Best Coaches In Kentucky Wrestling History

[Ranger123 43]

grappler believe it or not, I'm with you.  Although the numbers usually get all of the press, being a good coach is much, much more than that.  That being said, here is my list:

1) Parks/Carr - not sure who to give the credit to, so for now I'll count them as co-coaches; although most wrestlers hate them, I have gained a lot of respect for Coach Parks over the last few years coaching against him; plenty of numbers to back it up

2) Bankemper - great results (3 championships) and one of the best people you will ever meet

3) Canter - it is simply amazing the program that he built at such a small school in such a short period of time

4) Ploeser - had tons of raw talent on a lot of those Hoptown teams, but he turned them into some pretty bad wrestlers

5) Fiser - year in and year out has the best coached wrestlers in the state

Honorable mention - Matney, Badida, Kraeszig

[bluegrassbrawler 2]

Here are the team standings from the past few state tournaments.  I wish the khsaa had more results from the past.  Anyway, it just gives you an idea of how much success the coaches have had of late.

1998

1. St. Xavier 161.00

2. Scott 146.50

3. Woodford County 139.50

4. Campbell County 82.00

5. Valley 62.00

6. Trinity 57.00

7. Eastern 54.50

8. Sheldon Clark 54.00

9. LaRue County 49.50

10. Christian County 47.00

1999

1. Woodford Co. 157.5

2. St. Xavier 111.0

3. Sheldon Clark 108.5

4. LaRue Co. 102.0

5. Wayne Co. 101.0

6. Hopkinsville 95.5

7. Campbell Co. 82.5

8. Union Co. 81.0

9. Fern Creek 76.0

10. Eastern 67.0

2000

1. Woodford County  145.50

2. St. Xavier  143.00

3. Larue County  117.00

4. Campbell County  105.50

5. Henry Clay  92.00

6. Union County  87.00

7. Trinity (Lou)  65.00

8. Simon Kenton  62.00

9. Sheldon Clark  61.00

10. Scott  59.00

2001

1. St. Xavier 158.50

2. Larue County 124.00

3. Woodford County 120.00

4. Simon Kenton 103.00

5. Wayne County 102.50

6. Sheldon Clark 90.50

7. Campbell County 87.00

8. Trinity (Louisville) 77.50

9. South Oldham 63.00

10. Henry Clay 61.50

2002

1.  Woodford County 233.50

2.  Campbell County 163.00

3.  South Oldham 162.00

4.  St. Xavier 147.00

5.  Larue County 146.50

6.  Oldham County 139.50

7.  Ryle 135.00

8.  Sheldon Clark 112.00

9.  Eastern 111.50

10.  Simon Kenton 98.50

2003

1.  South Oldham 257.50

2.  Campbell County 185.00

3.  Woodford County 174.50

4.  Ryle 152.50

5.  Sheldon Clark 141.00

6.  Simon Kenton 117.00

7.  Eastern 114.50

8.  Trinity (Louisville) 108.50

9.  Larue County 105.00

10.  Henry Clay 98.50

2004

1.  Campbell County 234.00

2.  Woodford County 168.50

3.  Seneca 128.00

4.  Sheldon Clark 120.50

5.  Ryle 117.00

6.  Larue County 112.50

7.  St. Xavier 104.50

8.  Simon Kenton 95.50

9.  Trinity (Louisville) 94.00

10.  South Oldham 91.50

2005

1.  Woodford County 183.50

2.  Larue County 138.50

(tie) Ryle 138.50

4.  Campbell County 131.50

5.  Wayne County 121.50

6.  South Oldham 116.00

7.  Union County 112.00

8.  Trinity (Louisville) 110.00

9.  Conner 108.50

(tie) St. Xavier 108.50

2006

1.  Woodford County 230.00

2.  South Oldham 166.00

3.  Larue County 143.00

4.  Union County 135.50

5.  Trinity (Louisville) 112.00

6.  Oldham County 104.00

7.  Seneca 103.50

8.  Ryle 94.50

9.  North Hardin 94.00

10.  Fern Creek 92.50

[chapper88 0]

in 1998 st.x won state duals and the tournament title without a single champion

[grappler-of-old 44]

Although the numbers usually get all of the press, being a good coach is much, much more than that. 

