How to Build a Winning Team Culture in HS Sports (2022): Part 14

According to the November 2010 Wrestling Insider Magazine (WIN) article titled “Top Ten Wrestling ‘Hot Spots’ in the United States” Lehigh Valley, PA is the number 1 hot spot for wrestling in the U.S. The article highlights the area “Located on Pennsylvania’s eastern edge, the Lehigh Valley still comes to more minds than any other. It’s not the biggest area as population goes, but no area has more programs with traditions established generations ago that continue to this day.

Easton High, Nazareth High and Northampton High have been the region’s “Big Three” for the past two decades, but other teams have been in the mix, too: Allentown Parkland High, Bethlehem Liberty High, and most recently, Pleasant Valley High, located in Brodheadsville, on the northern edge of the region. All compete in ultra-competitive District 11, and Liberty’s spacious, centrally-located gym, which hosts the area’s 3A district and region meets, as well as other big mat events, has become known as “District 11 Way.”

Media coverage of Lehigh Valley wrestling reflects its popularity. With no professional sports teams in direct competition for the space, the Allentown Morning Call and the Easton Express-Times are all wrestling, all the time in season, and the season’s major matches are staples on local cable.

Anchoring the area’s wrestling fanaticism: Bethlehem’s Lehigh University. Like the area’s high-school programs, Lehigh boasts a tradition that goes back generations (34).” It is hard to believe that up until the mid-1940’s, aside from Bethlehem, the best high school wrestling teams were coming from other areas of the state, in particular district 7 of Western Pa.

Wrestling began in the Lehigh Valley in 1910 when Lehigh University started its program under Frank Lynch. In 1912, when Lehigh hired Billy Sheridan as head coach, wrestling began to make an indelible mark on the Valley as rich as those established by landmark corporations such as Mack Trucks and Bethlehem Steel.

By 1950, the “original six” wrestling high school teams of the Lehigh Valley consisted of Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton Nazareth, Northampton, and Phillipsburg. As many of those early wrestlers returned from wrestling in college and began taking over as coaches themselves in the valley, the competition increased, and the area began its ascent toward becoming one of the best in the nation.

The tradition is such that grandfathers are now watching their grandson’s wrestle on the same mats, for the same teams, as they once did. Many of the local meets are standing room only. Media

The area broke through in 1976. That year several wrestlers from the area won Pennsylvania State Championships. Then in 1994, the area became nationally recognized, with Northampton being named USA Today’s number 1 team in the country.

Year round training, weightlifting, and wrestling all around the country soon became staple of top flight Pennsylvania wrestling programs. Then the youth and elementary school programs began popping up all over the state, creating feeder programs that would ensure greater levels of competition for future generations of high school wrestlers. 

Since 1999, Lehigh Valley high school teams have won nine of the 18 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association dual-team titles. In the center of this is Easton High School.

Easton played an important role in the Revolutionary War. During the Revolutionary War, General John Sullivan led 2,500 Continentals from Easton to engage British Indian allies on the frontier. Of particular historical significance, along with Philadelphia and Trenton, Easton was one of the first three places to have heard the reading of the Declaration of Independence.

With its strong German heritage, Easton has been recognized as the place where one of the country’s first Christmas trees was erected in 1816. There is a plaque commemorating this event at Scott Park. The median income for a household in the city was $33,162, and the median income for a family was $38,704.

With a high school enrollment of roughly 2600, Easton is one of the strongest wrestling programs in the country. Easton is second in Pennsylvania history with 35 state champions, Olympic gold medalists, NCAA champions, and over 20 NCAA All-Americans.

Before Brandon wrestling’s “Streak”, Easton had a wrestling “Streak” of its own. From 1948 to 2015, Easton set a Pennsylvania record with at least one champion at the District 11 Tournament every season.

