GAINESVILLE — There are no catchy mottos or slogans hanging on the locker room walls. No ceremonial rocks or mascots to touch before matches.
There is only the internal belief of following “the process” and adhering to a list of values.
It is a way of life for the new-and-improved North Hall wrestling program -- and it is bringing impressive results.
The Trojans have always been a solid program as coaches like Paul White and Carey Whitlow and, more recently, Stuart Cunningham and Jay Hargis molded North Hall into consistent competitors. But none were able to pull off what current second-year coach David Nichols orchestrated two weeks ago when he helped guide North Hall to its first-ever state title, capturing the Class AAA State Duals championship.
“It was a tremendous moment for the kids and the community,” Nichols said. “But there were a lot of people involved that helped make that happen.”
Nichols, who was an assistant for one season under Hargis, said Cunningham -- who guided the Trojans to a second-place finish in the Traditionals in 2016 -- and Hargis helped bring the program back from some lean years in the 2000s. He also credited long-time assistant Pat Holcomb (who worked with White in the 1990s) and junior program coordinator Matt Whitmire for developing most, if not all, of the current roster, which features nine starters that are either freshmen or sophomores.
“Pat and Matt have been the backbone of the program for years, and they have done a tremendous job of developing the younger kids that are just now getting to the varsity level,” Nichols said. “We would not have been able to accomplish what we did without them.”
All praise aside, the Trojans had been close but had never been able to grab ahold of the brass ring (or trophy) before. So what has changed?
According to Nichols it was the conscious choice to adhere to a mindset, a set of values that never changes -- and a buy-in from athletes and parents to put in the time necessary to compete against the best.
“The philosophy basically was pretty cliche but we took the attitude that if you want to win, you have to outwork the best,” Nichols said. “It kind of started my first year as an assistant. We launched the Trojan Elite Training Program and opened optional practices four days a week. I was in charge of it but we weren’t really sure what kind of turnout we would have initially.
“Almost right from the beginning just about everyone in the program on varsity and the middle school kept showing up, every day. It was exciting to see. We began to see that the kids and the parents were ready to commit the way you have to if you want to compete at an elite level. So, when I took over for Jay, we decided to make it a mandatory practice before school every day. Things were already kind of moving in that direction when I came into the program. I just kind of facilitated things along a little quicker, perhaps.”
While Nichols said there were “no real slogans” he said the kids were shown a list of three values -- work hard every day, live with integrity, love other people -- that they were expected to exhibit if they want to be part of the program. Their own little “process” you could say.
“I don’t know if ours is at the level of Buford or Alabama,” Nichols chuckled. “But if we’re mentioned in that kind of light, that’s probably a good thing and it means it’s working.”
With a young team for the 2016-17 season -- 13 wrestlers either graduated or left the program for various reasons from the 2016 squad that finished second -- the Trojans did not make it out of a rugged Area 4-AAA Duals meet. But that did not stop Nichols and his staff from thinking that 2017-18 could be their breakout season. They sent a letter to the kids and parents before the campaign stating that their expectations were nothing short of a title.
Nichols admitted it was a gamble to put so much on one season, especially after not making it out of the Area meet the year before.
“I believed in the system we were putting in place,” he said. “I sat down and looked at who we had coming back and what the top teams in our area and around the state were projected to have coming back and I started to see that we were right there. I just felt that if we kept working the process that we had in place, we could win (the state title).”
Nichols said the target teams were Lumpkin County and Jackson County in Area 4-AAA -- the two teams to make the 2017 State Duals -- along with Sonoraville and defending state champion Bremen, who knocked off Lumpkin County in the state finals in 2017.
“Those four teams were the top four teams from last year. We lost to Jackson County and Lumpkin County during the (2016-17) season but felt we were making progress,” Nichols said. “We were able to beat Jackson and Lumpkin in the Area Duals (this year) and we beat Sonoraville in the semifinals and Bremen in the finals.
“I didn’t have any crystal ball or anything. We just had confidence in our team coming into this season. But it took a lot of hard work and commitment and that was the real secret to our success.”
Now, the Trojans are in position to pull off the rare -- if you take out Jefferson and Commerce -- double title season as the Class AAA Traditional finals loom Feb. 8-10 in Macon. They pushed 12 of their 14 into this weekend's Sectionals, slated to begin Friday at Greater Atlanta Christian, the most of any team in the GAC Sectional and second-most of any team in Class AAA. The top four in each weight class advanced to the Sectionals.
North Hall had six individual champions during the Area 4-AAA meet -- freshman Jackson Whitmire (106-pounds), freshman Jacob Pedraza (113), junior Matthew Glenn (120), senior John Pedraza (126), junior Bryson Smith (132), and sophomore Logan Hawthorne (195). They had one second place finisher, sophomore Cody Smith (138), four third place finishers in sophomore Cade Miller (170), sophomore Seth Carlton (182), sophomore Logan West (220), and sophomore Bowie Eisenberg (285), and one fourth place in freshman Dalton Battle (145).
It won’t come easy, however, as Jackson County and Lumpkin County both sent nine competitors. All three of those teams will go head-to-head at GAC. Sonoraville sent eight and Bremen seven in the other Sectional. The top four wrestlers in each weight class from each Sectional will advance to next week’s Traditional finals.
The key for the Trojans may be in the low to middle weights. From Whitmire at 106 to Smith at 138, those six lost just one match combined during the Area and State Duals last month.
“All of those guys have been consistent and dominant all year. We’ll need them to continue that to have a chance,” Nichols said. “Our heavyweights (West and Eisenberg) have been showing a lot of progress and they’ll need to step up even more. I also think Battle, who is just a freshman, could surprise some people. He lost by one point to the eventual champion on a last-second move so he was right there.”
Regardless of whatever outcome the Trojans manage over the next two weekends, Nichols said the seeds have been planted for what he hopes is a level of sustained success in the molds of nearby wrestling giants Jefferson and Commerce.
“This is just our second year in the process we’re trying to put together. Our goal right now is just try and do the best we can in the Sectionals and hopefully have a chance for the Traditional title,” he said. “(Jefferson and Commerce) have been doing it for a long time and sure, we’d love to get to that level. Who wouldn’t. We’ll see what happens.”
