MUSKEGON TWP. - It could be a difficult for a talented young team, with two years of success under its belt, to suddenly lose its head coach.
The Reeths-Puffer wrestling team, which won the O-K Green championship each of the past two years, encountered that situation during the offseason when Jared Fleming resigned to pursue an opportunity outside of education.
Luckily for the Rockets, a very capable and logical replacement was waiting in the wings.
The new head coach is Brad Cowles, who is hardly a stranger to the program.
Cowles is a 2005 Reeths-Puffer graduate who qualified for the state wrestling finals as a senior.
Ian Cook
He was an assistant coach for the R-P varsity for three years, between 2018 and 2021, when the Rockets were very good.
Since then he’s been the R-P middle school wrestling coach, developing many of the kids who are currently thriving at the varsity level.
“I have already coached a lot of them for years,” said Cowles, who will make his varsity coaching debut on Wednesday night, when the Rockets host Hastings in a home dual match. “They have welcomed me with open arms. It’s great to be able to work with a great group of kids.”
Cowles will take over a team with a lot of guys returning from last year’s O-K Green conference championship squad.
“They were two-time conference champions, and we’re going to have a great team this year that should do some more damage,” Cowles said. “We have a very solid lineup this year.
Jake Rozycki
“We had some good kids graduate, but only one impact wrestler. Most of the guys in the starting lineup were sophomores and juniors.”
Cowles will also benefit from the arrival of a great freshman class, which includes his son, Tanner Cowles. The new kids will be pushing some of the veterans for mat time right away, according to the coach.
“We will probably have three or four starting freshmen,” Cowles said. “They might be bumping some juniors out of the lineup. Our freshman class is probably one of the best we’ve had in a while.”
The impressive list of R-P returnees starts with two state qualifiers who are expected to accomplish big things this season.
The first is Ian Cook, a 144-pound senior who has placed high at the state finals in each of his three seasons of varsity wrestling. He finished third in the state in his weight class last season, sixth as a sophomore, and third as a freshman.
Arin Maynard
Cook has a career record of 152-15 and is closing in on R-P’s all-time victory mark of 177.
“That kid has been wrestling for a long time and he puts in a ton of work,” Cowles said about Cook. “He’s a great leader and motivator for the team. All of his 15 career losses have been to guys who have placed in state.”
The other returning state qualifier is junior Jake Rozycki (138 pounds), who has an outstanding career record of 96-11.
“He is a very technical wrestler and a hard worker,” Cowles said about Rozycki. “He is a top leader on the team, behind Ian. He was a state qualifier last year, and I expect him to be on the podium this year, hopefully among the top five in the state.”
The list of top returnees also includes senior Arin Maynard (113-120 pounds), who was 43-7 last season and was one victory short of qualifying for the state finals.
Sage Secrest
Junior Max Knowlton will return at 106 pounds after posting a winning record last season. The same is true for sophomore Mason Goodno, who will wrestle at 126 pounds.
Junior Cory Judd did not make the starting lineup last year, but has worked hard in the offseason and is also expected to get mat time at 126 pounds.
Sophomore Hunter Eek is also back, wrestling at 150 pounds, and could have a breakout season after struggling a bit last year.
Sophomore Bryce Muskovin will be wrestling at 157 pounds after posting a winning record in 2023-24. Junior Andrew Corradin (165) also has high hopes after finishing above .500 last season.
The Rockets have a very interesting wrestler at 175 pounds. Sophomore Lyric Stewart cracked the starting lineup midway through last season and won his weight class at the Ravenna Invitational.
“He’s a very raw wrestler,” Cowles said. “He’s got a lot of potential. He’s very in-your-face and likes to get after it.”
Andrew Corradin
Senior Sage Secrest, who has an 88-40 career record, will wrestle n the higher weights, and could make some real noise this season, according to Cowles.
“He’s a force to be reckoned with,” the coach said. “We have high hopes for this kid to make it to state.”
The likely heavyweight will be junior Devin Welch, who will be building on his experience from last season.
On top of all that, the Rockets will welcome several freshmen who are expected to make an impact right away, including Travis Henderson (113 or 120 pounds) and Tanner Cowles (138 pounds). Both were city champions in middle school.
With so many quality athletes ready to roll, Cowles and assistant coaches Jace Learn and Hayden Cregg have a great deal of confidence that the Rockets can three-peat as O-K Green champions.
Cowles mentions Caledonia and Byron Center as tough conference opponents, but said “I think we should be able to beat both of them.”