MHSA(Q&)A: Stevensville-Lakeshore wrestling coach Bruce Bittenbender
February 9, 2012
Bruce Bittenbender grew up in Bethlehem, Pa., in the heart of steel country, and worked part-time in a mill as a young adult. That helped land him in Michigan City, Ind., not long after graduating from Milligan College in Tennessee in 1969.
But Bittenbender wanted to teach and coach.
Bittenbender took a teaching job at South Haven that fall, and as an assistant coach helped that school's wrestling team to the MHSAA Class B championship. A year later the wrestling coaching job opened at Stevensville Lakeshore. He says now that he was too young for the job, but Bittenbender applied and was hired. The program was struggling at that point -- but not for much longer.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations' record book, Bittenbender trailed only Rex Peckinpaugh of New Castle, Ind., in career dual coaching wins heading into this season (796-780). Bittenbender won his 800th match on Jan. 14 -- and has his team just two more victories from MHSAA Finals weekend Feb. 24-25 in Battle Creek.
Bittenbender retired from teaching two years ago after 35 teaching biology and seven more physical education. At 64, he still gets on the mat with his wrestlers from time to time, although perhaps not as much as he once did. But countless wrestlers -- including those who won a combined 20 individual championships -- have benefited from his instruction.
His coaching tree includes current Rockford coach Brian Richardson and former Lowell coach Dave Strejc, who led teams to MHSAA Division 2 championships in 2002 and 2004. Bittenbender was named National Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations in 2002 and again by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association in 2010. He is a member of the Michigan Wrestling Association Hall of Fame, and he will be inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame this spring.
Stevensville Lakeshore is ranked No. 7 in Division 2. His team won its District on Tuesday, downing St. Joseph 35-34 with a decision win in the final match.
What keeps you coming back for another season?
Every year, when you think you've seen it all, something else comes up. When I was in middle school, it was junior high school back then, I was on the edge. The coach (Jim McIntyre, who went on to coach at Kutztown University) grabbed me on the back of the neck and said, "What are you doing?" I was hanging out with kids of questionable character, and he said, "You need to come out for wrestling." I still go back and play golf with that guy once in a while. ... I came from a big family. We didn't have much. I have empathy for the kids that were kicked around, misdirected. Somebody took time out for me. I felt maybe I could kick some of that back.
After so many wins, do you still enjoy all of them the same?
I tell ya, last night I certainly enjoyed the win. It was just like I was 23 again. Yeah, I enjoy it. It's addictive. That's what you're out there for.
The NFHS changed its wrestling weight classes this season, but Michigan chose to stay with its current lineup. What is your thought on that switch?
I think it's going to switch back. It makes no sense to me. The average kid graduating from high school is 5-(foot-)9, 155 pounds. Why add a weight class at the top where you have to compete for kids with football and basketball. … Our sport has prided itself on giving the little guy a chance. ... He can be a state champ in wrestling.
Your teams have finished MHSAA Finals runner-up twice. How much would you like to win that first championship?
I would love to. That's the ultimate goal. We've been so close. We were up three points in '94, and got pinned at heavyweight (to lose 28-25 to Fowlerville). In '86 we broke the record for individual number of points scored, but Eaton Rapids broke it too. We were that close.
I'm assuming you're not going to stop coaching any time soon.
Being around people and the community, and working with kids, it keeps you young. Keeps you in shape, keeps you motivated. I think that's one of the reasons. Now that I'm not teaching, my wife and I are able to travel quite a bit in the fall and summer. I think that's basically a motivator, just being around people.
What do you tell, or would you tell, young coaches who are just getting started in high school wrestling?
I tell them to be careful the first few years. It's different today. … I tell coaches you need to set up standards, discipline, goals and objectives, and go by those. You try to accommodate some of these kids, and this and that, but you can go only so far. You’ve gotta stick to the rules and let the cards fall where they are. If you don't, you'll have problems down the line.
And I think communicating with people, making friends, getting out there and strumming up support for the program is important too. I've had the opportunity to speak to the Lions Club, various civic organizations, at hospitals. You have to try to make yourself available. People have to learn to put their trust in you."
DCC Wins Power-Packed Rematch in D1
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 23, 2019
KALAMAZOO – Tony Greathouse has built one of the state’s elite wrestling programs at Brighton over the past six years.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the state’s most elite program currently resides in their division.
