'Bill McNiel Night' carries special meaning for Jefferson wrestling

CEDAR RAPIDS – The smile may never fade from Bill McNiel's face again.

The former Cedar Rapids Jefferson head wrestling coach was honored last night before the dual meet between Jefferson (9-0) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (4-8), which the J-Hawks won, 66-12.

McNiel was met on the mat in a pre-match ceremony by former wrestlers and fellow coaches, and he said it was a night he won't soon forget.

'This limelight stuff, I'm not comfortable with, but it's great,' McNiel said after the ceremony. 'Tonight I think (the most special part) was seeing the wrestlers that went through the program and some of the people that were responsible for having the success they did.

'McNiel was coach from 1967-78, and along the way guided the J-Hawks to back-to-back team state championships in 1973 and 1974 (preceded by a runner-up team finish in 1972), six conference championships and a 105-24-1 overall record.

He was inducted into the Iowa High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1981, and then again in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1998, but said being back at Jefferson and seeing so many familiar faces and what those people have become makes the night rank right up there.

'What impresses me more than anything else is that I look at some of the individual wrestlers – and I see what they have done since those days – I get a bigger kick out of seeing (what they've become) than whether or not they won or lost a match,' McNiel said. 'There's a lot of good people that came out of (our program).'

The current J-Hawks were in top form on the special night, and won all but two matches in the dual meet. They were led by No. 6 152-pounder Kelly May, who pinned Kennedy freshman Garrett Kubovec in just 39 seconds.

Coach Dick Briggs, who was on the two title-winning teams in 1973 and 1974, said he was happy his team could perform so well in front of such a revered figure in program history.

With the J-Hawks still undefeated this season, Briggs said he's hoping the team is building to the point where they could potentially be as special as those McNiel-led teams were.

'It's pretty special,' Briggs said. 'He's such an inspiration to me personally, hopefully I carry what he shared with me when I was an athlete. In my mind, I couldn't have imagined it to be any neater than it was.'

"I was pretty happy (with the team's performance). I hope, down the road, we can be (as good as past teams). We're kind of a balanced team, top to bottom, we're pretty solid up and down the line. We really don't have any superstars. We're kind of in the making of our superstars.'

While the official ceremony was held before the varsity dual began, the J-Hawks honored McNiel throughout the meet as well by donning the actual uniforms worn by those state championship teams.

Briggs said he gave his guys the option to wear the vintage uniforms, which featured tights and old-school warmup jackets. The wrestlers were eager to wear them, he said, and it certainly widened McNiel's smile.

'I told them, I thought they had really good looking uniforms, because they were the ones we bought back then,' McNiel said with a laugh.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for McNiel last night was the appearance of long-time assistant coach John Weld, who was on McNiel's staff for each of the 11 years he was coach of the J-Hawk wrestlers.

Weld, who lives in Cedar Rapids but winters in Mesa, Ariz., pulled a fast one on his old friend by letting him believe he wouldn't make it. McNiel said it was the surprise of the night seeing Weld walk out on the mat for a hug and handshake during the ceremony.

Weld said he wouldn't have missed it, not only because of the coach he was, but the person he is.

'He was a great coach, and we got along so well, but actually the biggest capacity is that we're friends. He's as close a friend as I have, and we've been this way forever,' Weld said. 'I think it's darn-near 50 years we've been friends. I'm here as a friend and I'm here as a wrestling coach.'

"Seeing how many people Bill was important to (was most special). His friends, his family, his wrestlers – it was fun seeing them all come together.'

Pick a positive adjective, and it would fittingly describe the night for McNiel and his family. When asked what it all meant to him – those he's influenced, what his students and wrestlers have become – McNiel sighed heavily, his smile widened – if possible – even further, and he laughed.

'It feels kind of overwhelming, actually,' McNiel said. 'There's just so many different people in so many different walks of life now. And wrestling in general is something I think empowers people to mature.' 

ON THE MAT

Cedar Rapids Kennedy bookended the evening with their only two match wins. The Cougars opened the dual with a win from junior Kobi Cowen, who pinned Jefferson senior Michael Moncivais in the second period at 132 pounds.

Kennedy's other win came in the final match of the night. The Cougars' only ranked wrestler, No. 8 Logen Rodriguez, worked hard for a pin of Jefferson freshman Dalton Mastin in 5:24 at 126 pounds.

Kennedy had five weights open, dropping forfeits at 106, 113, 120, 182 and 195 pounds.

Jefferson had a dominant night otherwise, earning pins at four weights and one major decision. Will Orr pinned Kennedy's Trevor Brunk in 1:11 at 285, Dalton Kuehl pinned Kennedy senior Evan Hoover in 1:30 at 220 and Nick Dreckman pinned Jack Nolan at 170 pounds – all in addition to May's pin at 152.

No. 10 Luke Sedlacek earned a 15-4 decision for Jefferson at 160 pounds over Kennedy's Sam Pape, and No. 10 Tavian Rashed, a freshman, earned a 25-8 major decision over Austin Winders at 145 pounds. Matt Culver got the hardest-fought win for the J-Hawks, outlasting Kennedy's AJ Losch, 3-2, at 138 pounds.