LORAIN — It is a little more than a mile from Admiral King High School to Masson Elementary School.

It may not seem that far, but on cold or rainy day it can be quite a distance.

With no wrestling room of its own, the Admiral King wrestling team needs to find a way to Masson every day.

“It builds commitment and team effort to get here,” junior Amon Willis said. “It builds character and team respect. We make sure each one of us gets here. It builds you as a person. Like the weather outside today you have to be tough to make it here.”

The door to the small gym the Admirals work out in is nondescript and has no markings. You would never know it is there. And yet it is somehow perfectly fitting for the Admirals.

“Admiral King has never really had a solid wrestling program,” third-year coach Jim Black said. “A big school like Admiral King doesn’t have a wrestling room. This is where we are practicing at. My kids run over here every day in all kinds of weather. Some of the seniors will slip in a car to avoid that weather but for the most part my kids are dedicated enough to run or walk that mile to get from class at 2:10 to get here by 3:00.”

That Spartan attitude has helped forge the team’s identity.

“It does because it makes us have to work for our kudos,” Black said. “In coach-speak you can put it out there, no one cares about you and you have to as a team to go out and earn that respect and this one way to do it.”

The Admirals are earning that respect.

“Yes we are,” Black said. “Definitely we are. We won the Vermilion tournament sportsmanship award. We are changing attitudes and minds and hopefully we will put a good winning product out there. You just have never heard about Admiral King in the wrestling community. This year we have been placing in the top four in tournaments all year. We have had kids winning championships and doing well in takedowns. We have been wrestling well.”

Last year Admiral King won their side of the Lake Erie League’s conference duals. It was the first conference title in school history. With consolidation on tap, this is the final season at Admiral King. Black is only focused on what he can control. That will start on Friday, Feb. 5 when the Admirals host the conference duals.

“Consolidation is totally out of my mind,” he said. “I am worrying about trying to win the conference title for the second time. The first time was last year and we are trying to repeat that. We are trying to get kids to place high in the sectional and district. Whatever happens with the consolidation happens. I am not too worried about that. I think it will be a good thing and make a good strong wrestling program and that is what we are always trying to do.”

Black, who wrestled at Avon Lake and then in college for Arizona and Cleveland State, was the coach at Midview before coming to Admiral King. He has brought stability to the program.

“The program was at a standstill,” 2001 graduate and current assistant coach Cliff Dowell said. “He has brought stability to the program. We haven’t had stability since I got there. Since 2000, it hasn’t been stable. It seemed every few years we started over from scratch with new wrestlers and coaches.”

“We work very hard,” Willis said. “From my freshman year on I have busted my butt and everything coach has promised me like winning has come true. He drills it into our heads every day. He constantly makes us work. He has increased our drilling habits, wrestling habits, our mental toughness. When we do good he compliments us, when we do bad he is still with us and keeps coming back to the program.”

Several wrestlers are having great seasons. Senior Brandon Medina is 18-4, senior Caleb Borden (22-4), junior Bishop Overton (23-3), sophomore Johnnie Spinkston (20-7), sophomore Demetrius Harris (17-6), sophomore Michael Mincy (13-6) and Willis, who was ranked in the Brakeman Report, is (18-9).

“Brandon Medina is our leader,” Black said. “Caleb Borden has really been stepping up as a senior. I have a lot of younger kids who are stepping up and will be future leaders like Johnnie Spinkston, Demetrius Harris, Amon Willis and Bishop Overton,” Black said. “They are all on the same wave length and trying to finish out their careers on a positive note and wrestle well.”

Medina credits his younger teammates for the team’s turnaround.

“The success comes from all of our young players,” Medina said. “There is not much history here anymore. There is just me and one other senior. Most of the team is comprised of sophomores. It is a young team but they are doing really well. They have gotten a better work ethic and have really matured. I am proud of the team.”

If this is the final curtain for the Admiral King program, Medina is proud of how it is closing out.

“It has been more than I could ask for,” Medina said. “As part of the last graduating class, I really wanted to make a big statement by taking the LEL and making a big statement at sectionals before joining with Southview who has already legitimized their spot as a top wrestling program. We wanted to build a name for ourselves before we combine.”

His teammates agree.

“This team here has achieved a lot of things Admiral King has not achieved in the past,” Willis said. “We are probably the best and last team Admiral King ever has. Basically we doing everything we can to achieve as much as possible before we consolidate.”

“We are putting a name out there,” Overton said. “Everyone thinks wrestling is Southview and now there are two schools for wrestling.”



For more on the Admiral King wrestling program visit the Field of Play blog at www.MorningJournal.com.