Shelby High School wrestling camp
Recently hired co-head wrestling coaches at Shelby — Gavin Speelman and Jeremiah Howe — conducted a two-day camp in the high school gymnasium to get familiar with their prospects for the upcoming 2022-23 season.
Because of previous commitments, each coach took a day to direct the camp.
Speelman noted the camp gave the wrestlers an idea what practices would be like and said “every coach does it a little bit different.
“It gave us the opportunity to stretch together, do warm ups together and jump into a little bit of technique and wrestle live. That’s what we’ll do everyday and plug in different techniques on different days.”
For Howe, camp, he said, was “an introduction to the kids. This is the first meeting I’ve had with them and get an idea where they’re at wrestling-wise. We’re here to knock off some rust and get ready for the season.”
The co-coaches assume the reins from interim coach Jake Hogan, who took over midseason for Ted Tonn.
Both coaches said there are no radical changes in store for the program.
“We will be sharing the duties. That will be different, but for me wrestling is wrestling. Having an extra person to bounce off ideas is good,” said Speelman.
“I’m looking forward to it. This is the opportunity to sustain a wrestling program and start kids in wrestling when they’re really young.
With girls wrestling being sanctioned by the OHSAA, it will be an opportunity to build on both,” said Speelman.
“We’re building,” said Howe. “We know the program has had success in the past and the numbers are really good at both the high school and middle school levels. We’ll spend the time to progress where they need to
progress and get better every day and be competitive.”
Both coaches have extensive backgrounds in the sport.
Speelman said he was exposed to the sport as a toddler.
“My earliest wrestling memories are watching my dad coach,” said Speelman, who graduated from Madison. He had an older brother who wrestled and was his drill partner in the practice room.
Speelman racked up 130 wins in his high school career and was a two-time state alternate.
His first taste of coaching was at Mansfield Senior and a stint afterward at Madison. When he went to pursue a
Master’s degree at Mount
Union, he served a a graduate assistant with the Purple Raiders.
A graduate of Northmor where he was a state qualifier as a senior, Howe then went on to wrestle four years at Heidelberg University. From there, he coached four years at a high school in Indiana before returning to
the area and coaching a year at Crestview before the last three were spent back at his alma mater.
Howe knows the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference is competitive and sees the Whippets battling.
“Our intention is fill every weight class. I know we’re pretty young, but we have decent numbers,” said Howe. “We want to compete in every tournament and come away with a MOAC title, get wrestlers to district and get wrestlers to state.” In closing, Speelman said “I didn’t grow up rich. I grew up wrestling rich because I had so many great people around me and great opportunities. I want to give back, give out that equal or better
opportunity that I was given. That’s what is great about the sport of wrestling.”
The 2022-23 season opener for the Whippets is Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Tom Ellis Classic held at Mansfield Madison.