Easton Wrestling Overview

• Six Pennsylvania State Championships (81,83,96,97,01 and 02)
• Finished in the top 5 for the state 18 times
• 4 State Dual Meet Championships in a row (01,02,03,04)
• Made it to the State Dual Meet Finals 8 times
• Nationally Ranked #1 public high school in 96,97,01, and 02.
• Earned National ranking 14 times from 1989 to 2011.
• Wrestling USA named Easton the best public school program (and 3^rd best overall high school program) during the 1990’s.

After 32 years as the head coach of Easton Wrestling, Steve Powell retired in 2016. He amassed a 532-126-3 record with four state championships, and four state duals championships. His eight combined state titles are the most of any coach in Pennsylvania history.

His words of wisdom reflect his years of successful leadership in one of the toughest sports, in the toughest area for that sport in the country. Coach Powell expresses “The word I would use to describe our program is Heritage. We have such a family involvement here. This involvement and support have created a tremendous stability in our program. This is my 40^th year with the program. We are a wrestling hotbed of the country. We have a target on our back. We have had 12 NCAA semi-finalists. Most colleges don’t have that many. We take great pride in the number of kids that have gone on to college and have become All-Americans.

In the state championship years, we always have great community support, but we have also had an incredible sport culture. The kids, the coaches, the parents, and the entire community all put a tremendous amount of time into it.

I view being a coach similar to being a military leader. When you establish trust with the kids and the community, the reputation begins to feed off itself. We drink form the wells that came before us. You get your state championship, then know you can do it again, and again. After Roger Banister broke sub 4 in the mile, 100 people did it soon after.  Brain Snyder, a state champ in 97 was an assistant for a long time. He was a 4 time All-American and earned his doctorate in Sports Culture. We have talked that wrestling almost becomes like a cult in the commitment and passion required to succeed.”

You step on the mat, you succeed and fail on your own. Athletic ability helps, but the kids that persevere can do just as well. Grit is a huge word. You need that attitude that I am going to win. You wonder what percent of wrestling is lifting, technique, strength, versus mental and confidence. The one that shoots with confidence is the one that will succeed” expresses Powell.

“One of the biggest things I have changed since I started in 77, is I am not as demanding. Now it is so much year round, I would like to think that we teach the kids to become their own coach. I am not as demanding any more. I control style less, rather teaching kids to develop own personality on the mat. We try to teach them technique that works for them, rather than change their personality. They still have to buy into what we are teaching.

We have been blessed with a great staff and boosters club. We have had tremendous stability in both of these. We sell between 200-400 season tickets each year. We wrestle in an awesome environment, with TV stations, and lots of media exposure.

We are a really diverse community. Most kids start at 40-45 lbs or 5 years old. At 6,7, and 8 year old they go out on the mat and wrestle and everybody wins. We have two junior high programs that may travel to one overnight tournament a year, then at club year throughout the year. Then on to JV and Varsity, while continuing with club. Wrestling is becoming a club or rich persons sport, because of how much travel is required now” shares coach Powell.

“Our assistant coaches both coach football as well as wrestling. We have one of our guys now coaching at the University of Buffalo. I picked him in gym class. He wrestled JV his junior year. He had incredible commitment. He placed 5^th in the state of Pennsylvania his senior year, after just 2 years of wrestling. He went to Kutztown for a year then traveled to DI and won two matches in Olympic trials. Now he is going to this year’s world trials. He bought into it. His parents bought into. Through this buy in and his commitment, he is achieving his goals.”

 “Inject a football team with wrestlers. Many of your major college D1 coaches love the idea of football players wrestling. Hand fighting, leverage, balance, grit. It has worked really well for pro athletes.

Wrestlers also make great military professionals, in particular, Navy Seals. They can teach a wrestler to swim, but it is difficult to teach that wrestling mentality. Dealing with adversity, getting up when knocked down, scrapping all the time. The head of the Navy Seals is a former Lehigh wrestler” shares Powell.  

Powell shares “We talk about it all the time. We train toward that goal. The last 2 years we probably had what we may consider unsuccessful seasons. We were still 1^st or 2^nd in district 11 and one of the top teams in the state. Your real measurement is how much the kids and team improve through each year.

