opponents our wrestlers were in positions to win. Some were even in position to win against D-1 opponents in a few of the matches. I’m not satisfied with the result that we saw this year at LU. I KNOW we can do better in the future! However, I’m encouraged by the prospect of success in the future of Trojan wrestling. I’m also encouraged by the desire of our wrestlers to get better. Several of the wrestlers told me today that they needed to be determined to hone their skills and work ethic in the wrestling room so they can see success against the tough opponents they know they can beat in the future. This season opener has proven to be more successful than our season opener last year in our first year of competition. I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season has in store for us!
Written by Coach Scott Hawes

HLG Season Opener at Lindenwood University Open this Friday

HLG wrestlers will see the first action of the 2009-10 season this Friday at the Lindenwood University Open. Thankfully, we have some upperclassmen leadership this year who have helped prepare their younger teammates for the rigors of college wrestling. I believe our freshmen wrestlers understand how tough college wrestling can be partly because of their more experienced teammates. After Friday the freshmen will have their own college wrestling experience to fall back on in preparation for future events. With over 60 NCAA D-1 wrestlers registered to participate, the LU Open is undoubtedly one of the toughest tournaments in the nation that we could use to open up the season. Some people might think we are crazy for taking a team of mostly freshmen to this tournament, but we want our freshmen to see what they are up against at our level of national competition. The freshmen will have more opportunities to shine at future tournaments this season. In future tournaments they will be able to compete with more wrestlers with their same level of experience, but the LU Open will give them a vision of what it will take to be successful on the national stage! I believe we have some talent in the room which could surprise some people at the LU Open. Only time will tell if my opinion is accurate. We have had some minor injuries as I’m sure any other team has seen at this time in the year. We will have two wrestlers not wrestling this Friday, because of injury. We will have some wrestlers who are ineligible this semester who will be wrestling unattached in the LU Open and will also be traveling on their own to other open tournaments throughout the semester. Hopefully, we will see those wrestlers join us next semester. My goal is to post some results Friday night. By the way, the championship singlets are packed for any of our wrestlers who will be in any of the finals or consolation finals. I wonder who will be the first HLG wrestler to earn one!

Written by Coach Scott Hawes

ANNOUNCING THE FIRST EVER TROJAN WRESTLING CAMP 2010

One of the goals that I had coming in last year as the new head coach of Hannibal-LaGrange College’s wrestling program was to start having QUALITY summer wrestling camps. I’m happy to announce that this summer I’m planning our first ever Hannibal-LaGrange College Trojan Wrestling Camp. I’m also pleased to announce that my college wrestling coach and Olympic Champion Ben Peterson has committed to being a key clinician at the Trojan Wrestling Camp (TWC) which is scheduled for June 27th-June 1st. Ben Peterson is also the Executive Director of Camp of Champs and directs his summer camps in Wisconsin. In spite of his busy schedule, Ben has graciously offered his services to Hannibal-LaGrange College wrestling for a few days this summer. In order to compliment the HLG coaching staff I’m now working to line up at least one other Camp of Champs clinician who has been at least an All-American wrestler. HLG wrestlers will also be utilized in running TWC. I’m trying to keep TWC affordable! I would like to keep it in the $225-$250 price range for residential campers and $125-$150 for commuters, but I have to finalize a few more details before I release the final price. This year we are going to focus TWC on 9-12 grades. In years to come we may expand the camp to include lower grades, but I don’t want to take on more than our program is ready to handle. My head assistant coach, Ian Northcott, is also our strength and conditioning coach, and he will be teaching Healthy Weight Loss, Lifting and Conditioning Strategies. Start spreading the word about the Trojan Wrestling Camp! More details will be posted about TWC soon!

Streaming Video Coverage of Home Wrestling Duals is a Reality

Over the last couple of weeks I, with the help of our IT department and Head Men’s and Women’s Volley Ball Coach David Ganser, have been able to test streaming video and secure permission to cover our home sporting events Live on the internet. Yes that is right LIVE STREAMING VIDEO COVERAGE WILL BE A REALITY AT HLG HOME DUALS THIS SEASON!;-) It is official! This will be a great opportunity for our fans who live too far away to travel to a home event. This year to watch the event it is free for our fans. In the future we may need to charge a fee in order to watch it live. If we can get some sponsors we may be able to maintain the service free of charge. In order to get sponsors we have to have a good number of free subscribers. So help out HLG wrestling out by getting as many of your family and friends to watch your favorite athletes on Live Sports Video. Not only will you be able to watch your wrestler live, but if you have to miss it for some reason you will be able to watch the archived copy of the event between 24-48 hours after the event ends its live broadcast. If you would like to preregister for free and check out the archived Women’s V-ball events you can do so by following this link http://www.hlg.edu/athletics/default.php and click on Watch Now. This link will take you to the HLG Live Sports Video page. Because V-ball is the only sport that has used it you will only be able to see V-ball. I will be logging on in the next week or so and setting up the broadcast for our wrestling. When I do get our home duals broadcast set up I will let everyone know.

