ETV News stock photo by Jeff Barrett
The Dino grapplers will welcome a new coach for the season, a former Dino wrestler himself, Trent Greenhalgh. He had the privilege to wrestle for the late Dave Smith and hopes to bring back the same determination and resilience to the program.
“Coach Smith was a huge inspiration for me. I always thought I wanted to coach wrestling because of him,” began Greenhalgh. “I just want to bring back the old Coach Smith style, hard-nosed. He used to always tell us that, ‘we may not be the best wrestlers, but we’re going to be the most gritty.’ I want to bring a never quit, we may lose but they’re going to know were are there, attitude.”
With only three seniors on the roster, Carbon has a lot of youth. A large number are freshman, which allows time for Greenhalgh and his staff to develop. “I coached a lot of them through junior high,” added Greenhalgh. “We’re a little short on experience, but we’re going to make up for it with heart and hard work.”
There are also a handful of juniors that have a lot of experience and will be looking to turn some heads this year. Another feather in the Dinos’ cap is they have an assistant coach, Levi Mele, who wrestled at Northwestern in the Big 10. He brings a plethora of knowledge and experience to the program.
“Everything we’re teaching in the room right now is going to work at every weight,” commented Greenhalgh.
Part of establishing a culture is setting clear expectations. Greenhalgh and company have implemented a creed that holds all wrestlers accountable. One that sets a “won’t back down… won’t give up” mentality and the athletes are buying in. That bodes well for the season and the program.
“I’m excited,” concluded Greenhalgh.