Adams Named WP’s Wrestling Coach

PRESCOTT -- WP's Tiger wrestling program is new, but one look at Lanny Adam's old worn Asics wrestling shoes will tell you he's no rookie to the sport.

Adams began wrestling in Omak when he was a mere five years old. He continued wrestling all through his high school years as well as playing football and competing in track and field.

"I enjoyed football, and track was more of a social sport for me," said Adams. "Wrestling has always been my number one. It's the chess of sports."

Adams began his coaching experience in the sport of wrestling back in the 1980s when he worked with the Medical Lake youth wrestling league that was comprised of 65 teams.

More recently, he worked with other local community members to put together the Dayton Mat Birds.

The Mat Birds have been a part of the youth wrestling league for three years.

"There are kids who have been wrestling with the Mat Birds since the beginning," said Adams. "But as they grow older they have had nowhere to go to continue the sport until now."

Last spring, the Mat Birds hosted a wrestling tournament at Kison court in Waitsburg that turned the town upside down for the weekend.

"I truly feel that since the community saw the success of that event it really helped the new high school program become a reality," said Adams. "The community saw just how much interest there is in the sport and the opportunity that the kids could have from a program."

"They took a poll with the students to get an idea of the level of interest and were pleasantly surprised with the response," said Adams. "The turnout for basketball has increased over the years and a lot of kids found themselves spending all week practicing only to sit the bench because of the high numbers of players. This gives the kids an alternative."

The community has recently gone through a similar situation with the addition of the WP soccer program. Once again, kids who loved the sport as youths were playing on club teams in their older years in order to stay active in the sport that they love so dearly.

Now after nearly completing its second season the WP Tigers are making a run for the state title.

"I could see the same thing happening for the wrestling program," said Adams. "There are kids that are turning out that have experience and have the potential to be state contenders in this first year."

"It's all very exciting," said Adams. "To start a wrestling program from ground zero has been a dream of mine for a long time."