NEW COACH, NEW TEAM

 The Whitley County Wrestling team is off the ground for another year after a successful 2011 season that saw the Colonels finish ninth in the state tournament. However, many of those wrestlers are gone along with former coach Dustin Brown.

New coach Justin Bozeman has taken over the reigns at Whitley County with high hopes. “We have quite a few back this year with Zack Bray, JT Siler, Scotty Partin and Samuel Vanover,” Bozeman said. All four made it to the state tournament last year with Partin just missing the top eight after losing to Ryle’s Josh Parker.

“You are talking about some good quality kids right there,” Bozeman said. Vanover was injured during football season for Bozeman hopes to have the junior back by the end of December. “We are looking for big things out of him, but with the bruised sternum it’s tough with his wrestling.”

“We’ve done well in the three meets we have attended,” Bozeman said. “We placed fourth at Bryan Station in a good tournament there and just three points away from third place. We just had a few weight classes that wasn’t full that hurt us.”

The Colonels started the season with 30 wrestlers, but at least  10 players have dropped off after the season started. “I have a little policy, I don’t cut them, they cut themselves. Wrestling is an individual sport and you have to be pretty tough to hang in there and do it,” Bozeman added.

Bozeman is no new comer to wrestling. “He had 14 years of experience at McCreary Central before coming to Whitley County as a football assistant. “I was gifted to have some kids that had wrestled previously at McCreary Central that helped me learn the ropes of wrestling along with the clinics I attend.”

The new coach has high hopes for this year’s team. “Scotty Partin is undefeated right now and has done very well. JT Siler has lost only once and that was to the number three kid in the state from Ohio County, 7-5,” Bozeman said. “What a match it was. There were people on their feet cheering on both boys. It was a real emotional match and could have gone either way. JT is doing a great job on the mat.”
“Those two are my leaders and I depend on them in the mat room as well as on the mat on Saturday’s,” he said.

“Brandon Lawson and Boston Bryant are newcomers to the team. They both come from the football team. They have never wrestled before, but both are very competitive kids and have really come on,” Bozeman said. “I really look for big things out of them, both have a lot of potential. Boston has lost only once this season and is 9-1 right now.”

Sickness has hampered some of the players such as Zack Bray in the 103 class. He was a state qualifier last year winning his first match against Trigg County’s Jeremiah Kline before dropping the next two matches at the state tournament.

The Colonels are just getting into the meat of their schedule this week as they go to Johnson Central. “This is a big two-day tournament,” Bozeman said. “They are one of the team’s in our region that we will have to contend with. We go to Perry County Central, Dec. 22, then to Wayne County, Wednesday, Dec. 28, hopefully that will get us ready for one of the biggest tournaments in the state at Woodford County. To really know where you are at in wrestling that is the tournament to go to. There will be 29 teams from Kentucky, Indiana and Virginia. They really bring their game to this meet.”

“This tournament will let our kids know how good they are,” Bozeman said.

The Colonels will have a heavy January schedule with the regional duals set for Jan. 14. They will have matches at William Blount in Tennessee and Coeburn, Va., along with Montgomery County and Wayne County before heading into the regional tournament, Feb. 11.