First Weeks of Practice Summary

Now that our 24 week season has started Coach Northcott and I can start coaching the wrestlers and leading practice. Many of our wrestlers have had very good coaching in their high school programs. However, there is still room for improvement. I’m sure most of our wrestler’s former coaches would agree. Sloppy technique that worked at the high school level isn’t going to work at the college level if it isn’t sharpened. Part of the sharpening process depends on who critiques the wrestlers, who does the wrestler have to practice with, and what effort the wrestler puts into “perfecting” what he already knows. We have the luxury of having wrestlers in our room from all over the Midwest, one from Texas and two others from South Carolina. Our wrestlers all bring their own styles into our room which is good for the health of our room. Each of our wrestlers learns from each other as well as from their coaches. I’ve been encouraged to see some of our wrestlers teaching each other some technique that they like in order to help advance their teammates chances for success on the mat. It is interesting to watch some of our wrestlers as they get frustrated trying technique that they used all the time in high school and seeing that it is not working in our wrestling room. If it is not working in our room, it probably isn’t going to be affective when it comes to competition outside of the room. So we have been working on getting back to the basics and refining the technique and body positions that the wrestlers already know about but still need to work on. We have introduced some technique that may be new to some of the wrestlers, but that has not been our emphasis. Along with sharpening technique we have been working to develop a mental and physical toughness through live goes and extra conditioning at the end of practice. If you polled our wrestlers I don’t think you would find a single wrestler who thinks that our practices have been too easy. We have been picking it up, but we need to pick it up a little more. Towards the middle of the week this week we saw a little let down in the level of intensity and hopefully we see the intensity pick up today at practice. Over the last week we have seen a few minor injuries, but not anything the wrestlers shouldn’t bounce back from. We have had a few wrestlers state that they felt we were going to hard and that they were sore. I can understand why. We have been going hard and maybe harder than some of them have ever gone. Coach Northcott reminded the wrestlers yesterday that it takes about 14 days for wrestlers to get into wrestling shape. By next week we should be close to our wrestling shape and looking to improve every day after that. Our first competition will be at Lindenwood University and is only 20 days away. Lindenwood University is a very tough first tournament of the season which will introduce many of our wrestlers to how challenging college wrestling really can be. The date for the LU tournament is October 30th and is an unusual one as we will be wrestling the tournament on a Friday instead of a Saturday. I hope many of our fans in the St. Louis area can make it.

Preseason Comes To An End With 5 Mile Run

HLG wrestling finished preseason today with a five mile run! Boy did the wrestlers finish well! Collectively we saw every wrestler improve their times and some experienced dramatic improvement in their finish times. The fifth T of the Trojan T’s (something I will say more about in the future) is Transformation and as a whole we have seen much of that happen over the course of the last 4 weeks take place in the conditioning of our wrestlers. Dethroning Sophomore Kasey Cates reign in 1st place and finishing in 1st place today was Freshman Nathan Downs with a time of 32:28. Finishing in 2nd place with a time of 33:05 was Kasey Cates. Finishing in 3rd was Daniel Yuraitis with 34:10. Finishing in 4th place was Ryan Stark with 34:43, and in 5th place Josh Smith with a finish time of 35:38. The wrestler with preseason most improved time goes to Kyle Blankenship who ran a 44:36 in his first 5 mile run and finished today with a 38:57 which equals a 5:21 improvement. Jeff Kirwan had the second best improved time with a 51:14 first 5 mile down to a 46:07 run today which equals a 5:07 improvement. Great Job Trojan Wrestlers!!!

Last Week of Preseason

This week has been a busy week wrapping up pre-season conditioning with weight certification. Each year every wrestler has to weigh in hydrated to help determine what their lowest allowable weight is for the season. The first part of the certification process is the hydration test. If wrestlers don’t pass the hydration test, they don’t pass at all. Not every wrestler chooses to wrestle at his lowest allowable weight, but instead he may choose his optimal performance weight instead. Contrary to popular opinion the lowest allowable weight doesn’t always end up being the weight class where wrestlers choose to wrestle. The NWCA does a great job providing tools for wrestlers in healthy ways to lose fat (and saunas are not part of the NWCA’s weight loss strategy!) Wednesday started our process of certifying our wrestlers for this season. Every wrestler must be certified before they can start practicing with the team in season. Therefore, these last days of preseason are very important for the team being able to start the season together. Unfortunately, we had several wrestlers who did not pass the hydration test on the first try. However, today most of the wrestlers passed with only a few who missed hydration by a few thousandths of a point. I’m fairly confident that tomorrow we should see the rest of our wrestlers pass the hydration test and be able to complete their certification for this season.
On another note we had our first recruit visit HLG for this recruiting season, and we are looking forward to having many others. I will not list names of wrestlers we are recruiting or those who make campus visits, but we are very glad to have them visit our campus. If you know of any wrestlers who would be a good fit for HLG wrestling, feel free to contact me at Shawes@hlg.edu . I would be happy to pursue any wrestler you think would be a good fit for our program.

