Headlee, Yates return to coaching
Coaching standouts ready for challenge at Waynesburg University When Waynesburg University went looking for a new head wrestling coach in late January to replace former headman Charlie Heard, they didn’t need much time to find their guy and they didn’t have to look very far.
Ron Headlee, who is an assistant coach at Jefferson-Morgan High School, has been charged with doing something that he loves to do – build a program – and he’s bringing some reinforcements.
Joining Headlee at Waynesburg is his new assistant, and former boss, John Yates. Yates spent 10 years as head coach at Waynesburg Central High School where he registered a career record of 140-43, coached 15 WPIAL individual champions, 20 state place-winners and six state champions. Yates’ time at Waynesburg ended after the 2006-2007 season when he left for personal reasons. During Yates’ tenure, Headlee served as one of his assistants.
Headlee, who is also the head volleyball coach at Jefferson-Morgan, also brings an impressive record of success on the mat from around the Greene County area. The Waynesburg native started his coaching career at J-M, serving as head coach from 1988-97.
While with the Rockets, he compiled an impressive 111-25-1 record and won five Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) team championships. Headlee also coached a total of 24 WPIAL champions, 15 state place-winners and seven state champions.
“I’m excited,” Headlee said. “It’s a new challenge for John and me both. We both have some ideas with what we would like to do. We have some good local talent and we’re going to feed on that. I think that’ll get the community involved.”
For Yates, a return to coaching was the furthest thing from his mind after spending less than a year away from the bench.
“It was the last thing I was thinking of doing,” Yates said. “[But,] after I talked to him a few times, I decided I’d give it a try.”
Both coaches will be entering into unchartered territory as they take over a program that has been downright terrible for years. Since joining the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in 1990, Waynesburg has never won a team title in the three-school league. Thiel and Washington and Jefferson are the only other schools in the PAC that field teams.
The Yellow Jackets’ best season over the decade occurred in 2003-2004 when they picked up their only PAC victory over W&J and finished 5-11 overall. Waynesburg University Director of Athletics Rudy Marisa believes that Headlee and Yates are the men that can return the Jacket mat men to respectability.
“I’m personally elated with their backgrounds to come in here and hopefully put us in a winning situation,” Marisa said. “I think in Division III, a few good athletes can often turn a program around. While I don’t set that up as a requirement, I think it should be an objective that we show improvement in a short time.”
Marisa added that Headlee was the first individual he approached about the job and as soon as he accepted, the search ended.
The first step in that improvement will be simply filling more than the three or four weight classes that the school manned at almost every one of their 14 dual matches and six tournaments.
“We have to put 10 guys on the mat,” Headlee said. “No one wants to wrestle you if you can’t bring anyone out. We also want to get some more home matches.”
The Jackets didn’t host a single home match this season aside from the PAC Championships, which are cycled through each member school on a yearly basis. Waynesburg didn’t even host their annual alumni duels, which also serve as a reunion for some of the program’s most dedicated alumni.
In order to fill more weight classes, both Headlee and Yates have already hit the recruiting trail, but have kept their focus close to home.
Just days after the announcement of their hirings, the duo traveled to several of the WPIAL section tournaments that were held this past weekend.
Yates returned to his old stomping grounds at WCHS, while Headlee made stops at West Greene, Mount Pleasant and Trinity high schools. Tapping the wealth of wrestling talent in the WPIAL is something that both coaches agree is an essential part of their plans to build WU wrestling into a powerhouse.
“I think it’s real important,” Headlee said. “I realize a lot of kids like to go away, but there are some that aren’t even being talked to. We’re going to talk to those kids. It seems like there’s a good excitement and there’s a positive feedback.”
Headlee and Yates will have one former pupil on the team, assuming he returns next year, in former Pa. state medalist and 2007 WCHS graduate Nick Garber. The one-time Raider has been the biggest bright spot for this year’s Jacket team, despite missing a good part of the year with an injury.
The freshman began his collegiate work by placing first in the 141-pound class at the Messiah Invitational on Nov. 3. Included in the win was a fall over top-seeded Tony Miele of Kings College in just over a minute. After missing the bulk of Waynesburg’s schedule with an injury, Garber returned at the PAC championships on Feb. 13 and made short work of two opponents, pinning them both in under 1:15.
Garber was named most outstanding wrestler at the tournament and earned first-team All-PAC honors.
“Ron and I are both excited because we’ll get an opportunity to work with Nick Garber again,” Yates said. “We’re also hoping some other former wrestlers will give Waynesburg a look.”
Both new coaches were also very praising of how they have been received by the university.
“Everyone has been really helpful to us,” Headlee said. “The whole university has gone out of their way to help. It just seems like a great place to build.”
When the new head coach was asked about his expectations for growth and success with the wrestling, Headlee did not hesitate to express his high goals for the future.
“You’re not going to turn it around in one year,” Headlee said. “Hopefully, within three years or so, we’re taking at least three, four guys to the national tournament and our goal in the long run is to be national champions.”