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Wave grapplers ready
to hit the mat
By George Starks
GREENVILLE - When it comes to having one of the elite programs in the
state, Greenville wrestling coach John Shutts has built the Wave
wrestling program up to gain that kind of respectability.
With Wave wrestling being on the down side in the past few years,
Shutts is looking to get his program back to where it once was.
“I don’t know if we can achieve that level this year, the way we were
three or four years ago but we are trying to get it there,” said
Shutts. “We have just five seniors and 25 kids total. I think we are
going to be stronger than we were last year but we are still a few
years away from being that powerhouse we were when we were district
runner-up but we are going to be strong as a team.”
When it comes to wrestling, losing has never been an option for
Greenville and the Wave has a winning streak going that dates back to
1976.
“We have a streak going here.” Shutts pointed out. “We’ve went 35
straight years without a losing season at Greenville and we are proud
of that. Last year we went 8-8 so we are hoping to keep that in tact
because where we are falling weight wise, we are going to be solid and
accomplish that.”
With the new weight classes going into effect, Shutts, like the rest of
the nations coaches, has a negative opinion.
“This change in weight classes was a national change, not just one in
the state,” Shutts pointed out. “I have yet to meet a coach that likes
this change. They took out a middle weight class and added another
heavyweight class. Now the people who made this change said the
decision was driven by statistics. We would love to know where they got
their numbers from. We struggle to fill the heavyweights now and right
now, we have a logjam of middleweight kids and if they would have left
things alone, we would have filled one more weight class than what
we’re going to.
“It‘s very frustrating because you have people sitting behind a desk
making decisions and when you get right down to the grassroots part of
it, the decisions are made on statistics that they shouldn‘t be made
on. I think almost every team in Ohio will struggle to fill those
weight classes, minus schools like Centerville or Wayne who has a bunch
of kids. Anybody that‘s our size or smaller is going to struggle.”
Coming back for Greenville this year will be John Edwards (152). As a
freshman, Edwards place at state and missed state by one match in his
sophomore and junior years.
“I know John is wanting to get back,“ said Shutts. “I can tell by
watching him in practice that he’s hungry. He’s practicing with lot
more intensity and he wants to go back this year.”
Edwards comes from a family of wrestlers.
“His brothers are tied for the second most wins in Greenville history
and John will eventually pass them and will become the top dog in the
family.”
Nelson just got back from a national tournament that he qualified for.
Nelson said he went up against some very tough kids there and the great
thing about Nelson is he keeps everything in perspective.. He works
hard and does a lot of off season wrestling.”
Nick Woodruff will be the 215 pounder for Wave who will look to get a
shot at the post season.
According to Shutts, the rest of the team will consist mostly of
sophomores that will be stepping into the varsity line-up.
Shutts went on to say that it will be another year of typical Wave
wrestling. Greenville will feature kids that are good and very quick on
their feet.
The Wave varsity will open up at home on Saturday, Dec. 10 with the
Greenville Invitational. Action is set to begin at 9:30 a.m.
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