HLG Wrestling's First Car Wash

After Saturday morning’s conditioning practice HLG wresting ran its first Car Wash! We were blessed with a beautiful and sunny afternoon. HLG wrestlers were faced with some challenges in getting vehicles into our carwash as there were at least 3 other carwashes in Hannibal at the same time as ours. One car wash was actually holding signs up at the same intersection as us. I guess we had nicer signs and our wrestlers had a better power of persuasion than the other group, because we stayed busy pretty much the entire time of the car wash. Also it probably didn’t hurt that we were at a Farm and Home which was conveniently located right across the street from a real car wash. Along with the normal cars and trucks that you would expect at a car wash we also had a motorcycle and a tractor with a wagon attached to it. The day couldn’t have been as much fun with-out the help of Mrs. Stanger!;-) She wasn’t afraid to spray the boys occasionally with the hose or throw a soapy sponge at them either. Mrs. Stanger brought cold water and Gatorade for the wrestlers and as well she helped make sure the cars were actually getting clean. Mrs. Gauch dropped off some awesome hot-dogs and chips to make sure the wrestlers weren’t going hungry. As a result of the car wash we were able to raise $372 dollars in donations. The money raised at the car wash will help towards the purchase of a Schwinn aerodyne stationary bike that we will use at the Secker Field-house.

Tommy Pickens

Future HLG Wrestlers!

Second Year NAIA Wrestling Program will Start Season with Added Protection from Bacteria & Fungi

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—September 18, 2009
Contact: Mike Brinich, Director of Communications, CSG
Office: 248-997-3270, Mobile: 586-703-6966
Second Year NAIA Wrestling Program will Start Season with Added Protection from Bacteria & Fungi
…Hannibal-LaGrange College treats mats environmentally friendly bacteria-fighting technology…

Rochester Hills, MI….Missouri’s Hannibal-LaGrange College Wrestling Program will enter the 2009-10 season as one of only two NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) athletic programs with added protection from the growth of harmful bacteria and fungi. Hannibal-LaGrange Wrestling and CSG, the sports world’s leading-provider of antimicrobial products and services, today announced the team’s wrestling mats and wall mats have been treated with CSG’s long-lasting SurfaceAide® XL antimicrobial treatment. The unique bacteria-fighting product creates an environmentally-friendly and non-toxic antimicrobial coating that works non-stop for the entire season to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, fungi, and mold.

Scott Hawes, Hannibal-LaGrange Head Coach, discovered CSG’s antimicrobial products while attending the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) convention this summer and decided using the technology to minimize spread bacteria and fungi could play an important role in his team’s success.

“Obviously we can’t control what bacteria and fungi our team comes into contact outside of our facility,” said Hawes. “However, it important that our wrestlers are confident that we are taking extra steps to keep them healthy.”

Hannibal-LaGrange joins Nebraska’s York College as the only other NAIA wrestling program to use SurfaceAide XL. Applied by spray, just one treatment of SurfaceAide XL will inhibit the growth of bacteria, mold, and fungi on surfaces for three months. It is the world’s most environmentally-friendly antimicrobial product, as it creates an antimicrobial coating on surfaces that is non-toxic, non-sensitizing to human skin and hypoallergenic. SurfaceAide XL is vastly superior to any other technology for several key reasons. The water-based antimicrobial fights a wide array of microbial growth 24/7, but more importantly SurfaceAide XL will not create adaptive organisms or “super bugs” like MRSA.

The unique antimicrobial technology powering SurfaceAide® XL has also been applied to over 35 million square feet of surfaces in schools, professional sports franchises, universities, hospitals, and United States Military installations. Prominent users include the New York Yankees, U.S. Olympic Basketball, Washington Redskins, Miami Heat, and the University of Missouri.

About CSG
CSG is the worldwide leader in environmentally-beneficial surface treatments. Its PURETi™ and Surface Antimicrobial System™ (SAS) products and services are used to minimize the spread of disease and improve the environment by some of the world’s most prominent organizations. To date, CSG’s unique and innovative technologies have been applied to over 50 million square feet of surface area and millions of pounds of laundry. All of its unique treatments and services can be applied to virtually any surface or textile. For more information on CSG, visit www.csggrp.com or call 888.510.2847.

Streaming Video Planned for HLG Wrestling Home Meets

I found out today that my proposal to have our home duals broadcast live on the internet was approved! I'm very excited about this opportunity, but now I have my work cut out in lining up the technology and workers to help carry out the broadcast. However, this challenge is one that I'm happy to take on. We need to have our alumni and fans who live too far away have the opportunity to watch HLG wrestling. As a result of this proposal other sports on campus will also have the opportunity to have their home competitions broadcast live as well. Women's Volley ball will probably be the first athletic program to utilize this new technology. Web broadcasting will be a new and welcomed addition to HLG Athletics!;-)

