Buccaneers grapplers readying for inaugural season

Published 9:23 am Saturday, April 26, 2008

KINGSTON — Kingston coach Bobby Reece felt right at home.

It was only the second day of wrestling practice Nov. 13, and Reece was beaming. One of Kingston’s lifelong residents and youth wrestling coaches truly was thrilled to hit the mats with his wrestlers in the Kingston High School commons.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he said. “This is my home right here on the mats. This is what I want to do, and this is where I want to be for a while. I want to build this program for the long haul.”

Reece said he’s looking forward to having a full lineup at his disposal in the first year of the program. Currently, 35 wrestlers have already turned out for the team.

“It’s amazing having this many kids on the team,” he said. “At the high school level, it’s always a struggle to fill all of the varsity spots on a lineup. We won’t have that problem. I’m very confident we’ll go into every match with a full team.”

Due to the large turnout, open varsity slots will be scarce.

Reece is looking forward to seeing wrestlers on his roster battle for those varsity positions. Although the majority of the squad is inexperienced, he said they will be in better physical condition than their opponents.

“We have a lot of young wrestlers. But in the third round, a wrestler that’s inexperienced will beat an experienced wrestler who doesn’t have the stamina,” he said. “No team will train as hard as we do. We will be good at conditioning and basic fundamentals of wrestling.”

Mondays, wrestlers will compete in “challenges” against wrestlers in their respective weight classes for the coveted varsity slots.

“Every Monday there will be challenges,” Reece said. “They’d better use their weekends wisely. This is the first time as a coach where I will have enough wrestlers on a team to allow them to take it to the mats every week to see who the varsity wrestler will be. Each competitor will get a chance to prove themselves every week.”

Senior 112-pounder Willis Castle is excited about his senior season, which will be his first one as a Kingston Buccaneer grappler. Castle compiled a 24-10 record last year for the Vikings.

“Wrestling for Bobby is going to be fun. He’s into hard work,” he said. “He brings a lot of energy and that effects the entire team. I think he’s going to be a great head coach.”

Freshman 112-pounder Kiana Witt is new to the high school program but she isn’t new to the sport of wrestling. Witt lost just one match last year at Kingston Junior High School and possesses a plethora of mat experience, wrestling competitively for the past seven years.

“I know in high school a lot of my opponents will be stronger,” she said. “I’m going to have to get stronger this year and get better at my moves.”

Senior Frank Colpaert enjoyed wrestling under the tutelage of Jon Cooke at North Kitsap High School the past three years, but is excited about the opportunity to learn from Reece this season.

“If you could pick one person to be your coach on this side of the water it would be Bobby Reece,” he said. “I wrestled for his team in junior high. He’s a younger coach who knows how to relate to his wrestlers.”

While Reece may be “a players coach,” fans shouldn’t mistake that for lackadaisicalness.

“He’s all about work ethic. It doesn’t matter if you’re a wrestler who’s gone to state or a first year wrestler,” Colpaert said. “If you don’t have the work ethic, you won’t be on his mat. Period.”

Fellow senior Cale Levengood, who will wrestle in the 152-pound weight class, is one of those first-year wrestlers who’s decided to try his hand at the sport for the first time in his life this November.

“This is my first year. Hopefully I will do good and have fun,” he said. “Coach (Reece) convinced me to come out for the team this year.”

Colpaert said he hopes this year’s seniors set an example for future classes of Buccaneers in the wrestling program.

“We have a chance to get the Kingston wrestling reputation started,” he said. “That’s on and off the mat. When we’re older… 10 years from now we want to look back and say the class of 2008 started this all. We want to do something for our school.”