Winter '10 Prep Preview ... MHS Wrestling: New coach begins with young squad

Sophomore Jacob Teague (top) is among the young Owls who hope to benefit from the significant mat time they experienced last year. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

While that portends well for the future, at present the Owls have very little varsity experience, a challenge for first-year head coach Bryan Gaskill.

"We're real young, but we have a good group of guys who work real hard," noted the former Missouri Valley College grappler from Carmel, Ind., who took over after one year as an assistant when veteran coach Jim Heinzler was promoted to assistant principal.

With only one senior among the returning lettermen, Gaskill is understandably focusing on "the basics."

"Making sure we're working on stride and movements," he explained. "We've kept it at the basics and will grow as we go along."

Gaskill will have some good help on his staff with former Marshall wrestlers Tim Washington, most recently head coach at Smith-Cotton, and Joe Klinge. They'll have plenty of work to do, since the Owls (2-12, 1-6 NCMC) had a cumulative 116-238 record a year ago.

Among the five wrestlers who return from last year's district line-up, two made it to the MSHSAA Class 2 Championships: junior Mike Marburger (140 pounds) and sophomore Brandon Standley (119).

Marburger had many years of competition under his belt as a member of the Marshall Youth Wrestling Club before beginning his two seasons on the Owls' varsity.

"He's become more of a leader," Gaskill said. "He's a more confident wrestler in every respect."

Standley's 15 wins, eight by fall, was high among the seven returning lettermen.

"He kind of came along and peaked at the end of the year," Gaskill said. "That was a major confidence-builder coming into this year."

Sophomores Greg Bledsoe (103), Jacob Teague (130) and Austin Campbell (157) all experienced trial by fire last season and senior Josh Smith (125) got 32 matches under his belt. Junior Nic Hoffman (130) also got a taste of the varsity.

Of the newcomers, freshmen John Eitel (112), Marc Plummer (135) and Austin Stickels (160) are all veterans of the youth program and sophomore Melissa Bublitz (215) -- the Marshall program's first female wrestler -- has also competed heavily and trained under MVC coach Carl Murphree.

Added to that group are sophomore Brent Gibson (189), freshman Raven White (215) and some seniors who are either novices or haven't competed in several years: Jimmy Rector (125), Brandon Perkins (145), Chase Kempf (171) and Wade Tyre (275).

"It gives some older perspectives," Gaskill said of the value of the upperclassmen. "A lot of those guys may not know wrestling, but they work hard and bring maturity in that aspect."

Relative to the top-flight programs in the NCMC, Marshall is essentially starting from scratch, so it will be interesting to watch these wrestlers develop over the course of time. Gaskill's immediate challenge is "to build confidence" with such a young club.

"A lot of these kids are going to be around for years to come," he remarked. "We want them to see that they can do it."