This is the way we work, and these are our expectations. No matter where you finish, if you wrestle, you are a winner. Perspective of the individual is key to success on the mat and in life. Look at the example of Tom Ryan, the Ohio State Wrestling coach.

He was cut from his junior high basketball team, then decided to try wrestling. He won his county 3 times, but just missed a state title. Finished fourth in the state, then 3^rd, then tore a ligament and missed it his senior year. He went to Syracuse for a couple years, then walked on to Iowa, and wrestled under Dan Gable for three years. At Iowa he was a Big Ten Champ and 2X All-American. This guy knows how to overcome adversity and get up and succeed. He lost his 5 year old son back in 2004 to a heart disorder. He climbed back from that and has been named NCAA coach of the year 2 times and won the NCAA National Championship.

One of the neat things in wrestling is you get what you earn. When you are beginner everybody wins a medal, but once you put some time into it, you get what you earn. An Olympic gold medal may cost 10 bucks down the street at a store, but earning one means something completely different. Every kid that steps on the state championship podium knows they earned it. Wouldn’t trade state medals for Olympic medals as one doesn’t mean more than the other. All the championships mean the same! They were all something you had to put the hard work in to earn.”

According to Powell “Motivating is different with every kid. After college you think you know everything, then realize 30 years later don’t know anything. The assistant coaches help to pick up on what I miss. We recognize that every kid is important. You have to sell improvement! If I can place third, then place second the next year, I have improved. When a kid achieves a goal, it makes your day as a coach. You get wins every day. Every coach has hardship kids, and if you can help them succeed in life, those are all wins. You won’t know for another 20 years if you were a successful coach until you see how these kids turned out.

It is self-perpetuating when parents who you coached want their kids being coached by you. As a gym teacher, kids build trust in you. They come and ask in high school if you feel they could wrestle for you. The first year in wrestling is really hard. For both athletes and parents. Just when an athlete is feeling down in the dumps, you get a big win and come right back for more.”

According to Powell “Being a captain is a unique thing. Any coach that has put some time into it knows the captain is a coach on the field. They are a big connection between you and kids. Especially with hazing and team unity. Having another set of eyeballs helps tremendously. They know right and wrong but sometimes they don’t think things out. You have to teach a captain to be a captain, to be a leader. This is what I need you to do here, there, etc. This is super important when taking 16, 17, and 18 year old’s all over the country for wrestling meets.”

“We have won as a program so much you wonder how much the community realizes that what we have is not normal. Having season tickets, that many kids go to states, sell outs, etc, is not normal. To a degree it is now just expected. You have to keep really stepping up and improving. Some kids may have the ability and potential, but he has to make that commitment. It is a pretty solid commitment. Hopefully we never want it to be something that kids and people in the community feel is automatic. You have to earn everything in wrestling, and most times, earn it the hard way, through work ethic, perseverance, commitment, and just pure grit and mental toughness” shares Powell.

A 2007 study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found perseverance and passion, aka grit, to be more predictive of success than IQ and talent in achieving long term goals. Duckworth A, Peterson C, Mathews M, Kelly D. Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 92(6); Pp 1087-1101. 2007.

According to Powell “This is something we talk about all the time. The life lessons in wrestling are phenomenal. When you are getting recruited by an Ohio State, they want the kids that are honest, loyal, committed, and respectful. The same qualities required at a job working in a factory.

Character traits, rather than wins, are a thing a coach really needs to sell. One of the bigger things of the sport is that kids need to buy into working not only harder, but smarter. With a PE background, I try to spend a lot of time on the importance of heart rate. You want a practice that is intense, upbeat, and at a certain heart rate range. Kids need to understand that they need to push, working at a 160-180/200 heart rate.

We will do 30 second sprints and work our way up to doing 10 the week of the states. One of the best cross country runners in our school’s program could not do this. With each sprint you only have 30 seconds to recover.

Quality weight lifting is huge. Some kids that are very strong may not be great technique wise. We work heavily on proper technique as this is what builds strength while minimizing risk of injury.”