Character Champions and Olympian visits the HLG Wrestling Room

Last spring while I was the Mastor of Ceremonies for the Mark Twain Region Fellowship of Christian Athletes Banquet I had the privilege of meeting a gentleman by the name of Jim Benz. Jim is the Co-Chairman of Character Champions. Jim Benz explained to me that Character Champions is program that has been designed to promote, teach, and recognize sportsmanship in local high school athletic programs in this region of IL and MO. Every year one school is chosen to receive the Character Champions award which includes a $500 donation to the recipient school in honor of their achievement. Jim asked me if I knew of any excellent motivational speakers who may be interested in participating in the Character Champions annual student athlete and coaches meeting. Right away two people came to mind. One being my college coach and Olympic champion Ben Peterson and the other person being my fellow Maranatha wrestling alum and friend who is a two time Olympian and world team member Jim Gruenwald. Gruenwald recently left the US Olympic Education Centers assistant coaching position to become the head wrestling coach at Wheaton College. After considering both individuals Benz decided to invite Jim Gruenwald to be one of the keynote speakers for this year’s Character Champions meeting which took place yesterday. Since Jim is a friend and I have an interest in the Character Champions program I decided to attend the meeting. Gruenwald provided an excellent motivational message on setting high expectations and doing what it takes to reach those expectations.
During yesterday’s meeting Quincy High School was selected by area business leaders and sports media for their leadership in demonstrating outstanding sportsmanship and character throughout last year’s sports seasons. Unfortunately, I don’t believe any Northeast MO schools participate in this program. I’m not sure for their reason why, but after seeing and hearing firsthand what Character Champions promotes and hearing the messages that were shared I would think that MO schools would take advantage of the convenience of having their athletes challenged by world class athletes and excellent area college coaches on the topic of character and good sportsmanship. Traveling from Hannibal it only took me less than 30 minutes to find myself sitting down in the Pepsi Arena on the campus of Quincy University. I don’t know of any other program within a 30 minute drive of Quincy that has the potential to impact high school athletes like Character Champions does. I would like to challenge Northeast MO schools to utilize a program like Character Champions in conjunction with whatever programs they may already have going on in their schools. I believe if more voices are speaking to our athletes in this area of sportsmanship and sports ethics that it can have a positive impact later on in the lives and culture that our student athletes are destined to be leaders in. After the Character Champions meeting I was able to enjoy a trip to Buffalo Wild Wings with Jim Gruenwald, Jim Benz, my assistant coach Ian Northcott and one of my HLG wrestlers Jeff Kirwan. We had a nice time talking about wrestling, sportsmanship and management. If anyone knows Jim, you would have to assume that there were a few funny stories shared as well. As Hannibal was only 5 miles out of the way of Gruenwald's trip home I invited Jim to stop by Hannibal-LaGrange College to take a look at the Secker Field-house which the is home of Hannibal-LaGrange Wrestling and Jim accepted the invitation. While Jim was on campus he was able to meet the HLG wrestling team as they were arriving for open mat practice. I’m sure several of them were wondering who this little man with a goatee was, and little did they know that they were about to meet a two time Olympian in the wrestling room of Hannibal-LaGrange College. I’m thankful Jim took the time to stop by HLG to visit. His character, testimony, and work ethic have been a tremendous asset to USA wrestling and he will be an outstanding addition to Wheaton College’s athletic department. I’m looking forward to coaching against Jim this next season as we will see Wheaton at a few tournaments, and I can’t wait to get them on the schedule for next year.

Injuries Report and 5 mile run improvement

Last Wednesday afternoon I was looking forward to attending the first evening service of “Three Days in September” which is an annual event here at HLG before I realized God had other plans for me that evening. To make a long story short I ended up spending the evening in the emergency room. Thankfully, it wasn’t me that needed to see the doctors this time! I had two wrestlers injured in one practice. One had to get x-rays of his ankle and the other received probably about 50-75 stitches to reattach part of his ear to his head. It sounds gruesome and when you see the picture you will say that it looks gruesome. Thankfully this wrestler was able to return to conditioning today and will get his stitches out sometime this week. One might assume that he should have been wearing headgear while he was wrestling, but his injury did not occur as a result of a hard go. His injury was a result of playing a cat and mouse type game towards the end of the open mat time. He caught a knee to the side of his head which included part of his ear. In all my years of coaching this was the worse cut that I have seen happen during the wrestling practice.
The highlight of last week was seeing all the wrestlers, with the exception of one, improve their Five Mile time. 3 of the top five improved their placing in their top five finishes. Finishing in 1st place Kasey Cates, up from 3rd place and finishing in 2nd place Daniel Yuraitis, up from 4th place and finishing in 3rd place Ryan Stark, up from 6th place and finishing 4th Shane LeGrand, and finishing at 5th place Jobi Hambrick. On Saturday, we wrapped up the week with 1 mile hard runs 3 times with line drills and weight check after practice. We set the goal of having everyone within 10 lbs of their wrestling weight on Saturday by the end of practice. We only had one wrestler who was .1 over his target weight. The new wrestling weigh in procedures instituted by the NCAA this year require that wrestlers weigh in wearing at least underwear. So Dad’s, the memory of the old tradition of stepping on the scale and being a .1 over and dropping your drawers to make weight has come to an end. I wonder if a new tradition will start with wrestlers taking scales to the store to find out which underwear brand makes the lightest underwear.

Labor Day Fun!

