HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING Great Bridge coach Small to step down
CHESAPEAKE — Ten seasons, two state titles, nine individual champions.
After rebuilding a proud and tradition-rich Great Bridge program back into a powerhouse, coach Matt Small is stepping down at the conclusion of the school year.
“It has been such an honor to help rebuild something to carry on the legacy, the tradition, the pride,” said Small, a Great Bridge alum. “To be able to coach a second generation of kids — I’ve coached an Allred, a Basnight, a Jackson, a Curling, a Martin. I’ve coached second- and third-generation Wildcats.”
But Small feels like “it’s time” to move on after over a decade as a head coach. He also served as the coach at Grassfield and Cox, where he won the state title in 2010 and had two teams nationally ranked. Overall, he’s coached 18 individual state champions who have won 24 state titles.
“I’m at a point in life where I want to coach in a different capacity,” Small said.
Deeply ingrained within the Great Bridge wrestling pipeline, Small plans to continue coaching with the Wildcats’ youth wrestling club and if the new high school coach allows it, help out there.
Small made clear the COVID19 pandemic had nothing to do with his decision. While Chesapeake Public Schools canceled the winter sports season, Great Bridge’s club program could still operate separately and it’s had a successful season.
The club team has wrestled in eight national events since August with wrestlers competing in close to 50 matches. It’s been a vital lifeline for some of the program’s best, like Harrison Smith, who were unable to participate in a high school season.
Smith is ranked in the top 20 nationally and would have been a state title favorite.
Looking back on his time at Great Bridge, Small recalls the first of the team’s two state titles under his direction in 2017 when he didn’t realize what the team scores were.
“I had no idea,” Small said “I was not paying attention to team score. Eastern View (which was leading by one point) had put five in the finals. Kyle Canavan pins a kid in his finals at 152 and we’re done. I look at (an assistant coach) to see how well we are doing and he smirked at me.”
The state title in 2019 was much more convincing as the Wildcats won by 31 points.
“There’s alumni in our community when things improved and we won our first state title in 2017 and then in 2019 — those guys reached out to me and called me,” Small said. “They’re invested in the program.”
Now Small becomes one of those intense cheerleaders and he believes the future is bright for Great Bridge wrestling.
“I want Great Bridge to be the best program within the state,” Small said. “I want them to be nationally ranked. I think we’re in a good position to do that now.”