I think another way of guaging how much impact a coach had is by looking at what the team did after they left.  You probably need to give this 2-3 years before you evaluate though.

examples:

Hopkinsville    With Ploesser top 5 team every year.

                    Without Ploesser is not a well known team.

Christian Co.  With Perrin top 5 team every year.

                    without Perrin is just now starting to re-build thier recognision.

Fern Creek    With Dentch (sp) several state champions and top 10

                  without,  Has finally made the return to top programs in state.

Sheldon Clark  With Matney a team to be feared as dual and individual

                    without?????  still to early to tell.

What will happen to the programs at Campbell Co. , Conner, or Larue when these icons leave thier respected programs? 

Lets hope we don't have to find out for a long long time.  :-D

[Guest wrestler92]

I think one coach that everyone has left out, and I can't believe a seneca kid hasn't said anything, is Anderson.  He had probably 8 or so state champions (going based on bad memory) when he was a coach at Eastern and has several the last 15 years at seneca and team wise is usually in the top 10.  That is one school that might fall prey to going downhill after the coach leaves too since every year is talked about when will coach Anderson finally hang it up.

[Guest cmccoy]

Coach Powell and Coach Headley from Henry Clay were great coaches also. They had many state champions and had Henry Clay in the top 10 year in and year out.

[Irish Wrestler 10]

You also can't forget Rick Dingus.  He was the coach at Harrison Co. in the 70's and 80's.  He had many great teams and know helps his son coach at Bourbon Co.  At the moment there are many present Harrison Co. wrestlers who's fathers were coached by Rick Dingus.  Coach Dingus got a great thing started in Harrison Co. and Coach Riegel had continued the tradition.

[pioneer_pride 1]

This is a great thread.  As far as comparing them....how about people start putting up their coach's credentials?  Such as how many state champs, how many regional titles, career winning %...etc.  Alll the other intangibles are important, but they are what they are intangibles.  I say show me the money, let's see the indisputable facts.  Obviously this is going to show Woodford's coaches way out in front...but watch out for Larue some day...they have got a really, really good feeder program going.

[PinToWin 0]

Coach Powell and Coach Headley from Henry Clay were great coaches also. They had many state champions and had Henry Clay in the top 10 year in and year out

IMHO I don't think they were great coaches, good maybe but not great. They had some great wrestlers, but I never felt that there program was one that as a wrestler you would worry about having a Henry Clay kid in your bracket.  I just don't feel that they are in the same class as some of the coaches mentioned previously.

[Ranger123 43]

You also can't forget Rick Dingus.  He was the coach at Harrison Co. in the 70's and 80's.  He had many great teams and know helps his son coach at Bourbon Co.  At the moment there are many present Harrison Co. wrestlers who's fathers were coached by Rick Dingus.  Coach Dingus got a great thing started in Harrison Co. and Coach Riegel had continued the tradition.

Yes, Coach Dingus had quite a few great teams, especially in the early 80's.  And Harrison County fell off the map when he retired.  They came back for a few years when he came out of retirement to be an assistant while his son was wrestling, but again they were down for a number of years in the late 90's.

[oldman52 0]

IMO wayne counties coach Danny Upchurch would deserve the honorable mention..  He started the program at a small school and has turned out many top notch wrestlers who are always ready to compete at the state tournament.

If I can consider club coaches/leaders the no-ox coach Joe Burroughs is one of a kind in my opinion. The guys seems really content with working hard to build a good club for the young guys.  People like him are the ones that makes the future of kentucky wrestling so bright.

[Irish Wrestler 10]

Wayne County's coach might get honorable mention for coaching, but he should get a big raspberry for sportsmanship.  I've seen him in action several times and I have to say he is a sore looser.  For example Saturday one of his wrestlers got beat he wouldn't shake the kids hand that beat his kid.  He didn't think the ref gave his wrestler points he should have and was mad.  What is he teaching his kids?  He should have shaken the kids hand even though he didn't agree with the outcome of the match.  I think to be a great coach you have to teach the kids to wrestle but you also have to teach character. 