“I had a lot of fun today!” were the words that came to Tommy Pickens mind describing his experience at the first ever HLG Wrestling Labor Day Picnic. The Yuraitis family graciously opened up their home and property to us for the picnic. It was somewhat ironic that the first HLG Wrestling Picnic was held close to LaGrange, MO the town where Hannibal-LaGrange College was founded. The day included a smorgasbord of picnic foods like bratwurst, hamburgers, chips, potato salad, brownies, and watermelon to name a few. The activities of the afternoon were swimming in the lake, fishing, target shooting contest with .22 rifles, and Mr. Yuraitis taking us on a hike to a honey bee hive hidden in the hollow of a tree. After Tommy Pickens decided to put his hand near the hollow in the tree we decided it would be best for us to leave. I forgot to take my camera with me to capture the fun of the day, but I did manage to download a few pictures off of my phone of some fish that Josh Smith caught. Josh caught the biggest fish of the day. It was a nice sized catfish. We did not eat any of the fish. They were all thrown back into the lake to live another day. Don’t let Nick and Jobi fool you! I don't think they caught any fish. I think they are holding the small fish that Josh caught. Curt Trimmell won the dead eye shooting contest and was able to score 12 points in the contest. Because this first picnic was a lot of fun, I think it is safe to say that we will try to have another one next year. We may have to limit the amount of food we allow the wrestlers to put on their plate after we check their weight today during open mat time!;-)

First 5 Mile Run of the Season

I’m just returning from our first 5 mile run of the season. Man am I tired!!! Well at least I ran about 2 of the miles then I caught a ride from one of our check point people! ;-) As I reported in an earlier post, I’m going to list the top five finishers. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the run to go along with this post. 1st place finisher Kasey Cates 34:37, 2nd Place Nathan Downs 35:22, 3rd Place Daniel Yuraitis 36:19, 4th place Ryan Stark 36:42, and 5th place Jobi Hambrick 38:26. These times are not good times but this is the first time they have ran the 5 mile in this season. Kasey Cates best time last year was about 7 minutes faster, but then again Kasey is recovering from an injury as well. I’m looking forward to the improved times in weeks to come. I’ll keep you posted! After the hard run today we are taking the weekend off. Many wrestlers will be able to spend some time with friends and family back home. For those who are unable to head home for this Labor Day weekend we will be having a family style picnic at Daniel Yuraitis’ families home up in LaGrange, MO. We plan to do some fishing and swimming in their little lake. We will probably also do a little target shooting as well. Today is my daughters 3 month birthday and I have to post at least one picture of her on this special day!;-) Have a Great Labor Day Weekend!

Team Study Hall

Last night we embarked on another new mission with this new group of wrestlers. That mission was the first installment of team study hall. We will be meeting for the first month of classes from 7-8 pm for study hall. After the first month we will evaluate the progress of our student wrestlers and see if they have developed enough study habits to handle their studies on their own. The only student wrestlers that are exempt from study hall are sophomores and above who have a 3.0 from the year before. Notice in this blog report that I have used the title Student Wrestlers in reference to our wrestlers. We want to see our wrestlers graduate from this institution with a degree that will have helped prepare them for life. Wrestling is just one part (VERY IMPORTANT PART;-) of their overall education experience. We want to make sure they maintain this perspective when it comes to finishing the course of a college education. This afternoon will be the first of many 5 mile runs along the scenic back roads that lead to the Mississippi! ;-) I will post the top five finish times tomorrow!

Day One Conditioning Report

Yesterday afternoon the HLG Wrestling Team embarked on a scenic run up the stairs leading to the Hannibal Lighthouse. The view and the run were both breathtaking! Earlier in the summer my two sons (Austin is 11 and Chase is 9) and I ran the same steps just to see how tough it was. We ran about half of what the team ran in totality and what we ran was definitely a good work out. The team received even a better work out as they did twice as much. I would say that everyone was working hard. However, we are out of shape. We could have done more, but it was apparent that some were starting to fatigue prematurely and we don’t want muscle injuries on the first day of conditioning. Because this was only the first day, I expect that we will see much improvement over the next couple of weeks as these wrestlers have a mind to work. After running the lower portion of stairs, running from the very bottom to the very top, running sprints at the top the wrestlers ran about 20 partner sprints, ran back down to the bottom, and then back up to the first level, the wrestlers did several sets of push-ups and mountain climbers. The one thing I noticed that we need to work on with our push-ups and mountain climbers is keeping our heads up/short necks. Coach Peterson use to hound us for letting our heads down when we did the same type of work outs activity. After a while and as a coach I understand a little better why he did this. If we kept our heads up all the time in practice, it wasn’t hard to do in a match. Sure there may be times that you need to duck/tuck your head in a match, but it better recoil back to the short neck very soon or else your opponent will be dominating your head. Coach Northcott closed us with prayer then we loaded up and headed back to campus.

