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Lampe leads Hatchets at OTW wrestling tourney

Daily News 1/3/05

Last year's state qualifier Alyssa Lampe placed fifth overall to lead the Tomahawk Hatchet wrestlers at the Oshkosh On the Water Wrestling Tournament Thursday in Oshkosh.

Lampe, wrestling at 103 pounds, scored pins over Kyle Behnke of Coleman (:49), Sam Delain of Sturgeon Bay in 2:56, and defeated Kyle VanCamp of Freedom by 10-4 decision. She was edged by Chippewa Falls' Tyler Hoehn 7-6 and Park Falls' Jay Plemon 15-9, and took the fifth-place match when J.C. Maldonado of Milwaukee Lutheran withdrew with an injury.

Jeremiah Moran, 215 pounds, placed 10th with pins over Erik Nykl of Amherst in 3:10, Jacob Lautenbach of Luxemburg Casco (1:56), and Naithan Raith of Elcho in 3:35. He also picked up a 6-3 decision over Ben Pankratz of Campbellsport. Dan Silvernale, wrestling at 171 pounds, pinned Patrick Hibbs of Southern Door in :48 and took decision wins over Jeremy Gill of Brillion, 5-1, and Nick Peters of Burnsville, Minn., also be a score of 5-1.

Anthony Lampe (119), Taylor Schmidtbauer (140), Blair Otterholt (152), Jesse Hanneman (189) and Doug Brown also wrestled for the Hatchets. Lampe pinned Kyle Theide of Southern Door in :41 and pinned Mason Smith of Kewaskum in 2:54, Otterholt pinned Levi Thibedeau of Chippewa Falls in 5:16.

The Hatchets travel to Antigo for a non-conference dual match Tuesday, Jan. 4, with matches beginning at 7:30 p.m.

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2004 Headliner Awards: Wrestling coach used adversity to build successful program

By Jeremy Heath
Morris News Service
Publication Date: 01/01/05

Coaches who don't communicate well with their athletes don't typically
find high levels of success.

Since the inception of Caprock's girls wrestling program in 1998, head
coach Scott Tankersley has guided the Lady Longhorns to a United States Girls
Wrestling Association national title (1999-2000), two state titles
(1999-2000 and 2003-04) and one state runner-up finish (1998-99).

All of those accomplishments, topped by his Caprock girls' second state
championship, make Tankersley one of the Globe-News' Headliner Award
winners for 2004.

Along the way, communication has proven to be Tankersley's most
powerful tool - and his greatest obstacle.

Tankersley is deaf.

"I find that my voice stands out in a crowd, which makes it an
advantage for me," Tankersley said. "My athletes are the only ones who can understand
me on the mat. The other team will say, 'What did he say? How do they
understand him?'"

Tankersley, a 1982 Caprock graduate who was an all-district selection
at linebacker his junior year, dreamed of coaching from the time he was a
child. He said he never doubted himself in his pursuit of that dream.
He said he did not have reason to doubt himself. He had plenty of others
who did that for him.

"In order to succeed, one must develop a thick skin," Tankersley said.
"One must be immune to other people's negative opinions or remarks
concerning their dreams. When I was in middle school, I had to write a paper on
what kind of career I would like to have. I knew I wanted to be a coach,
despite my deafness and my speech. I wrote a paragraph on why I wanted to be a
coach.

"The teacher handed the paper back to me and said, 'Scott, you can't be
a coach. You're deaf, and you don't speak well enough to be a coach. Look
for a non-people-related career. Please write another paper.'

"I wrote, 'I WILL BE A COACH.'"

Tankersley got his shot to be a coach in 1989. He started at West Texas
Christian and moved to San Jacinto Christian Academy where he won state
titles in basketball and football in 1995.

In 1998, he was hired to coach wrestling at Caprock. It was a dream
come true.

"He bleeds orange and white - he really does." said assistant wrestling
coach T. J. Johnson, who is in his 10th year at Caprock. "I know he's
had some offers to go other places, but this is where he wants to be. He
grew up here, and he knows how to relate to the kids. I probably shouldn't say
this, but some coaches are too proud to stoop and to try to relate to them.
We have athletes come back up here five, six years after they graduate
just to see him. I think they look at him and say, 'If he can do it, I can do
it.'"

Johnson said Tankersley's success doesn't stem from technical wrestling
knowledge.

"It's his enthusiasm," Johnson said. "When he walks into a room, he's
got a glow about him. He's always got a smile on his face. He's happy to be
doing what he's doing, and it rubs off on everybody around him."

Tankersley, who spends countless hours studying and dissecting film,
tries to maintain a high level of intensity during every practice.

"You have to passionately love your job," Tankersley said. "It's all
about attitude. Enthusiasm is a state of mind and it causes people to put
their dreams into action.

"Enthusiasm is very contagious. I strongly believe in the law of
attraction. Positive people will attract other positive people and negative people
will attract negative people.

"Enthusiasm will attract other enthusiastic people who want to work
hard to succeed. Enthusiasm will cause athletes to work harder.

"Believe me, I've seen it."