Robison takes on wrestling program

The Hill City High School Rangers wrestling team has a new head coach this year. Josh Robison grew up in Hill City and attended school here from kindergarten through 12th grade. 

“I wrestled when Chad Ronish got the program rebuilt in 2005, and I wrestled from probably 2006 to when I graduated in 2010,” said Robison. 

Former coach Tanner Davis approached Robison last year to see if he would be interested in coaching wrestling. Afterward, Robison let Hill City School District athletic director Wade Ginsbach know he would be interested in the position if it opened up, and things went from there. 

Regarding his coaching experience, Robison said, “Last year I was with AAU (American Athletics Union) and volunteered as the middle school coach, but really I just come from an athletic experience. I participated in pretty much all sports in high school and played college football up at Black Hills State. I actually worked in the athletic training room at Black Hills State so I was around athletics there, and then went to grad school for athletic training down in Arizona.”

This year Robison’s goal is to bring consistency to the wrestling program. 

“My goal would be to be here for several years. I don’t have kids so that could be a longer-term goal. But at the moment, it’s just kind of creating structure, consistency and rebuilding that wrestling mentality with athletes as well as growing the sport, getting new kids involved with it,” said Robison.

Since he is coaching middle school and high school wrestling this year, Robison said he is grateful for Howard Schrier’s help as a volunteer coach. 

“He’s doing a lifting program with the kids while I’m working with middle school, and then we kind of transition together and then I work with high school after I dismiss middle school. So he’s a huge help in helping get the kids ready, get them fit, get them physical and things like that,” said Robison. 

Three athletes are returning to the program this year including Daisy Munoz, who placed eighth at state last season, Cory Ronish and Caleb Garcia. New to the team are Andres Hernandez and Rhys Skernick. Also transferring into the program is Justin Malone. 

Practice is going well so far, and Robison said, “A lot of it is when you have coaching changes, there’s different structures to practice and things like that. And I think the kids are getting to know me a little bit more and my expectations. So I think they’re starting to ease in a little bit. To begin with, I know a couple of them were a little worried because they know I’m a little more rigid and tough, but I think they’ve started to figure out that I’m a little bit more, ‘We’re going to work, but we can still have fun doing that.’”

At this point, Robison is focusing on conditioning, teaching new athletes what they need to know going into their first tournament and drilling the basics with the experienced wrestlers. 

As a team, Robison said the Rangers’ biggest strengths is having teammates with experience including a state returner. 

“I have four kids that are experienced wrestlers, and I have two that are inexperienced, and being able to work as a team, help each other out and teach each other as we’re moving along is a big thing,” said Robison. 

Robison hopes that by watching someone at a higher level, athletes will push themselves to become better wrestlers. 

As for potential weaknesses, Robison said this comes down to inexperience and size due to a lack of consistency in the program. 

“From the AAU program, to the middle school program, to the high school program—the last five years at a minimum I don’t think we’ve seen great numbers. So really getting kids good people to match up with and push themselves has been a difficult thing. We’re going to experience that this year. When you have a good wrestling partner, that’s where you grow. So numbers is probably a big weakness,” Robison said. 

Robison’s expectations for the wrestlers are individualized. He said, “My top-end wrestlers, obviously I want them to get really good at fine-tuning those basics to where they’re natural and they don’t have to think about them. My middle grade wrestlers is more to give them some more tools so they can start to elevate their game a little bit. And then with those new wrestlers, it’s just encouraging them to stick with it and be physical, take care of your emotions, take care of yourself and really just teach them about the sport so we can encourage them to continue on.” 

By the Black Hills Conference, Robison said, “I want to see kids competing hard. I don’t want kids to feel that sense of, ‘I didn’t give enough.’ I want them to every single match go out and wrestle hard and understand you may have had a really good wrestler, you may have had a wrestler that you know you could have beat and how are we going to react to that? Are we growing or are we going to be just kind of complacent in that? My goals are really for kids to start thinking about growing in that sense.” 

Along with athletics, Robison is focusing on character development and culture. He said athletes can learn a lot of values from wrestling, and sports are an avenue for growing character. 

“We’re going to work on core values, and at the end of the day when you graduate high school, what things do you bring to your employers? What value do you want to bring to people? I think that’s important to teach them in high school because they’re going to be going off and doing those things whether they’re going into the military, going to college or starting in the workforce,” said Robison. 

The first tournaments are coming up this week. The boys Bill Young Custer Invitational Wrestling Tournament is Friday, Dec. 6, and the girls Bill Young Custer Invitational Wrestling Tournament is Saturday, Dec. 7. Both tournaments are at 9 a.m. at the Custer Armory.

“I feel pretty good. My experienced wrestlers it’s going to be fun to see them like really compete and see how they handle that. And then with new wrestlers, it’s just the time to encourage them because they’re going to see a completely different level of wrestling in that moment. So it’s really just, ‘Hey how are we going to handle this, and what did we learn from this situation?’” said Robison.