Oregon’s Lander, Illinois’ Eastman named NWCA National Scholastic Coaches of the Year

Manheim, Pennsylvania – The National Wrestling Coaches Association has announced its annual scholastic coaching award winners for 2016-17.

Roseburg (Oregon) High School head coach Steven Lander has been named the NWCA Scholastic Coach of the Year while Dixon (Illinois) High School assistant coach William Eastman has been named NWCA Scholastic Assistant Coach of the Year.

Roseburg’s tradition is steeped in excellence and this past season was no exception. In a state that allows two entries per weight class, Roseburg nearly had a perfect season, qualifying 27 of 28 possible wrestlers to the state championship and placed 13 wrestlers in the top six with seven wrestlers reaching the finals. Of those seven, four would win state championships, giving Roseburg its ninth 6A state title in the last 11 years.

Lander has also spent the past 23 years as the Junior Director for Oregon Wrestling Association and as the national team coach for the Oregon Junior and Cadet teams. In Fargo, he’s led his wrestlers to 25 individual medals and has coached countless state champions and state placewinners over the course of his 28 years at Roseburg.

“There are iconic programs all around the country,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. “When you look at the landscape of high school wrestling in Oregon, Roseburg High School and Coach Lander set a standard that’s hard to top.”

Eastman has been a fixture coaching at Dixon High School in Dixon, Illinois, for a half-century. In 50 years at the school, Eastman has never been paid for his time coaching and mentoring kids. It’s a lesson in volunteerism and passion for the sport of wrestling. This season, the school of 800 students near the Rock River, made history by reaching the Illinois Dual Team Championships for the first time in school history. Dixon ultimately finished third with the assistance of Eastman.

“When you have someone involved in the sport as long as Coach Eastman has, there’s a respect and there’s an admiration there,” said Moyer. “In an era where we can see some coaches leaving because of the financial strain it causes, we have lifers like Coach Eastman. His value to wrestling and those kids at Dixon is more than any dollar amount can signify.”

Lander and Eastman were chosen from the eight section winners, which come from each state’s respective coaches association. Other NWCA Section Coach of the Year Award winners were: Ray Adams of Long Beach High School in New York (Section 1), Dave Crowell of Nazareth Area High School in Pennsylvania (Section 2), Bobby Shriner of Orange High School in North Carolina (Section 3), Kevin Milder of Lena-Winslow High School in Illinois (Section 4), Doug Denson of Millard South in Nebraska (Section 5), Sam Frederico of Pomona High School in Colorado (Section 6) and Troy Tirapelle of Buchanan High School in California (Section 7).

Winners along with Eastman for the NWCA Section Assistant Coach of the Year were: Steve LoFaso of Liverpool High School in New York, Adam Colombo of Nazareth Area High School in Pennsylvania, William Evans of Richmond Hill High School in Georgia, Shawn Bammes of Manhattan High School in Kansas, Herb Stinson of Aztec High School in New Mexico, Morgan Robertson of Bear River High School in Utah, Tomas Rosa of Sweet Home High School in Oregon and Andy Knutson of Lake Stevens High School in Washington (Section 8).

Section Award Winners

State	Section	Name	School
Coach of the Year
New York	Section 1	Ray Adams	Long Beach
Pennsylvania	Section 2	Dave Crowell	Nazareth Area
North Carolina	Section 3	Bobby Shriner	Orange
Illinois	Section 4	Kevin Milder	Lena-Winslow
Nebraska	Section 5	Doug Denson	MIllard South
Colorado	Section 6	Sam Federico	Pomona
California	Section 7	Troy Tirapelle	Buchanan
Oregon	Section 8	Steven J. Lander	Roseburg
Assistant Coach of the Year
New York	Section 1	Steve LoFaso	Liverpool
Pennsylvania	Section 2	Adam Colombo	Nazareth Area
Georgia	Section 3	William Evans	Richmond Hill
Illinois	Section 4	William Eastman	Dixon
Kansas	Section 5	Shawn Bammes	Manhattan
New Mexico	Section 6	Herb Stinson	Aztec
Utah	Section 7	Morgan Robertson	Bear River
Washington	Section 8	Andy Knutson	Lake Stevens