Follow-up story of the NWCA Coaches Leadership Academy which Coach Hawes attended

Leadership in Wrestling Shines Bright at NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy
9/1/2009 5:17:03 PM


The inaugural NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy kicked off the 2009 Convention with tremendous momentum. Twenty nine young, aspiring college coaches and twenty four mentors (seasoned veteran coaches, administrators, and business leaders) gathered for a one-day workshop, which was led by internationally renowned coaching development expert, Dr. Dan Gould of Michigan State University.The purpose of the focus group was to utilize "peer group discussion" among college coaches, athletic administrators, and CEOs to develop "best practices" for protecting and strengthening intercollegiate wrestling programs through this challenging economy. Specifically, the goal of the Leadership Academy is to help coaches strengthen their CEO skills and better align their programs with educational values (i.e. improve eligibility and graduation rates, etc.).The NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy features three key components. • Online educational modules that help coaches understand general CEO principles required to protect their teams. • An "in person" workshop where coaches and mentors can collaborate to customize the general principles (learned in the online modules) to meet the unique needs on each campus. • Assigned mentor program so the coaches can receive ongoing help to overcome unique challenges on their respective campuses."The NWCA, mentors, and the college coaches who attended cannot begin to express their gratitude to the Academy benefactors: John Harmon, Irv Naylor, and Greg Hatcher," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "These three donors collectively provided enough grant money to pay all travel, lodging, and convention registration expenses for the coaches to participate in the Academy, many of which would not otherwise been able to attend. "Many thanks also needs to be given to Dave Bunning and Mark Mestemacher who collectively have underwritten all of the development costs associated with the Leadership Academy course curriculum. Both of them played pivotal roles in underwriting the entire development of the College Coaches Leadership Academy." Lt. General Martin Steele, retired United State Marine Corps, was also on hand as the keynote speaker for the Academy. His address to the attendees was, "Making Transitions: A Key to Effective Leadership." His message was extremely motivating to all in attendance."This was a tremendous opportunity for those who have given so much to the sport, but it was also more importantly a time to reach out to those who will shape the future. This will eventually help their athletes, colleges, and communities to shape the future leaders of this sport," said Lt. Gen. Steele.He encouraged the coaches in the room to seize off of each other’s strengths rather than attack each other’s weaknesses. Also to be better tomorrow than they are today.One of the primary purposes of this Academy was to group coaches according to "likeness of institution," then to assign mentors to each group, and through the use of professional facilitators, stimulate discussion aimed at establishing "best practices" for overcoming some of the greatest challenges on each respective campus.
All twenty nine coaches will complete "part two" of the Academy next summer and then their graduation will be celebrated at the 2010 NWCA convention.Coaches and mentors from all collegiate divisions (Division I, II, III, NAIA) were represented at the Academy. One of the primary topics discussed at the workshop was the importance of building relationships with key decision-making people on campus, in the community, with athletes, parents, and alumni.Todd Hibbs, who recently retired as head coach at Olivet College and has now stepped into an administrative role, was brought into the Academy as a mentor and a presenter. His message was delivered on topics that focused on character, integrity, ethics, alumni and administration as opposed to the technical and tactical aspects of coaching. "What I admired the most was the cross learning that took place between the mentors and the coaches. This helped the sport so much more than I have seen before. You had rivals both young and old sharing their experiences with one another, focusing on the important topics that effect our sport daily, not talking double legs and single legs," said Hibbs. "I left that Academy proud of this sport, because we worked together; we shared our faults and our victories."There was talk of the Leadership Academy all through the convention that followed, all of which was extremely positive. "I am very proud that not only do I serve the role as NWCA President, but that I was also selected to be among the mentors for the inaugural NWCA Leadership Academy. To be part of this group is an honor as so much was shared between the experienced coaches and those who are just beginning their coaching careers. Each and every one of us was able to walk away with something," said NWCA President and University of Buffalo head coach Jim Beichner.Coaches who participated in the Academy came from different backgrounds and divisions, some who are just within their first few weeks as a head coach to those within their first five years.Second-year head coach Trent Goodale of South Carolina's Limestone College said, "The NWCA Leadership Academy has been the most beneficial coaching experience I have ever been involved in. I was able to learn from some of the greatest coaches in the country. It showed me that there are many different ways in which a team can be successful, and even the greatest programs and coaches have overcome much adversity. I am very appreciative of the mentors taking time out of their busy schedules to help educate some of the coaches, such as myself, that could be the future of our great sport."A recurring theme throughout the Leadership Academy and the convention was that no program was safe from being discontinued. The coach should be doing everything in his power to make sure that his program is well represented on campus and in