My City January 2022

on mats helping each other perfect moves, polish their skills and build stamina. Assisting Ward is former MCC head coach Winston Ru n, who guided the program’s transition from club status to an o cial National Junior College Athletic Association team. at process was completed prior to the start of last season, which was Ward’s rst as an assistant coach. Still, Ru n felt Ward was ready to switch roles with him. “I love wrestling and love giving back to the sport, so the opportunity to become a head coach has been a blessing,”Ward says. “It has been di‚erent, though. I’m not much older than the wrestlers which helps as far as getting down on the mat and practicing with them, but now I am the one doing most of the yelling. In the end, I just want to make sure they are doing things right and truly be there for them.” Ward indeed loves the challenge he has taken on. e Bears began the season only being able to ll six of ten weight classes and all six wrestlers are in their rst year.e lone returnee, NJCAA National Tour- nament qualier Brody Kemper, became eligible to compete in late December. Still, in a classic illustration of quality over quantity, that has not stopped Mott from being ranked 22nd in the nation, just four spots below where the Bears were ranked at the conclusion of last season. Despite giving up points by forfeit- ing weight classes, Mott beat Ancilla College in a dual match by a point and lost to St. Clair County Community College by just six points. “So far, so good – considering our lineup is all true freshmen,”Ward says. “It’s great to be ranked, but I’ve told the

guys it’s not about winning this sea- son. It’s most important to get used to competing at the college level, which is an entirely di‚erent ballgame. At the same time, I feel we are capable of being ranked in the top ten by the end of the year based on how far the guys have come.” Grand Blanc graduate William Miller has already worked his way into the national NJCAA rankings, sitting ninth at 125 pounds with a 6-4 record prior to the Bears’ December 18 match against Rochester College. He nished in the Hawks Invitational in Dearborn. “It ’s a great atmosphere, because we all connected with each other right from the rst week of practice,” Miller says. “We are also all between 125-157 pounds which means we all have solid practice partners and are not working with the same person every day. at has really helped us all develop.” e squad has become close-knit away from the mats, as well. “Just the bus rides to competitions and staying at hotels have been good bond- ing times for us, along with hanging out together outside of practice,” says Miller.

HEAD COACH AARON WARD

Everyone in MCC’s camarade- rie-lled wrestling room has a unique story of how they wound up there. Ward and Ru n actually o‚ered Miller a scholarship to wrestle at Mott after his senior season, but he told them he planned to enroll in a trade school and that his competitive wrestling days were over following a high school career during which he placed fourth in the Di- vision 1 state tournament as a senior. 

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