Making the transition to a new head coach should not be much of an issue for the St. Clair wrestling program this season.
Brent Yule has been a football and wrestling assistant coach at St. Clair for three years. He begins his first season as head wrestling coach, replacing Mark Payne.
Yule grew up in Minnesota and attended Winona State University, where he played football.
St. Clair opens its wrestling season Tuesday, Nov. 20, at home against Borgia and Herculaneum at 6 p.m.
“I’m anxious to see how we do this year. We have a lot of first-year wrestlers from freshmen to seniors. They are picking up our system nicely and working hard every day to get better,” Yule said. “Our veterans are demonstrating great leadership abilities by helping their new teammates become acclimated to both the sport and the system.”
St. Clair’s top varsity returners are seniors Hayden Norton, Matt Gordon and Austin Koenig and juniors Dustin Conner and Skyler Hutchison.
Norton will start the season competing in the 160-pound weight class.
Gordon will compete at 195 pounds.
Koenig is expected to wrestle at 132 points.
Conner starts the season at 170 pounds.
Hutchison will compete at 182 pounds.
Yule said St. Clair’s top varsity newcomers are junior Tyler Fisher and freshmen Thomas Maple, Kris Heembrock and Ethan Koenig.
Fisher will wrestle at 285 pounds.
Maple and Heembrock both are expected to compete at either 106 or 113 pounds.
Other projected wrestlers in St. Clair’s starting lineup to start the season are Chris Algiere at 120 pounds, Chase Cohen at 126 pounds and Guy Hopper at 138 pounds.
The wrestlers at 145, 152 and 220 pounds still are being determined.
“We have a few key returners this year. I’m anxious to see how they compete and what they have to offer,” Yule said. “I look forward to seeing how we progress throughout the year. I’m very optimistic that we will have a strong showing at districts and state.”