the community. All intercollegiate wrestling programs are being evaluated against other teams at their respective schools. It is important for every one of our wrestling programs to outperform the other sports at their school in every evaluated area. Tom Layte, at MIT, and Shawn Charles at Arizona State attended the Academy and both represented very challenging situations. They must all figure out a way to completely endow their programs or face certain elimination in the future. In this deteriorating economy, there are many more coaches who will likely find themselves in similar situations. The key is to be proactive with your fundraising and make sure the money is flowing in from alumni and friends before there is a crisis on your campus. Once the announcement is made to eliminate a program, it is generally too late to save it.Charles, who took over the Sun Devils program this summer, is in a unique situation. A little over a year ago, the program was announced as being dropped effective immediately. In a very unique turn of events due to some influential people, the program was reinstated within two weeks, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done by Charles and his staff. "What stuck out to me through this Academy, was the ability I had to sit down with mentors and talk about how to raise money towards an endowment," said Charles. "ASU is in a unique situation thanks to Art Martori who is currently funding the program; however our overall goal is to get the program endowed. I was able to sit down with (Cornell coach) Rob Koll and some of the other mentors to discuss how to effectively fundraise for our program.""This experience has taught me that I need to constantly be cultivating relationships with our alumni, boosters, and community right away. I would recommend this Academy to all coaches."Tom Layte, the part-time Head Coach at MIT, is at another school that desperately needs fundraising help after being dropped this past spring. He at this point is hopefully that the funding is there and that the university will rule in their favor to reinstate the program."What I took back with me from the Leadership Academy, was information from the areas I did not focus on as much before being a part-time coach. As I have come to learn these areas are vital to my program as our school dropped the program in April due to budget cuts throughout the university. I need to focus my efforts to have a better relationship with my administration, engage my alumni, to grow support in the community and to fundraise at every possible turn. My goal after this Academy is to begin to model our program after more successful programs, and hopefully we will soon see our program reinstated for the 2009-10 season," said Layte.
The goal is to eventually have all college coaches and their assistants go through this course, in small groups each year. The NWCA is also discussing trying to expand this Academy to college seniors who are planning to become coaches after graduation.Former Iowa head coach Dan Gable was on hand throughout the Academy as one of the featured speakers but also to listen to what these coaches were saying, along with giving some of his personal advice."What was interesting to me as an observer," said Gable, "was that I really did not see one person in that room that wasn’t taking in every aspect of what was said in that 24-hour workshop. Even for those seasoned veteran coaches, who have been successful like Tom Borrelli, Jim Miller, and Jeff Swenson, when you see coaches like that sitting there taking notes and being entertained and energized about our profession, it gives me a sense of pride.""I looked around and wished that all 265 programs were represented; it would have been a huge momentum leap for this sport, together. If you were at any point questioning what you were doing as a coach this Academy was energizing. We still have a lot of work to be done, and the key is staying energized, which will happen with these coaches. That is where the impact is, in keeping the momentum from what took place with those coaches; that is the impact we are looking for," said Gable.The 24 hours these coaches and mentors spent together hopefully will leave a lasting impression. This was not a time to talk about wrestling and how to coach your athletes to make their skills stronger. This was a lesson in life that many situations will come the way of a college coach, no matter the size of the school you coach at and down the road seeing how to react and what can be learned. It was not about winning and losing, but a lesson in humility and sharing those learning experiences with others.
Participants included: Shawn Charles (Arizona State), Mark Branch (Wyoming), Teague Moore (Clarion), Beau Vest (Dana), Tim Homan (Sioux Falls), JohnMark Bentley (Appalachian State), Risto Marttinen (Cal State-Fullerton), Ben Stehura (Cleveland State), Todd Roberts (Millersville), Jason Borrelli (Stanford), Heath Eslinger (Chattanooga), Dax Charles (CSU-Pueblo), Trent Goodale (Limestone), Ryan Smith (Newman), Ben Berogan (Mary), Jason York (Bridgewater State), John Garriques (Centenary), Tony Islas (Knox), Tom Layte (MIT), Casey Brewster (Sacred Heart), Joey Rivera (East Stroudsburg), Joe Pollard (College of New Jersey), Mike Kocsis (Muhlenberg), Clint Manny (Simpson College), Greg Ilaria (Merchant Marine Academy), Casey Stouffer (Mt. St Joseph's), Brandon Brissette (Olivet), Scott Hawes (Hannibal-LaGrange), and Thomas Prairie (Plymouth State).
Mentors and Presentors included: Lt. General Martin Steele (ret.), Derek van der Mewre, Dan Gould, Alan Utter, Joe McFarland, Brian Smith, Greg Strobel, Pat Pecora, Paul Kendle, Jim Beichner, Jim Fallis, Ron Beaschler, Jim Miller, Jeff Swenson, Dan Harris, Jim Makovsky, Todd Hibbs, Col. Billy Walker, Tom Borrelli, Rande Stottlemyer, Dave Icenhower, Darrell Randall, Rob Koll, Dave Kemmy and Tom Kessler.
To learn more about the NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy view our five minute promotions video. View Video. (Coach Hawes' nose and chin made this video. See if you can find it!;-)
Click to view the list of testimonial quotes from the 2009 NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy.

