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Every high school has had its premier sports programs. In Oak Harbor, that program is wrestling.
The last five seasons have seen the Rockets embark on an incredible run that saw them win the Sandusky Bay Conference five consecutive years, not to mention that the team has placed in the top five in the Division II state meet each time, finishing third, second, third, second and fifth, respectively.
This season, however, 19th-year coach George Bergman believes he and his wrestlers have their work cut out.
Gone from last year's squad is state champion Tyler Hackworth, three state runners-up (Ian Miller, Konnor Witt, Jake Cramer) a state-placer (Shawn McGee) and most of the 12 district qualifiers.
Like a number of Rocket wrestlers before them, Miller and Witt have gone on to wrestle collegiately. Miller is wrestling at Kent State University and Witt is a grappler for the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
That does not mean the cupboard is bare at Oak Harbor. Five (Alex Bergman, Alec Bullock, Hunter Gresh, Brock Evans, Luke Cramer) district qualifiers return. In addition, Coach Bergman is hopeful that Jamie Balboa, who recently transferred from Port Clinton, and Jared Chambers, who went 19-6 last season, can sustain themselves as solid contributors.
The team, which is young, has 27 members on the team and 15 are freshman and sophomores. There are also six juniors and one returning senior, Alex Bergman, who finished sixth at state last season at 140 pounds.
“It’s one of the younger teams I’ve had in a while,” said Coach Bergman. “I want each one of them to improve as the season goes on — you don’t know what their ceiling is.”
The young wrestlers can take solace in knowing that they’re part of a program that has churned out great wrestlers for years. In addition, the team has been labeled young before, and still gone on to achieve success.
Bergman says the primary reason for sustained success within the program stems from the hard work invested by the players and coaches throughout the year, not just during the winter, but in the offseason as well, whether it be with practice, weightlifting or conditioning. That, and the community’s commitment to the sport, runs deep. The program has a robust biddy program that trains young athletes in the craft, helping to ready them for action when they get to the junior high and high school ranks.
Proof lies in the program’s consistent output of state placers, not to mention its share of wrestlers that have been crowned state champions. That includes J.D. Bergman, a two-time state champion and former a Ohio State wrestler who is hoping to qualify for the Olympic Games in 2012.
Right now, Coach Bergman sees Edison as the league favorite with Clyde being the second best team in the SBC. Oak Harbor was picked third at the preseason media day.
Coach Bergman is complemented by his three assistant coaches, Bill Scherf, Aaron Bomer and Paul Bergman. Scherf was a two-time state placer at Oak Harbor and later wrestled at the University of Findlay. Bomer, who wrestled at Lakota and Hiedelberg College, was the former head coach at Gibsonburg and Fostoria. Paul Bergman finished sixth in his weight class in 2002 as a Rocket and wrestled at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa. before returning home to Oak Harbor.
The team opens the season at the Oak Harbor Invitational on Dec. 3 and competes in a couple of invitationals (Medina on Dec. 28-29, Perrysburg on Jan. 13-14) before taking part in the SBC Duals on Jan 20-21.
“I’m excited about it (the season) because the kids working hard,” Coach Bergman said. “I see a lot of possibilities with them.”
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