Last year, North Summit took a loaded squad to the 2A State Wrestling Championships, yet somehow, they came home empty-handed, finishing outside of the top six places. This season, not only do they have another talented team, but a new coach, Rene Potter, who brings 20 years of coaching experience and a life-long commitment to the Braves’ wrestling program.
Potter wrestled at North Summit in the 1970s and has since been involved with wrestling in Coalville at every level. He brings with him 16 years of coaching experience, although he says that much of the success of wrestling is talent developed from a strong developmental program.
“If you have a feeder program and the kids learn to wrestle young it helps so much,” Potter said.
Much like the dynasty that has been created at Wasatch High School through the development programs in Heber, Coalville has committed resources to start youth in wrestling at a very young age. Potter hopes eventually to see North Summit rise to prominence similar to Wasatch.
“That’s what we want to get our program to the Wasatch level,” Potter said Another benefit that Potter wants to capitalize on is community. Coalville has traditionally been very supportive of North Summit wrestling and Potter has already begun to schedule more dual meets than last year so locals can come to the high school and cheer the Braves on. The team will also travel to numerous tournaments, as well as hosting their own on Dec. 17. The North Summit Wrestling Tournament will bring in teams from around the state and Wyoming from the 1A division all the way up to 4A. Because wrestling is such a talent-and-skill-based sport, school size does not affect the quality of the team, so all the teams should provide a challenge.
The Braves will need all the advantages they can get. They are in Region 14, one of the toughest wrestling regions in 2A, with top-ranked South Summit and Juab also challenging for the top spot in the league.
Potter predicts that this year North Summit could have as many as five state champions. He is returning five seniors, including a transfer from West High School in Salt Lake. There are also a number of talented underclassmen in the program. Some wrestlers he expects a lot from this season include, Nick Robinson- 140-pound weight class, Dane Ercanbrack 152-pound weight class, Coltan Potter189-215-pound weight class, Drew Robinson 215-heavyweight -pound weight class.
The team will not be allowed to start practice until Nov. 7, when the season officially starts. Potter says that because many wrestlers are also football players, the season has been pushed back a few weeks to allow the state football playoffs to finish.
“We’re looking forward to a good year and have young kids coming up, so we’re excited,” Potter said.