Also, these small schools get hit hard by this time of the season with injuries and scholastic issues (kids...please go to class and make the grades).
So Tech's coach told me while we were waiting on SWVa to show up for weigh ins that their coach had called him and their 133 lb kid wasn't on weight, so he wasn't coming...uh oh. That wasn't good, because Logan Robertson was finally going to have a little bit of a home crowd at a dual, 4 years after he won his last high school match in the State Finals, and I was afraid he wasn't even going to have a match. Thankfully, SWVa was bringing a 141 pounder, and Tech doesn't have one, so they said he and Logan could wrestle an exhibition bout.
Why Logan was having a decent group watching him last night was the reason for this post. His mom and I were there, like we are for almost every match, and his sister came down from Charleston, and his Uncle got to come over to watch...
But also, his high school coaches from four years ago, Jeremy and Stevie Tincher of Greenbrier West, loaded up a school bus with the entire high school wrestling team and brought them to Beckley to watch. Jeremy was still coaching Logan from the bleachers, and the kids cheered the entire match, especially when Logan won by "injury default" (translation...Logan was winning 13 to 3 and the kid wasn't liking getting rolled and tilted all over the mat by a 133 pounder, and didn't want to get teched, and he broke).
My point being...these kids give their high school coaches their blood, sweat, and tears, and leave their hearts and souls on the mat. The coaches (the good ones, at least) do the same for the kids...but, it doesn't just end when they graduate. The kids will have a friend for life. Most of these high school coaches would do anything they can do to help or support their former wrestlers, no matter how many years it's been. I'm sure other sports may be similar, but I have to think that the relationship is a little more intimate in wrestling, because no matter what others say, it's the toughest sport they can do in high school, by far.
So, appreciate your high school coaches, especially if you're lucky enough to have really good ones. They're gonna be there long after high school careers are over.
As an added bonus, the kid Logan wrestled was a Virginia state champ...it's always a little extra nice to beat state champs from other states