Day One Lifting

The highlight of my morning this morning, besides holding my newborn daughter this morning ;-), was seeing our HLG wrestlers working hard in the weight room. Yes, today is the first of many days that our wrestlers will spend together shedding sweat and improving their strength and physique in the weight room. We had two wrestlers on both ends of the weight class system ending the session with their head over a trash can doing you know what. After a quick ab work out I quoted Psalms 118:42, This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. I challenged them to rejoice in this good day and to live their lives for the fullest and to the Glory of God. I challenged them not to sleep in class or drift off in their thoughts, but to do their best during this day that God has given them to live. I told our wresters to live this day well because they will never get to relive this day. I then closed with prayer and Daniel Yuraites broke us out with “1…2...3…Hard Work!” I will take my camera this afternoon as we do our conditioning on the lighthouse steps. Hopefully this evening I’ll get some pictures posted hopefully not of anyone doing you know what.

New Wrestlers Starting to Arrive on Campus

Today was an exciting day for many of our new wrestlers as those who will be living on campus moved their belongings into their dorm in preparation for the next step in their lives. Those who are living in Fletcher Hall were welcomed with the site and smell of newness. For those of our male readers who are HLG Alumni, you would love the accommodations that our new students find in Fletcher Hall. There are still some wrestlers living in the ever faithful old men’s dorms. It will be funny to hear some of the sophomores telling the freshmen about how it was living in the old dorms before Fletcher Hall as if it were back in the stone ages! On Monday we will see the arrival of the rest of our wrestling team. The first day of classes will begin on Tuesday. We will have our first formal team meeting for the 2009-2010 season Tuesday at 3 pm.

Coaches Profiles

Head Coach

Scott Hawes is entering his second year as head wrestling coach at Hannibal-LaGrange College. Hawes brings 12 years of coaching experience on all levels of competitive wrestling from middle school to the NCAA/NAIA collegiate level. Hawes wrestled during his high school and college careers receiving numerous team and individual awards, including several second and third place finishes in state and tournament matches, state champion for the Michigan Association of Christian Schools, and Freestyle Champion for the Can-Amera Games. In 1995, Hawes earned a fourth-place finish in the NCCAA Tournament. As a student-athlete at Maranatha Baptist Bible College, Hawes was coached by USA Olympic Gold Medalist, Ben Peterson. Following his graduation from Maranatha Baptist Bible College, Hawes accepted a full-time ministry position as assistant pastor for First Baptist Church, Rochelle, IL. While ministering in Rochelle, Hawes began to coach wrestling and soccer at the Rochelle Township High School and wrestling at Rochelle Middle School. After 7 years of coaching in Rochelle, IL, Hawes accepted the position of head wrestling coach and director of student ministries at Maranatha Baptist Bible College, Watertown, WI where he coached for 4 years. In his four years of coaching at Maranatha, Hawes experienced success coaching Maranatha's first-ever 2nd place finisher and NCAA All-American in the 2007-08 season. However, Hawes defines success more than earned awards and records. "As a coach, I want to help equip men to succeed on the mat, in the classroom, and in life, but more importantly, I also want every wrestler to know that they can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." Along with his middle school, high school, and collegiate wrestling coaching experience, Hawes has trained coaches and wrestlers for the Rochelle, Illinois IKWF Wrestling Club, and coached soccer at RochelleTownship High School. Hawes and his wife Jenny have two sons, Austin and Chase, a daughter, Reagan, and reside in Hannibal, MO.
In a recent press release from the National Wrestling Coaches Association it stated, “The NWCA is excited to announce it has secured a $30,000 grant that can be utilized to scholarship “up-and-coming” college coaches who have been nominated by their peers to participate in a “one of a kind” Coaches Leadership Academy “focus group” in conjunction with this year’s NWCA Convention in Ft. Lauderdale. To a large extent, the future success of college wrestling lies in the hands of these aspiring young coaches.” Coach Hawes was one of 30 college coaches selected to participate in this first ever Coaches Leadership Academy.

Coach Hawes is also the advisor to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Huddle on HLG’s campus.
In his free—time Coach Hawes enjoys hunting, fishing, riding motorcycles and speaking at churches in the area.



Assistant Coach

Coach Ian Northcott is in his third year coaching at HLG. Coach Northcott was responsible for starting the wrestling program at HLG during the summer of 2007.

Specialty
Coach Northcott’s main responsibilities in the wrestling program are to work with the lower weight classes, recruiting, strength, conditioning and weight management

Education
Coach Northcott’s grow up in St. Charles, MO before attending HLG where he graduated with in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Recreational Management and then returned back to Hannibal in 2007 to help start the wrestling program. Along with Northcott’s coaching responsibilities he has taken on the task of completing a Master of Science in Exercise Science degree from California University of Pennsylvania. He is projected to finish this course in 2010. Northcott is also completing certification in Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention through NASM

Head Coach Scott Hawes had this to say about Coach Northcott,

“Coach Ian Northcott’s discipline and determination is what perpetuated what success we saw in our first competition season of HLG wrestling. Without Coach Northcott’s dedication our first season may not have happened. The burden I faced in transitioning in as the head coach was lightened by Coach Northcott’s humility, love for wrestling and HLG, and his desire to see HLG wrestling build a solid foundation for the future. After meeting Coach Northcott and spending countless hours communicating about the future of HLG wrestling it was apparent to me that we had similar goals in coaching but more importantly Coach Northcott loves God. Coach Northcott’s love for God also makes it possible for us to find cohesion as a coaching staff. We do want not to have our cohesion centered on just wrestling and our love for the sport. Our love for the sport naturally brings cohesion, but that cohesion is strengthened because of our mutual love for Jesus Christ and our desire to please Him in our lives and in our wrestling program. This is something that we both want to model and pass on to our wrestlers.”