Detroit Catholic Central defeated Brighton 34-19 on Saturday at Wings Event Center to claim its third straight Division 1 team wrestling title.
“Especially this year, we took a big step up where we’re not just barely beating teams, we beat really good teams this year by 40 or 50,” Greathouse said. “Even this dual, even though we lost, the fact that we’re within 15 points of them – they might be the best team that’s ever come out of the state of Michigan. They’re pretty darn good.”
Catholic Central (26-1) finished the decade with seven titles and one runner-up finish. It’s a feat no Division 1 team has ever accomplished.
“You have to take your hats off to our guys; they work so hard,” said Shamrocks coach Mitch Hancock, who has led the program to each of those seven titles. “It’s not about me, it really isn’t. It’s about them and how hard they work. We have a standard at Catholic Central, and that standard is high. When you come to Catholic Central, you better be ready to work, you better be ready to perform in the classroom, pray to God and perform on the athletic field, and those guys live up to that standard every single day.”
The Shamrocks rolled through the postseason, not giving up a team point through the District or Regional, and rolling to 63-6 (Clarkston) and 56-9 (Westland John Glenn) wins in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals.
“We kind of look at it as, we don’t really have anything to prove,” Catholic Central senior Cameron Amine said. “We just have to keep getting better every day in the practice room and pushing each other in the practice room. And that nothing is ever given to us at all. You have to go out there and work for it and get it.”
The dual started in the heart of Catholic Central’s lineup at 140 pounds, and the Shamrocks jumped out to a 29-3 lead despite it being a strong stretch of the Bulldogs’ lineup as well.
Logan Sanom and returning Individual Finals champion Derek Gilcher each won major decisions at 140 and 145, respectively. Three-time individual champion Kevon Davenport won by decision for the Shamrocks at 152, followed by two-time champion Amine winning by major decision at 160.
Brighton got on the board at 171, as River Shettler won by decision, but the Shamrocks rattled off four straight, starting with a decision from returning champion Easton Turner at 189. Brendin Yatooma (215) and Steven Kolcheff (285) also won by major decision, while Anthony Walker (103) won a decision.
Brighton rattled off four straight wins from 112 through 130, getting a major decision from Mason Shrader, a pin from Sam Freeman and decisions from Ben Manly and Eddie Homrock.
The Shamrocks closed the dual with another returning champion, Josh Edmond, winning by technical fall at 135.
“We start at 140, good luck with that, right?” Hancock said. “You got Gilcher, Amine, Davenport, then you go up top to our big guys – we just put a lot of faith in our big guys up top. They’re just a really, really good team, and we were just a couple points better at every weight. To me, that’s just a level of toughness, a level of focus and just some conditioning.
“Hats off to Tony, he’s built a power over there at Brighton.”
The matchups were ones Greathouse knew posed problems for his team coming in.
“We knew coming in that we were going to have to win some matches that we probably weren’t supposed to win,” he said. “We were facing some pretty formidable opposition there. Overall, I thought we competed pretty hard, but they’re better than we are. We had to be better than them today, and we weren’t. We lost by 58 points to them last year in the state finals, today we lost by 15, so we made a 43-point improvement over the last 12 months, so I think that’s something to hang your hat on. We beat the Division 2 state champ (Lowell), we beat the Division 3 state champ (Dundee), so we had a pretty great season. I’m proud of them.”
Hancock wasn’t just impressed with his stars, however, as his younger wrestlers came through for the team as well.
“Anthony Walker I think was the key of the match, his big win down low,” Hancock said. “Logan Sanom, I’m not sure if people expected him to wrestle in that dual but he came out firing. Those two guys really stood out to me, and then up top Brendin Yatooma who beat (Luke) Stanton. Stanton is pretty dangerous on top, so for Yatooma to take him out the way he did was pretty cool.”
Brighton defeated Davison 31-24 in the Semifinals, while Catholic Central defeated Westland John Glenn 56-9.
Gilcher, Davenport, Amine, Turner, Yatooma, Kolcheff, Walker and Edmond each won three matches on the weekend for the Shamrocks, while Freeman and Homrock each won three matches for Brighton.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kevon Davenport was one of nine bout winners for DCC in the Division 1 Final on Saturday. (Middle) Brighton's Greyson Stevens, left, and DCC's Easton Turner wrestle at 189 pounds. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)