A young, rebuilding wrestling team from Elphinstone Secondary School showed a lot of improvement and promise at the annual Rudolph Rumble — their lone home meet of the season — on Thursday, Dec. 4.
With coach Clint Fox turning the reins over to new coach Eric Sullivan, the Cougars are a small group this season with four vets and four first-time wrestlers.
The Rumble was a chance for all of them to get in three matches against quality competition from Sentinel, Collingwood and Carson Graham.
The results were very encouraging for Sullivan, who said he saw vast improvements from everyone since their first competition on the North Shore a few weeks ago.
“Everyone is very committed and they have worked really hard,” Sullivan said. “Clint had a good succession plan and I came out last year and worked with the wrestlers. That really helped with the transitioning, and my focus is to run a very similar program. The core group last year was all in Grade 12 and they did some amazing things at provincials and nationals. This year is more rebuilding and focusing on the present for some, but really building the program for the future.”
The here and now includes Scout Stipec and his brother Percy who both had excellent showings last Thursday. Sullivan said both veteran wrestlers are now the leaders on the team and they have shown that leadership with the young newcomers.
Sullivan said having a young team is a blessing — and a curse.
“It can be intimidating to come into a gym to compete and see 30 or 40 wrestlers on one team — they own the mat — and we kind of come in with four or five wrestlers,” he said. “It’s a blessing because as a first-time head coach, I can work more closely with each wrestler. I’ve seen huge growth from just a week ago. At one of the first meets at Sentinel, we had a really tough time, but everyone learned from that, stepped up, asked for after-hours training and really put in the work. Then you see what they all did at the Rumble and the results are there. Some got their first wins on Thursday. They all have some amazing talent. Now the task is melding that talent with the skills needed to be successful on a consistent basis.”
The Rumble used a weight line format meaning four wrestlers were grouped according to age and size with the idea of each competitor getting three matches in a short amount of time.
“The outcome is less important than the process of getting used to a match,” Sullivan said. “We are not worried about points for teams or individuals, it’s just getting comfortable on the mat.”
Besides building the program at the high school level, Sullivan, who teaches at Gibsons Elementary School, is also building the program at the elementary level with the idea of getting elementary students involved with the senior team later in the year.
“The largest contingent is actually at the elementary level. We have some amazing talent and I want to grow and support that talent,” he said. “If we can slowly bring these students up to the senior level, we will have the makings of a huge, talented team. My goal is to win a provincial championship. It’s my 10-year plan. I want to see a banner in the Elphinstone gym.”
Helping Sullivan to achieve those lofty goals are former Elphi student and wrestler Mike Rines, who recently graduated from the University of Calgary. Rines is working on his teaching certificate and is helping with the team. He hopes to come back and teach on the Coast and also help coach the team full time, Sullivan said.
George Richey’s influence also continues to be a big part of the team.
“George’s fingers were all over Clint’s team and now my team,” Sullivan said. “He helped me when I was a wrestler. It’s just a few of his techniques that really make a difference for us.”
And even though he is retired, Fox continues to help out the team wherever he can.
“When Eric offered to take over the team, I was thrilled,” Fox said. Finding a replacement wrestling coach is difficult. But finding someone like Eric who has a huge reputation for his hard work on behalf of his athletes is almost impossible. He made it so much easier to step away from the team I have coached for many years.
“I was worried that when I left the team that wrestling would not be an option for the students at Elphinstone. I have always thought it was important to offer a balance of team and individual sport choices to students and the loss of the wrestling team would disrupt some of that balance. Eric’s willingness to step up and his athletes’ success on the mat have ensured that wrestling remains an option for athletes at Elphinstone.”