[grappler-of-old 44]

Alll the other intangibles are important, but they are what they are intangibles.  I say show me the money, let's see the indisputable facts.

I guess then "Tark the Shark" (Jerry Tarkanian) and Bobby (I'm throwing a chair) Knight, are some of the top coaches in collage basketball according to this thinking.  :-P

[plee 0]

Wayne County's coach might get honorable mention for coaching, but he should get a big raspberry for sportsmanship.  I've seen him in action several times and I have to say he is a sore looser.  For example Saturday one of his wrestlers got beat he wouldn't shake the kids hand that beat his kid.  He didn't think the ref gave his wrestler points he should have and was mad.  What is he teaching his kids?  He should have shaken the kids hand even though he didn't agree with the outcome of the match.  I think to be a great coach you have to teach the kids to wrestle but you also have to teach character. 

You are right here...and Dan should not have done that....I wasn't there, so i obviously can't comment on that situation.  But I've known Dan for a few years now, and he definitely has a gruff demeanor, but NO ONE in this state that I know of works harder for his kids.  I've heard some amazing stories of how far he will go for his wrestlers to get them experience.  He should have shook this kid's hand, and I'm sure he'd man up and admit that....but he loves the kids he coaches like they were his own.  I've seen that time and time again from him.  So if he was a jerk on one day, maybe cut him some slack.  Hopefully he tells the kid later he was sorry or whatever.  He is an EXCELLENT coach, there is no denying that.

btw - I think with the success of m.s. & a growing youth wrestling...you're going to have to start talking more and more about some m.s. coaches on here.  My picks for top m.s. coaches would be:

Eddie Paden - Larue, Keith Ruschell - Gray, Mark Hitchings - Trinity (in no specific order).  They have really kept their h.s. programs loaded with quality wrestlers.

[Guest cmccoy]

I think there are also coaches that should be considered for the work they do for the sport of wrestling. There are several great coaches out there that only help their program. But there are also great coaches that are building programs and at the same time going above and beyond to help build the sport. For example, the Letcher coach has no state champions (yet) but is putting in four summer tournaments. this is to help build the sport in KY. Another example is Mark Hithchings. Say ehat you want about Mark and the whole Trinity issue but he worked very hard to get middle school kids involved in the Louisville area and is one of the reasons the middle schools are coming along like they are. I know there are others but Mark put a lot of work into it. So, all of this said, lets recognize coaches also that are out for the good of the sport. Sure we can measure them by state champs and state champion teams but we should consider other things.

[3/4nelson 0]

Back in the day, Coach Badida made us practice wrestling on the gravel parking lot through the week. If we won a big tournament on Saturday he rewarded us by letting us practice on the concrete parking lot on Monday only. This style of coaching made us appreciate the soft wrestling mats. This was during the era when Conner was the only team in NKy who had state champions. Some of those state champions included 5 time state finalist and 4 time state champion Robbie Clarkston.

Coach Badida was a mentor and father figure for many of us. We wanted, I wanted to win for Coach Badida. A victory, a big smile and hand shake from Coach Badida was the only incentive we needed to wrestle hard for him. Many of us felt like we were his soldiers and it was expected by the upper classman to perform and give Coach a state title. This mentality carried on for many years when Conner was one of the dominant teams in the state. We did and still do love Coach Badida. Although Coach has 19 state champions to his credit, the success of a coach is not necessarily measured by the number of champs. It is based on the love and respect his wrestlers have for him and the coaches ability to make the athlete rise to their maximal potential. I'm sure there are many wrestlers throughout the state who have similar feeling about their coach. This is what makes a coach great. Coach Badida was a great coach for me.

:-o

:-(  WOW!  Well said!! 

[Just Wrestle 0]

I would also like to say what a great job Mark Hithchings has done with his kids.  He is a big reason why Fern Creek has a great chance in winning a state title this year and why Trinity will win one over the next couple years.  And his kids really seem to love him...

