Your school and team St. Clair Bulldogs
Contact information Mel Hughes mjhughes@stcmo.org
Social Media
Saint Clair High School Wrestling Wrestling Facebook:
www.facebook.com/St.ClairBulldogwrestling
Saint Clair Junior High Wrestling Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/St-Clair-Junior-High-Wrestling-996922950495234/
Saint Clair Wrestling on Twitter: @CoachHughes2015
Wrestling Technique: https://www.facebook.com/hughestechtumbler/
Record last year: 5-7 Duals, 5th Class 2, District 1 Tournament, 14th Class 2 MSHSAA State Championships
If you are in your first year in this position (or returning), please comment about how much you’re looking forward to this job, how excited you are to be a head coach, etc. Also, if you please could include a little background so we can pass that along to the fans, that would help as well.
This will be my 38th season as a wrestling coach and 33rd season as Head coach.
As a Head Coach, I have shared the corner with many outstanding assistant coaches. I am proud to have coached so many outstanding wrestlers in my career including those who have won 49 state medals, including 11 state finals appearances and 5 state championships. I have coached 8 Top Ten finishing teams in the past 11 years. Coach Matt Woodcock is our Assistant Coach in charge of the boys team and has seen much success in his young career coaching wrestlers who won 15 state medals including 4 state finals appearances and 3 state championships. Our boys team has been named the St. Louis Officials Association Class 2 team of the year the past 4 seasons.
Assistant Coaches:
Matt Woodcock, Assistant boys and girls wrestling coach with focus on Boys team
Michael Rodgers, Assistant boys and girls wrestling coach with focus on Girls Team
Matt Gordon, Head Junior High Coach and Assistant Boys and Girls Varsity Coach
Dakota Bush, Volunteer Assistant Coach
Richard Guinn, Head Coach St. Clair Youth Program.
How many players: 20
Key Returning players and their positions:
Brock Woodcock, (So), 3rd State 2020, 120 lb. Projected Wt. 132
Ryan Meek, (So), 4th State 2020, 106 lb. Projected Wt. 106
Cameron Simcox, (So), 5th State, 138 lb. Projected Wt. 145
Gabe Martinez, (So), State Qualifier, 113 lb. Projected Wt. 120
Seth Banks, Sr., Returning Varsity Letterman Projected Wt. 138
Prospective newcomers (with years and positions) who could make an impact on the varsity team this year:
Creek Hughes, (Fr.) Projected Wt. 113
Gavin Shoemate, (Fr.) Projected Wt. 126 lb
Adrian Arguilez, (Fr) Projected Wt. 152/160
Skyler Sanders, (Fr.) Projected Wt. 160/170
Chase Thacker, (Fr.) Projected Wt. 182/195
Specific team goals:
Winning Dual record and a State Tournament Team Trophy
Who do you feel are the teams to beat in your conference and why? Who are the teams to watch in the area and why?
Sullivan High School is the returning District Champion Team. Every school in our conference puts out solid teams every year and always provided formidable competition.
What did your team learn from last season that will help improve it this year?
I think all the wrestlers on our team have learned from the success of our 4 Freshman wrestlers at State last season who won three state medals between them. We always stress that age doesn’t matter in competition if you are confident and prepared.
Do you have any players who were significant contributors last year who didn’t return? No
COVID-19 Bonus Round
What is your team doing to take precautions against COVID-19?
We adhere to all of our local school and community guidelines in all areas related to the health of our athletes.
What changes will we see in your sport this season due to the pandemic?
There have been some rules modifications mandated by MSHSAA that will make pre match and post match procedures look a little different such as eliminating pre and post match handshakes with coaches and wrestlers. We look forward to and appreciate the opportunity to compete in as safe and healthy an environment as possible.