Zach Beekman begins his first high school head wrestling coaching position today. The new head coach of the Greene County Rams had been the middle school coach of the Rams prior to this season. His assistant is former longtime Coon Rapids-Bayard head coach Kirk Davis. Spencer Bauer, the high school assistant with former head coach Mark Sawhill, takes over the middle school program.

The Rams return quite a few regulars from last year when the program began turning the corner in both the number of wrestlers out for the sport and the number of victories. Coach Beekman expects an increase in both areas as the season begins. More than 30 turned out for last week’s preseason wrestling meeting. It was just three seasons ago when Greene County’s numbers were so low that at no point of the season were more than seven of the 14 weight classes filled. That also meant the victory column for dual meets wasn’t filled either.

Optimism is present at the start of the 2018-19 season with the head coach expecting to fill all 14 weight classes, and the win column expected to continue to grow.

The Rams had no State Tournament qualifiers last season for the first time since 1988-89, but current seniors Brock Wuebker and Clint Dennhardt qualified for district competition. A number of other letter winners also return.