Hickman High School wrestling program savors trip to coach's Wisconsin roots
A road trip can rejuvenate the soul and be a bonding tool among fellow travelers.
The Hickman wrestling team went to Madison, Wisconsin, the weekend of Dec. 18 for the 48th Badger State Invitational. Coach Dan Pieper likes to do one trip a year to get his team together and ready for the grind of the Missouri high school season.
“It's more of a team-bonding situation for kids, to get to know each other, become a team and get a bit more experience at that national level,” Pieper said.
Why the Badger Invitational?
Stoughton High School, Pieper’s alma mater, hosts the annual tournament. Longtime Stoughton coach Vern Pieper, Dan’s father, started the event.
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“It's a tournament that my father started way back in the early 1970s and it's got a lot of history to it. It's why I've picked this tournament,” Dan Pieper said. “I guess it's a little selfish because I wrestled it myself and we get the opportunity to go back to my high school. (Our wrestlers) can see the wrestling room that I grew up in. They can see the mural dedicated to my father. They can see the Olympians and all the national champions that have been through the Stoughton High School wrestling room.”
Pieper also wanted his wrestlers to prepare for the tougher matches they will face in the next few weeks and into the rest of the season.
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“It gives us a little bit of a look at how the district and state tournaments are going to go. It's in a big arena. You have to take a little bit more time to warm up because usually, those big arenas are cool. There was a nice crowd of fans, and it will get the kids ready for the bigger tournaments that are getting ready to come up,” Pieper said.
“And being able to go into another state and see various aspects of wrestling — different styles, different techniques and actually the difference in officiating from one state to another — it is a positive for the kids and it teaches the kids a little adversity, being able to get through some situations, because not everything is going to go your way. And when you're out of state, you're not going to get a whole lot of close calls."
Hickman finished fifth out of 16 teams in the boys division and ninth of 20 in the girls.
“I thought we wrestled well as a group. We had four finalists, and three kids ended up winning titles up there, which was really nice,” Pieper said.
For the 106-pound title, Hickman's Hank Benter (No. 1 in Missouri) beat Ethan Aird of Darlington, Wisconsin, by a 2-1 decision. Hickman's Ethan Barr beat Cole Sarbacker of Stoughton, Wisconsin (No. 1 in Wisconsin) by 3-2 decision in the 138 weight class. Cole Harrell rounded out the Kewpies' first-place finishes with a 9-8 decision over Ryan Roy from Wabeno, Wisconsin, at 170. Hayden Benter secured a second-place finish after losing a tough match by fall to Brett Birchman from Fennimore, Wisconsin, at 126.
“It was nice for the kids to get away from Missouri, be able to wrestle kids they didn't know anything about and kids that didn't know anything about them," Pieper said. "And as we say in our room, 'Let it fly.' Have some fun and let it fly.”
Pieper has received positive feedback from his wrestlers about the trip and hopes it will help them not only in wrestling but other aspects of life, he said.
Is this a yearly endeavor for future Kewpie grapplers?
“I'd love to have a trip every year like this for the kids. I think this is how you build not only team character, but character as individuals,” Pieper said. “It will help them in the long run and get them recognized by some other coaches in some different states as well. We'll do what we can. It is maybe every other year, every third year. But yeah, we would love to continue to do a trip like this."
Contact the Tribune's sports desk at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com or 435-414-3261.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Hickman wrestling team takes trip to coach's Wisconsin high school