“Pennsylvania was and is a working class state, minus having cities. Everybody worked at factories back then. They all followed each other, going to football games and wrestling matches. That gritty, factory, blue collar work ethic became contagious throughout the community.

We have Penn state, Lehigh, Penn, Pitt, Edinboro, Bloomsburg, Clarion, Lock Haven, and more. There is more opportunity than in any other state. Then those guys who go off and wrestle in those programs come back to the local towns and give back by coaching. PA generally has close to 60 competitors in the NCAA tournament. The number of wrestling opportunities in PA are incredible” expresses Powell.

Powell believes “If it is a positive direction, the passion of a wrestler can lead to great success. If you are a Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, when your job is your passion you will become success. So many wrestlers that are successful, it is because of a lot of hard work. But for many of these guys, the work is not a negative. It is fun. They learn to love to drill. They learn to love the challenge.

There is no nervousness anymore in NCAA. The personality of the sport has changed. It is now fun. They are no longer afraid of losing. They are all working on improving each and every day. They are all trying to become the best versions of themselves they can be. It is a huge positive for the sport. I can do this is the mindset now. Any kid that has become successful is clearly having fun.

Discipline is critical. Jordan Oliver always did it with a passion. We had a heavyweight t that won the reno tournament. He overcame early losses in his career. But he persevered. Perseverance is huge in wrestling. Not many kids are going to start at the top. Many have scratch, and claw, and grind to get there.”

“I think that is something you must talk with wrestlers all the time. If you win in the semis, you still have to perform well in your next match. As soon as you are starting to feel pretty good, the next thing you know you are losing. Your personality flaws will haunt you every time.

We had 5 kids take 3^rd, we were not in top 10 then earned our way up to taking 2^nd. A group of kids that you can be proud of because of the adversity they overcame. Every one of those kids that is not going in the right direction is going in the wrong direction for a reason. Problems, life problems, you have to put yourself in their shoes. I have had the 4am middle of the night phone calls; my brother was shot; my mom and dad are not home. Working with all the goods and all the bad. You try to get everybody on the bus going the same direction.

The other 50% – it is a new battle every day. Sometimes you get the kids that all that matters is wrestling, and you need to work on behavior, sportsmanship, and grades” shares Powell.  

Powell expresses “I have never been that much of a reader over the years. Recently I started reading business success and leadership books. The Sky is Not the Limit and 25 Secrets of Sustainable Success. All of these principals in these books are the same.

Praise publicly and condemn privately. Set your goals high. Your choices are easy when you know what your goals are. The author came from 12^th street in Easton; he won districts, then went to temple on a wrestling scholarship. He was captain twice there as a junior and senior. Now he runs a 5 billion dollar insurance and investment company.

The enthusiasms of people like that is contagious. Sport psychology is becoming huge for Lehigh and Maryland. Do the little things, get all the odds and ends out of the way so your mind is clear for the upcoming meet. It is amazing what focus can do. A Northampton kid made it to the NCAA finals as a freshman this year. We had kids beat him 2 years ago. He had an out of body experience and made some giant upsets and made the finals due to his attitude. He got rid of all stressors and went out and let it fly.

How did Cael Sanderson do it? To never have a bad day? The Mormon work ethic second to none. Sanderson took third in a Reno tournament we were at in 1996. He then stepped it up and did pretty well the rest of his career.

Cary Kolat was a Pennsylvania legend. At the time the Foxcatcher thing was going on. So, he drove all the way across the state to workout at Foxcatcher. Think about it, he drove across the entire state just to workout. That was just his mentality. Now he is the head coach at Campbell University. We just had the first college All-American from Vermont. In wrestling, no matter where you go, the kids are the same and coaches are the same. They have all gone through it. They all have a respect for what it takes.

The biggest thing with our program is it is not a one man show. We have solid assistants. Our kids come from solid youth programs. The booster’s president was a wrestler and is heavily into the wrestling programs. We have a whole lot of people, in essence, a community, to raise these kids. With our program, it takes a community, and we have been blessed and lucky enough to have a great one.”

Thanks for reading!

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