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As our society has changed over the last 20 years or so, school funding has been at the forefront for virtually all school districts, and sports is the most logical, and sadly, most obvious place for funding cutbacks. Thus we have the pay-to-play concept, and while it has hurt many programs in their operations, schools have learned to deal with it.
The Cardinal district has dealt with it for many years, but they have persevered through tough times by relying on tradition. The Cardinal wrestling program, under coach Jeff Zeigler, is at the forefront of this concept, and maintained that tradition while continuing to tread water overall as a program.
“We lost three lettermen from last year,” he said recently. “At the same time, we’re young enough to have 11 lettermen back, and with two new kids this year, we’re not going to be able to fill all of our weight classes, but we do have some quality kids on the team who should do well.”
Leading the way for Zeigler is 4 year letterwinner and state qualifier Ian Mast, going in the 126 pound class.
“This year, I’m definitely looking to get to state again,” he said. “I really am looking to get up on that podium as a state winner, but my biggest goal is to take some of my teammates with me this year, as far as they can go. It’s important for me to be a leader, too.”
While dealing with four vacant weight classes, at 106, 145, 170, and heavyweight, Zeigler still has much quality to work with , gearing up for tournaments instead of dual meets as many teams have in the far distant past.
“We have a lot of kids with limited varsity experience,” the veteran leader, now in his 25th year coaching at Cardinal, said.
“The pay-to-play part of it is tough,” he admitted. “Our kids pay $400 per sport, and that’s tough on a lot of families, especially in a small community like ours. The support is great, but we don’t get all the kids we hope for. Without the big numbers to work with, we have to point toward tournaments. We won our own holiday tourney a couple weeks ago, and we’ll look to go to others along the way before sectionals, districts, and state tournaments begin.”
Mast is a solid core to build from.
Sophomore Trent Mast will be the guy at 113, Zach Loze and Brandon Nevison will battle for time at 120, Ian Mast is the rock in the 126 pound grouping, along with freshman Mason Lustig, and Brandon Neikirk will man things at 132.
Craig Shanower will take the mats at 138, transfer from Lakewood High Moe Samir will be the guy at 152, his brother Khaleel Samir will go at 160, Bryan Havel will grapple at 182, Donovan Drebus will go at 195, and Lester Moyer will spend time swinging between 220 and Heavyweight, depending on the opponents. He is more suited for the 220 pound class due to his size.
“We’ve got a lot of tradition here to build from,” Zeigler said. “Ian’s dad wrestled for me when I was a young coach, and many of the kids who’ve come through our program have had fathers and uncles who had a lot of success here at Cardinal a long time ago. I’ve had a load of fun with this program, I’ve seen many kids go on to higher levels, and we have a lot to be proud of here. I’d love to see more kids come out, but it’s just tough on families financially most of the time.”
Ian Mast has had a ton of recent successes, which he hopes to build on in this, his senior season at Cardinal. At the same time, he is torn as to where his future in sports goes beyond this senior year.
“I’d love to play sports in college,” he admitted. “At the same time, I’m not sure if I want to wrestle or play soccer. I love both of them, they both take a lot of hard work and preparation, but I really have a load of fun with both of them.”
It’s tough to give away points for vacant weight classes in dual meets, but with a solid core of grapplers like Coach Zeigler has, along with his dedication to the school system and his team, don’t expect a poor showing on the mats for the Cardinal Huskies this year or any time soon. They should just keep reloading each season, and if, heaven forbid, there should be a cut in pay-to-play prices or even the whole concept, success will come to the Huskies in wrestling, as well as the other sports they field teams for.
Cardinal has a long history of success no matter the conditions for playing, and the hope and positive direction for the Huskies should continue for a long time, too.
Ian Mast has it in full view.
“Many of the tougher guys I wrestled have graduated, but I know the competition will be tough this year,” he added. “I just want to be a good leader and help this program to more success and tradition for the future.”
Count on it.
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