For Sonoma Valley High School senior Sean LaHane, this past weekend was something of a second chance, and he made the most of it at the Reno World of Wrestling Championships.
LaHane broke his hand during the regular season and missed the Sonoma County League Championships, won by the Dragons, and also the North Coast Section competition and missed a possible trip to the CIF State Tournament. But LaHane, wrestling in the 18-and-under division at 192 pounds, managed to capture sixth place this past weekend.
“We knew Sean was going to have a good year, so it was really disappointing – to him and his teammates – when he missed the last part of the season,” said Sonoma Valley head coach Deets Winslow. “Sean wanted one last hurrah and this was his chance to do that and he went there with a purpose.”
Winslow took five of his Dragon wrestlers, as well as two youth wrestlers, to the prestigious tournament that drew more than 2,600 youngsters from all over the country. “They hold it at the convention center for four days,” said Winslow, who took a contingent to the meet for the third consecutive year. “They use 18 mats and it’s really an incredible weekend.”
In addition to LaHane, Gerrit Van Sickle (192 pounds), Jordan Winslow (138), Austin Rose (128) and Evan Murden (128) represented Sonoma Valley High. The two youth were Matt Schimm (92 pounds) and Tyler Winslow (70).
Van Sickle went 1-2 in the 18-and-under 192-pound class; Winslow, a junior who will be back for the Dragons next season, was 2-2 in the 15-and-under 138-pound division; and Rose, a sophomore, was 2-2 in the 15-and-under 128-pound class.
Murden, the SCL champ, was 6-2 and finished in the Top 8 in the 15-and-under 128-pound division. “Evan was one win away from placing,” said Winslow. “His division was huge with 110 wrestlers in it.”
In the 12-and-under 92-pound division, Schimm went 0-2 but gained a lot of experience; Winslow, competing in the 8-and-under 70-pound class, posted a 3-2 record and finished in the Top 12.
Winslow said he likes to take his athletes to the event, because it’s a chance to see what you can do against some of the best wrestlers in the nation. “It’s an opportunity to say you wrestled in the nationals,” he said.
Speaking of last hurrahs, next season will apparently be just that for Winslow, the head coach for the past 21 years at Sonoma Valley High. Winslow has indicated he would step down when his son Jordan completed his high school career.
Winslow did not rule out coming back in a few years, when young Tyler enters high school, saying, “It depends on how he feels about wrestling at that point. He’s still only in the second grade.”
As far as next season, the Dragons are unlikely to field a team as strong or deep as the one that went undefeated in the SCL dual-match season and then claimed the SCL Tournament championship. “We will probably have five or six strong wrestlers next year, but we won’t have the depth we had this year or in previous years,” said Winslow, himself a former wrestling standout for the Dragons under his father, Roger, also a longtime coach.
Winslow said it will be difficult to be competitive with a lot of first-year wrestlers, indicating the Dragons might not even be able to field a full squad for all meets. “It could be a humbling year for us,” said Winslow.
But Winslow, an intense, dedicated and resourceful coach, has a way of getting the best out of his athletes, so nobody is writing off the Dragons just yet.