[littleschool130 0]

I would also like to say what a great job Mark Hithchings has done with his kids.  He is a big reason why Fern Creek has a great chance in winning a state title this year and why Trinity will win one over the next couple years.  And his kids really seem to love him...

Hitchings really is a great coach, and I can say that even though I have never wrestled under him as part of a team. I do know however, that he let me a two of my teammates practice with them after season ended last year, and he didn't even know who I was. Everytime after those practices, he's always been outgoing and gone to say hello to me and ask how wrestling is going. He built the Fern Creek team into what it is today basically, and is going to make Trinity a freakin powerhouse. Just imagine what he can do with the numbers and talent Trinity has and the way he can just hook kids into the sport and turn them into contenders.

[eaglewrestler12 2]

Hitchings really is a great coach, and I can say that even though I have never wrestled under him as part of a team. I do know however, that he let me a two of my teammates practice with them after season ended last year, and he didn't even know who I was. Everytime after those practices, he's always been outgoing and gone to say hello to me and ask how wrestling is going. He built the Fern Creek team into what it is today basically, and is going to make Trinity a freakin powerhouse. Just imagine what he can do with the numbers and talent Trinity has and the way he can just hook kids into the sport and turn them into contenders.

I agree with that. Coach Hitchings also let me practice with the trinity team after last season ended without knowing who i was

[ccbcdeke 43]

The fact is Coach Hitchings has always let others come and wrestle.  It has everything to do with his love for the sport and him wanting to further the sport in KY.  He has done a lot for youth wrestling in KY.  I don't agree with all of his decisions, but that is something that is not worth fretting about.  All in all, I agree, he is a good coach.

[05hawks275 0]

Coach Gary canter...he is just a good coach in General.. as u can see the numbers that he is putting up back to back state duals champs..i wrestled..but track and field was my sport and i swear if i would of never wrestled for him...i wouldnt of won state in track and been throwing at a D-1 school..

[KYgrappler 4]

1999

1. Woodford Co. 157.5

2. St. Xavier 111.0

3. Sheldon Clark 108.5

4. LaRue Co. 102.0

5. Wayne Co. 101.0

6. Hopkinsville 95.5

7. Campbell Co. 82.5

8. Union Co. 81.0

9. Fern Creek 76.0

10. Eastern 67.0

Domination. Pre-32 man bracket, as well.  46 point win was HUGE back then.

Sorry had to relive some glory days.

[Guest RaiderCoach]

I would also like to say what a great job Mark Hithchings has done with his kids.  He is a big reason why Fern Creek has a great chance in winning a state title this year and why Trinity will win one over the next couple years.  And his kids really seem to love him...

The fact is Coach Hitchings has always let others come and wrestle.  It has everything to do with his love for the sport and him wanting to further the sport in KY.  He has done a lot for youth wrestling in KY.  I don't agree with all of his decisions, but that is something that is not worth fretting about.  All in all, I agree, he is a good coach.

Are you guys saying that Coach Hall has nothing to do with Fern Creek being where it is today?

[archibaldhumperdink 0]

I don't know much about winning percentage for this guy I am going to mention but I do know he changed kids lives.  Coach Lineberry for Valley Highschool back in 95ish through 98 or so.  He would have kids come from different schools and he would help them with technique and things.  He didn't care if you were from his school or not.  If you wanted to learn and could make it through his practice he would do everything he could for you.  I had a situation where my team and coaches quit and I worked out with his team and still represented my school.  He helped me and so many others realize their potential.  He loved the sport and did everything he could to help it grow.  Even if that meant trainning other kids with struggling programs, to compete against his very own team.  People like him are why I now coach the sport.

[littleschool130 0]

Are you guys saying that Coach Hall has nothing to do with Fern Creek being where it is today?

coach hitchings has more to do with their success today than hall does, but thats just what i think. i really dont know, and i doubt any of the FC wrestlers will answer until their senior year is over  :evil: