Wrestling a family tradition at K-P

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Kingsley-Pierson heavyweight Mike Weaver gains control in a match at the Westerner Invite Saturday in Akron. Weaver finished second in the weight class. [Click to enlarge]

There is no disagreement among the Weaver men.

Whether Mike Jr. and Tanner Weaver wrestle for the Kingsley-Pierson wrestling squad is completely up to each of them.

"They like it - I wouldn't force them," said their father Mike Sr. "I'm glad they do it, because what else is there to do in the winter time around here?"

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) K-P's Tanner Weaver battles an A-W opponent in Moville earlier this month. Weaver and his brother Mike are following their father's footsteps at Panther wrestlers. [Click to enlarge]

Of course, it's also up to Mike Sr. whether his boys get cell phones or how many extra chores need to be performed in the absence of wrestling turnout.

"It's kind of an obligation-type deal," said Mike Jr., who wrestles at 285. "You don't have to go out, but you're gonna wish you would have if you didn't."

The Weavers are one of several of what Mike Jr. calls 'wrestling families' at Kingsley-Pierson, a school rich in Class 1A wrestling tradition.

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Kingsley-Pierson sophomore Matt Steffen competes in a 135-pound match Saturday at the Westerner Invite Saturday in Akron. Steffen won the weight class. [Click to enlarge]

"You know the wrestling names usually since they were itty bitty," Mike Jr. said. "Once you get one kid into it, the rest of the kids are going to be into it. You don't usually split them around here. It's usually either wrestling or basketball."

The Weaver bloodlines run thick at K-P. Mike Sr. and his brother both wrestled for the Panthers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mike Sr. even qualified for the state tournament as a senior in 1980.

"You follow whatever your dad did and older brothers and everything like that," said Tanner, a sophomore who wrestles at 152 pounds for the Panthers' varsity team. "You just fall into it. You don't even question it."

The same can be said for 135-pound sophomore Matt Steffen, who hails from another K-P 'wrestling family.'

His older brother Richie was a state qualifier in 2005 and his older sister Missy used to keep the wrestling stat book. His father, Rich, wrestled one season at Remsen-Union before the school dropped the sport.

His mother Lori was a Bohlke so that makes Matt a cousin to Brandon and Justin Bohlke - both state champions during their tenure at K-P.

"If it wasn't for Richie being such a good wrestler and all my cousins, I wouldn't be in the wrestling room," Matt said. "After seeing them wrestle and see how good they were, I thought it would be fun to be a part of that. So that's what really got me going out."

It starts early. Mike Jr. started in first grade and Tanner started in kindergarten. Matt Steffen grew up watching Richie wrestle, but quit during fourth grade - a decision he now regrets.

"If you miss a year in wrestling, that's very crucial," Mike Jr. said. "If you miss a year it's gonna hurt you bad because you just put so much into it."

The wrestlers form unique relationships as a result of all the time spent together at weekend tournaments. By the time they reach high school, those friendships are cemented.

"Wrestlers are closer than in other sports," Mike Sr. said. "Wrestlers always stick together - they do at Kingsley anyway. I don't know about the other schools."

The parents also share a unique camaraderie, according to Lori Steffen.

"You start them young and the families go through it and you get to know everybody," she said. "When you get to high school, you know the kids and the families."

Perhaps another reason wrestlers and their parents bond so much is due to the discipline and sheer agony the sport exerts on its participants.

"It's not for the weak at heart," Rich Steffen said. "Here, you're as good as you want to be. If you want to be a putz and sit back and get last, you'll get last. If you want to work hard and do your best, you'll get where you want to go."

"It takes a lot of discipline and dedication to not eat when you're starving just to make sure you're a pound under (the weight limit)," Mike Sr. added. "These wrestlers to me - all of them are warriors. It takes a lot to be a wrestler."

Mike Sr. served in the U.S. Marine Corps, so he knows a thing or two about warriors.

"Once a marine, always a marine - I think once a wrestler, always a wrestler," he said.

Recently though, the K-P program has fallen on hard times. The 2008-09 edition has just 11 wrestlers, forcing the Panthers to leave weight classes open in dual meets.

It wasn't always that way. K-P finished sixth in team standings at the 2006 state tournament and finished second to perennial state power Don Bosco in the 2005 state team duals. Lori Steffen said there was a special intensity in those days.

"Back when Richie was wrestling, the gym was just packed," she said. "People were practically sitting on top of each other. The brackets were all full."

And for a proud alum with two sons on the team like Mike Sr., it can be painful to see the Panthers struggle to compete at dual meets.

"Three years ago they were dominating," he said. "I wish that it didn't do that when my kids finally got up into high school."

But wrestling is an individual sport at its core and nothing exemplifies that like tournament competition. Mike Jr. advanced to the district tournament as a sophomore, but was injured for the second half of last season and was not able to return.

That leaves just this season to finally make that trip to Des Moines. He placed second at 285 pounds at last weekend's Westerner Invite in Akron, while Tanner placed third at 152 pounds.

Matt Steffen appears to be coming into his own as the lone remaining member of the Steffen-Bohlke clan. He captured the 135-pound title at the Westerner Invite and said the pressure he feels is starting to lessen.

"(It's) not as bad as you'd think," he said. "There's a little bit of pressure. My first year was the worst ... but this year there's really no pressure."

But for now, the Steffens and Weavers will continue to join the other K-P 'wrestling families' in packing the bleachers at weeknight quads and weekend tournaments - just like they have done for decades and will likely continue to do for decades more.