When it came to choosing someone to rebuild the wrestling program, Park City High School athletic director Doug Payne found his man in rival territory.
Kaleb Moritz, Park City High School’s new head wrestling coach graduated from Wasatch High School in 2010. A former 3A state champion, Moritz has been in the ring since he was 5 years old and is ready to tackle perhaps his most difficult wrestling assignment yet building a program almost from the ground up.
Asked if he would instill a little bit of the Wasatch style into his program, Moritz smirked.
“That’s how I wrestled,” he said. “I teach how I wrestle.”
Moritz takes over a Miners’ wrestling program that has had trouble making it on the 3A map, something he’s already working on with his athletes.
“It’s a lot different because they don’t have that previous knowledge, that muscle memory that I had growing up,” he said. “You just have to start so basic, but that’s where you have to start. It just takes a lot more time.
“I’m not really sure what my expectations are here, but I expect good things. We have some good athletes and I believe I can get them to a place where they can succeed.”
The emphasis for this year’s team is simple, Moritz said.
“Basics,” he said. “If you’re really good at the basics, you can beat anybody.”
During his career at Wasatch, Moritz assisted coaching young wrestlers at the youth level; something that he said prepared him for this big step. He said a youth wrestling program in Park City is necessary if the Miner program is ever to evolve.
“It’s got to start from the bottom, obviously,” he said.
Junior Matthew Payne, in his third year wrestling at Park City, is one of the few athletes who have wrestled their entire high school career.
He said Moritz is a breath of fresh air.
“It’s a little more controlled,” he said. “He knows a lot. I think we’re going to do a lot better this year.”
The Miners debut under Moritz on Nov. 30 at home when the Union Cougars travel to town.
“If we have some success early, I expect a lot more kids to get into it,” he said. “That’s how it is over here; a lot of the really good athletes just don’t think this is tough. This is where the tough guys should be.”
Ideally, Moritz said he’d like to fill an entire roster, which is 14 spots, one for each weight class. As of Tuesday, he said there were roughly 20 wrestlers on the roster, but he didn’t know if that would change as the season and the grueling practices wear on.
Moritz singled out junior Gage Holcomb as someone to keep an eye on this season. Holcomb, who is schooled in the martial art of jiu-jitsu, has potential to lead the team, he said.
Said Matthew Payne of his teammate: “He’s definitely going to be really good by the end of this year.”
While growing pains are to be expected this year, the wrestlers are ready to start a new era of Park City High School wrestling.
“The kids who come here every day, I think, are going to be more determined. We’re ready,” Matthew Payne said. “For most of (the new wrestlers), we just want them to get a better feel for it and enjoy it, so we can become a better program next year and in the future.”