New coach, new attitude for Mission/Charlo wrestling

ST. IGNATIUS — The wrestling season has started back up with Mission and Charlo joining forces for a full line-up and new leadership.

The Bulldogs/Vikings team is working with a new head coach from Pennsylvania. Dan Sponerook coached in his native school for four years at the junior high level.

"Things were set up just like the varsity level is here," he said.

Sponerook explained his reason for packing up and moving all the way to Mission by saying that he is a big wrestling fan and wants to be able to coach a team at a higher level.

"It has been a dream of mine to coach varsity, and it's more of a challenge," he said.

Grateful that he has been able to follow his dream, Sponerook wants to ease into the team before he decides if things need to be changed.

"Basically, maybe I'm just bringing a different attitude, more excitement in wrestling. I'm not trying to change things. I like the style. I'm just trying to add on to that and include what I've been taught," he said.

The team is anxious to start the season and Sponerook said he has sat down and talked to the team members individually at different times to get to know them and find out what they expect for the year.

"We are hoping to be competitive at the state level. Last year the guys took second place in the western B division," he said.

"We have a full roster with both Charlo and Mission for a total of 22 guys. Some of the strong seniors this year are Jake Bosley at 171, Brian Mitchell at 189, Juan Rangel at 215, and Ray Matt in heavy weight."

This year everything is new to the coach and he is relying on the team and last year's stats to tell him where the competition is.

"The guys have said that Thompson Falls will be a tough match with a little bit of rivalry," he said.

The first match will be on the Bulldogs home turf against Eureka at 6 p.m. on Friday.