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Best Coaches?


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I know Mike Goebel was listed in the opening thread, but MD's longtime asst. coach, Randy Helfrich, has got to be one of the best wrestling coaches EVER to coach in Indiana. Technical skills out the wazoo, a great motivator, and highly respected by all those who wrestled for him.

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Jim Nicholson of Elkhart Memorial deserves a special mention, as he kept Elkhart Memorial solid for a couple decades and Brian Seltzer is on his way to bettering that by turning Memorial into an elite team for a  soon -o-be decade. 

 

Jim Nicholson should also be credited with taking a Elkhart Central wrestling team that had finsihed the previous 4 year with only a handful of wins and turning it into a team that has won four straight seasons with 15+ wins and a team regional appearance last year.

 

I think Coach Bower would be the first to credit Coach Nicholson with whats happened at Elkhart Central, but I would say he has done a great job of continuing to build on the foundation Coach Nicholson left behind.  Coach Bower is a very good coach that deserves to be in this category also.

 

 

Absolutely.  I guess I just didn't want to obscure Chuck Bowers, who has also been instrumental at EC in keeping. the ball rolling.

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For best turn around i would say Dan Briggs from Union County. we were about 16-11 or so my freshman year, then the next two years we had a combined record of 52-4. 03,04 and 04,05. Union County has about 450 students. we won sectionals and regionals for the first time in school history and we got back to back conference championships, which the school had one previously back in the 70s. Briggs has turned that program around.

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I may be a little biased but I think David Maldonado has to be near the top.  I don't know the exact numbers but in the last five years since he has been at Merrillville they have had like 25-28 state qualifiers 24 or so state placers and 4 state champions including 2 national champions. Maybe someone can give some exact numbers.

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rdrodd1,

 

I have to agree with you to some degree.

"Q" was in a class by himself. His intensity defied description.

He coached IHSAA sectional championship teams at four different schools and was an assistant coach at still another.

Not bad for a "Q-ball"

 

TheAncientElder (TAE)

 

The Imperial Potentate and Grand Poobah of Classless wrestling in Indiana.

I wear my Fez with pride.

 

www.theancientelder.net

 

 

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Proally da greatest Coach is Eddie Pendowski. He truelly is a builder of great wraslers. But da rat is truelly mad him because he is teachin all da region tricks down dare in Indy. Eddie is truely one of a kind !!!

 

And we like the fact that he is down here teaching all those tricks. Ed is not only a great coach, he also teaches the young men how to become adult men. He preaches self reliance, accepting the results of your own actions, and that grades are more important then wrestling, and they will take you further.

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Proally da greatest Coach is Eddie Pendowski. He truelly is a builder of great wraslers. But da rat is truelly mad him because he is teachin all da region tricks down dare in Indy. Eddie is truely one of a kind !!!

 

And we like the fact that he is down here teaching all those tricks. Ed is not only a great coach, he also teaches the young men how to become adult men. He preaches self reliance, accepting the results of your own actions, and that grades are more important then wrestling, and they will take you further.

Dat is very true !!!

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Great coaches in Indiana!

 

Jim Humphrey-Unattached

Tim Wright-Catherdral

Reggie Wright-Portage

Leroy Vega-Mish

Eric Douglas-LN

 

These are the coaches that could take indiana to the next level and should be in the drivers seat of Indiana wrestling.. Times have changed in the last 4 years. the regions isn't the only place wrestlers train year around. You can't just work hard, you must have great coaches... Mish proved that last year.

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Joe Burvan (Rensselaer Central) and Walt Prochno (Kankakee Valley)

 

These two coaches were class act coaches.  I know if any of you know/knew them you would agree.  Joe Burvan past away in 1995 and Walt Prochno still coaches.  These guys made boys into men and are well respected in Northwest Indiana.

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Looking at the past 10 years, Maldonado and Pendowski have to be near the top of the list. Maldonado has taken a decent program and turned into one of the best in the state. Pendowski took an ordinary program and turned them into a powerhouse year in and year out. Where these two guys separate themselves from the recent LN, Cathedral, etc. crowds is the fact that they didn't take over a powerhouse wrestling program. Don't get me wrong, the aforementioned schools have great coaches and that is why they're at Center Grove every year. I can't post on this topic without mentioning Mike Goebel as well. What he did at Mater Dei was truly amazing. His talented wrestlers were like Gremlins...get them wet or feed them after midnight and they multiply.

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When mentioning best coaches I think of those that I had a chance to coach with, against or coached by and their merits have proven them to be some of the best ever - Bo Henry-Bloomington North, Kay Hutsell - Bloomington South, Phil Strader - Perry Meridan, Clifford Myers-Bloomington, Dennis Sylvester - Columbus East, Vic Jones - Lebanon, Al Morgan - Warren Central, Frank Svarczkopf - Indianapolis Wood, Joe Patacsil - Lebanon.  Sure I know may of you have never seen them in action, only by name in the State Program.  Best by todays standards, yesterdays, and for sure tomorrows.  Long time coaches in their schools and many times up at the big house - many bringing home the big trophy.  I'm sure I will remember more after making this reply.  Just thought I would remove some dust from some of the old timers.

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I can't remember his name now but who was the coach at Muncie Delta in the mid-late 80's? He coached a few pretty good wrestlers and was also active in the off season as well.

 

Others that I agree with that have been mentioned already are

 

Lance Rhodes even though I didnt like him personally you can t argue with his success

and

Royce Deckerd--very dedicated year round and a great guy too

 

Also I may be a little biased here but Tom Knotts is not too bad either. He may not have the numbers some of the other coaches put up but he has taken bad teams and made them competive again more than once. Again he is also one who has helped with Indiana Wrestling as a whole  in the off season

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Although I agree with all of the others regarding the exceptional coaching skills of former Portage and current CIA man, Ed Pendoski, unlike most of the others, I can spell his name correctly:

 

[move]P-E-N-D-O-S-K-I    there's no "w"[/move]

 

Although's Ed's dedictaion to wrestling is unquestionable, his dedication to Michigan football is sorrowful  ;)

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