Wrestling program has solid foundation

by Eric Keppeler
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, December 16, 2006

Jon Hoover is in this for the long haul, and that’s a good thing.

When he took over the Lewiston-Porter wrestling program seven years ago, he understood that he was virtually rebuilding it from scratch. He paid a lot of time and attention to getting the young kids involved in the sport, and he’s only now beginning to see the dividends of that effort at the varsity high school level.

“We’re still very young and very inexperienced,” he said. “I’m keeping a lot of kids on JV to get experience. It’s tough on the varsity, but the kids need to get a few wins on JV. We give up a lot of points on forfeits, but it’s better in the long run.”

When Hoover took over the program, there were no youth wrestling programs in the district. The first thing he did was to establish one for kids in grades three through eight. There were just 15 kids in the program that first year, but it’s since grown to number 62.

Hoover’s also put a modified team in place, to complement the junior varsity and provide still more experience for his wrestlers.

“We started all of this seven years ago, and the kids are just starting to filter up to the varsity,” Hoover said. “It’s taken some time, but we’re finally starting to see the results. We’re building this program the right way. We now have a very solid foundation.”

So it’s not surprising that the undermanned varsity went 0-7 last year in the Niagara Frontier League, giving away about half of the weight classes to forfeits. That may be true again this year, but the Lancers have a few solid performers.

Senior Joe McGreevy is back for his sixth and final year in the program. Closing in on 100 career wins at Lew-Port, he was one round away from placing at sectionals last year at 145 pounds. This year, he drops to 140 pounds while his brother, sophomore Tom, steps in at 145.

Hoover has a handful of experienced wrestlers coming back, including seniors Jeff Raby (160 pounds), Mike Eoute (189) and Al Whitehead (215), as well as junior Sean Roemer (171).

He’s got a bunch of young wrestlers at the lighter weights, and they may move up to the varsity before the end of the season, but for now, they start on JV to gain experience.

Included in that group are freshmen Raedin Schroeder (103), Nick Paul (112), Ryan Schroeder (119) and Zack Green (135), as well as eighth graders Randall Pawlak (130), Dan Raybon (140) and Joe Hill (145). Also cutting their teeth on JV are Andy Finkbeiner, Shane Prafke, Justin Anderson and Chris Aiello.

Despite the youth, Hoover still has expectations.

“I think Joe McGreevy has a good chance to go to states this year,” Hoover said. “I also expect our JV and modified teams to go undefeated this year. We’re close – we’re on the verge of some great things.”