Monroe coach ready  to roll

New hire busy with football now, but he has big plans on building his wrestling program.

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By Skip Weaver, Staff Writer Updated 10:16 AM Thursday, July 22, 2010

MONROE — It may not be wrestling season just yet, but Monroe High School’s new coach is ready to get started.

Jimmy Williams was recently hired as a high school science teacher and wrestling coach for the Hornets.

Williams was a two-time state qualifier for Edgewood in the late 1990s, placing fifth in the state at 215 pounds as a senior in 1999.

At one time, he was the record holder for most wins in Edgewood history. He currently ranks third behind Nick McSorley (147) and Mike McSorley (122).

“I’m excited to be here,” said Williams, who also will be the offensive line coach for the Hornets football team. “I’m still kind of new right now and football is going on, but one of my goals is to reinstate the youth wrestling program.

“Right now, kids who live here are wrestling in other programs,” he continued. “We need to build it back up so they can wrestle here and that will help build the high school program in the future.”

With school not in session yet, Williams said he has not met with the team as a whole, although several are on the football team.

“I have a good idea of who will be wrestling,” Williams said. “But I’m going to wait until school starts to have a team meeting.”

This is Williams’ first head coaching position. After graduating from Bowling Green State University where he played football, Williams was a varsity assistant at Findlay High School for three years. He then spent one season as the freshman coach at Princeton, and most recently he was the varsity assistant at Little Miami for three years.

“If I can get the wrestlers to buy into what I’m selling, we can have a solid program in two to three years,” Williams said. “We have the athletes. It’s just going to take some time. I haven’t seen any of their abilities yet, but if they believe in the system I’m putting in place, it won’t take long.

“Wrestling is a tough sport,” he continued. “In other sports like football, you can work and work to be a great player, but you have to depend on your teammates, too.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2852 or sweaver@coxohio.com.

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