State Winners

State	Section	COY	School	ACOY	School
Maine	Section 1	Matt Rix	Marshwood High School	Chris Smith	Deering High
Massachusetts	Section 1	Darby McLauglin	Springfield Central HS	Andrew Ingham	Springfield Central HS
New Hampshire	Section 1	Adam Langlois	Nashua South High School	Nick Zeras	Concord High School
New Jersey	Section 1	John Gagliano	Howell High School	Andy Iliff	Newton HS
New York	Section 1	Ray Adams	Long Beach High School	Steve LoFaso	Liverpool HS
Rhode Island	Section 1	Tim Clouse	LaSalle Academy	louis Polseno	Smithfield high School
Vermont	Section 1	Nick Mayer	Mt. Abraham Union HS	Joe Daigneault	Champlain Valley Union
Delaware	Section 2	Phil Shultie	Sussex Central	Chip Illian	Sussex Central
Maryland	Section 2	Bryan Hamper	South Carroll	Kramer Whitelaw	Sparrows Point
Ohio	Section 2	Dean Conley	Canfield HS	Christopher Hershberger	Bedford High School
Pennsylvania	Section 2	Dave Crowell	Nazareth Area H.S.	Adam Colombo	Nazareth
Virginia	Section 2	Frank DeBerry	Mountain View	Rick Jones	Robinson Secondary School
West Virginia	Section 2	Ken Maisel	University HS	Jack Doyle	Wheeling Park
Alabama	Section 3	Rusty Mayfield	Cleburne County High School	Scott Peavey	Oxford High School
Florida	Section 3	Matt Markowski	Fort Myers	Brent George	Lake Gibson
Georgia	Section 3	Jess Wilder	Camden County High School	William Evans	Richmond Hill High School
Louisiana	Section 3	Eric Desormeaux	Holy Cross High School	Bobby Ledoux, Sr,	De La Salle HS
North Carolina	Section 3	Bobby Shriner	Orange High School	Jason Lanning	Lake Norman High School
South Carolina	Section 3	Chris Brock	Fort Mill High School	Adam Marullo	Fort Mill High School
Tennessee	Section 3	Greg Foreman	Pigeon Forge HS	Mark Strakbein	Springhill High School
Illinois	Section 4	Kevin Milder	Lena-Winslow HS	William Eastman	Dixon HS
Indiana	Section 4	Gary Black	Shenandoah	Keith Davison	Chesterton
Iowa	Section 4	Tim Duff	Atlantic	Chase Roller	Atlantic
Michigan	Section 4	Nate Ethridge	Chippewa Hills High School	Trent Ward	Carson City Crystal High School
Wisconsin	Section 4	Joe Scwabe	Statford High School	Brian Jandrin/Travis Spude	Luxemburg-Casco
Kansas	Section 5	Bill Johnson	Norton Community High School	Shawn Bammes	Manhattan High School
Minnesota	Section 5	Dalen Wasmund	Apple Valley	Josh Barlage	Apple Valley
Missouri	Section 5	Gary Mayabb	Staley High School	Elisha Bears	Staley High School
Nebraska	Section 5	Doug Denson	MIllard South	Duane Dobson	Alliance
North Dakota	Section 5	Justin Racine	Minot	Robert Sperry	Beach HS
South Dakota	Section 5	Shawn Lewis	Riggs	John Kalda	Riggs
Arkansas	Section 6	Jerry Evans	Searcy	Steve Grigsby	Bentonville
Colorado	Section 6	Sam Federico	Pomona	Jeremya Dyess	Greeley Central
New Mexico	Section 6	Evan Copeland	Cleveland HS	Herb Stinson	Aztec
Oklahoma	Section 6	Kelly Smith	Charles Page /Sand Springs	Mike Miller	Lawton MacArthur
Texas	Section 6	Terry Wright	Chisholm Trail	John E. Johnson	Creekview H.S
Arizona	Section 7	Tim Williams	Show Low HS	Richard Sanchez	Sunnyside HS
California	Section 7	Troy Tirapelle	Buchanan High School	Coaching Staff	Buchanan High School
Hawaii	Section 7	Walden Au	Iolani	Maika Nagata	Punahou
Nevada	Section 7	wade pehrson	Spring creek high school	Dan Dolby	Faith Lutheran
Utah	Section 7	John Fager	Layton High School	Morgan Robertson	Bear River High School
Alaska	Section 8	Todd Hopkins	Colony High School	Andrew Scrivo	Seward High School
Idaho	Section 8	Rob Edelblute	Lakeland High School
Montana	Section 8	Dan Lemer	Lincoln County High School	Joel Graves	Lincoln County High School
Oregon	Section 8	Steven J. Lander	Roseburg High School	Tomas Rosa	Sweet Home High School
Washington	Section 8	Bob Freund	Kelso	Andy Knutson	Lake Stevens
Wyoming	Section 8	Eddie Clark	Star Valley High School	Winston Patterson	Star Valley High School