Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Share
Hannan takes over prep wrestling duties
By JUDI BOWERS
Shaun Hannan dove right in when he accepted a job at his alma mater. Besides teaching English, he is an assistant football coach and recently accepted the position of head wrestling coach at Big Bear High School.
Hannan is the youngest of four brothers and followed in their footsteps on the gridiron. But he wanted to make a name for himself, as well. So he chose wrestling and excelled.
As a four-year heavyweight wrestler, Hannan was De Anza League champion all four years and advanced to the CIF masters tournament as a junior and senior.
Now he wants to help young wrestlers eager to make a name for themselves. After spending a year as assistant to longtime head coach Martin Bumstead, Hannan moves into the lead role. Bumstead will stick around as Hannan's assistant to make the transition smooth, Hannan said. Hannan will take on the varsity team with Bumstead focusing on the junior varsity squad.
For Hannan, moving to head coach means not only teaching his charges how to wrestle well, but also teaching them life lessons. "I'm teaching them responsibility, hard work and discipline," Hannan said. "Things that will help them later on in life."
Hannan said his life was molded by playing sports in high school and college and learning those lessons and he wants to pass that along.
Wrestling is on the upswing as far as participation. Hannan is encouraged by how many freshmen and sophomores were on the team this past season. He said he is hoping more will follow.
The fan base is also growing. "I think people don't know how fun wrestling can be," Hannan said. He said fans packed the gym last season when the Bears had a home dual match against Desert Hot Springs, and this next year there will be many more of those. With nine teams in the league next season, up from a low of five not so long ago, dual meets are needed. When not many schools field a team, the league meets can be done in one day. Hannan said he is excited about the individual meets at home giving the fans a chance to see the Bears in action.
Those meets also help to build the program, he said. And for the first time, wrestling will hold spring practices. Hannan said this gives athletes who might be interested in the program a chance to get involved and see what wrestling is all about.
The number of female wrestlers are also increasing, something Hannan is pleased about. His goal is to see the female contingent grow and become its own team. Hannan said there is a lot of controversy circulating about girls wrestling boys and while he doesn't have a problem with it, he says separate teams would be more beneficial for the girls and boys programs.
State CIF is voting on a weight management proposal Friday, May 6, dealing with wrestling. Hannan is in favor of weight management and monitoring. He has his wrestlers weigh in and out for every practice and activity. Hannan said he doesn't allow a wrestler to drop more than two weight classes unless done in a healthy manner.
Hannan said some coaches will get wrestlers to drop one or two classes because the team and wrestler will be stronger in the lower class. But for Hannan, it's not about winning. Dropping weight quickly jeopardizes the athletes, Hannan said.
Spring wrestling practices are scheduled to begin the week of May 16. Anyone interested in wrestling, or participating in any sport next year, must have a physical. Physicals are being offered by the school May 11.
Hannan is the youngest of four brothers and followed in their footsteps on the gridiron. But he wanted to make a name for himself, as well. So he chose wrestling and excelled.
As a four-year heavyweight wrestler, Hannan was De Anza League champion all four years and advanced to the CIF masters tournament as a junior and senior.
Now he wants to help young wrestlers eager to make a name for themselves. After spending a year as assistant to longtime head coach Martin Bumstead, Hannan moves into the lead role. Bumstead will stick around as Hannan's assistant to make the transition smooth, Hannan said. Hannan will take on the varsity team with Bumstead focusing on the junior varsity squad.
For Hannan, moving to head coach means not only teaching his charges how to wrestle well, but also teaching them life lessons. "I'm teaching them responsibility, hard work and discipline," Hannan said. "Things that will help them later on in life."
Hannan said his life was molded by playing sports in high school and college and learning those lessons and he wants to pass that along.
Wrestling is on the upswing as far as participation. Hannan is encouraged by how many freshmen and sophomores were on the team this past season. He said he is hoping more will follow.
The fan base is also growing. "I think people don't know how fun wrestling can be," Hannan said. He said fans packed the gym last season when the Bears had a home dual match against Desert Hot Springs, and this next year there will be many more of those. With nine teams in the league next season, up from a low of five not so long ago, dual meets are needed. When not many schools field a team, the league meets can be done in one day. Hannan said he is excited about the individual meets at home giving the fans a chance to see the Bears in action.
Those meets also help to build the program, he said. And for the first time, wrestling will hold spring practices. Hannan said this gives athletes who might be interested in the program a chance to get involved and see what wrestling is all about.
The number of female wrestlers are also increasing, something Hannan is pleased about. His goal is to see the female contingent grow and become its own team. Hannan said there is a lot of controversy circulating about girls wrestling boys and while he doesn't have a problem with it, he says separate teams would be more beneficial for the girls and boys programs.
State CIF is voting on a weight management proposal Friday, May 6, dealing with wrestling. Hannan is in favor of weight management and monitoring. He has his wrestlers weigh in and out for every practice and activity. Hannan said he doesn't allow a wrestler to drop more than two weight classes unless done in a healthy manner.
Hannan said some coaches will get wrestlers to drop one or two classes because the team and wrestler will be stronger in the lower class. But for Hannan, it's not about winning. Dropping weight quickly jeopardizes the athletes, Hannan said.
Spring wrestling practices are scheduled to begin the week of May 16. Anyone interested in wrestling, or participating in any sport next year, must have a physical. Physicals are being offered by the school May 11.
Share this Article
 |
 |
|
| Sprucing up Bear Mountain for golf | Bears on a roll, win 3 in a row |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of bigbeargrizzly.net.
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
