Coach Julien was not lucky enough to start out with a talented team. He picked up where the last coach left off, which was half a line up and a season without a single victory. “I tried recruiting everyone I saw in the hallways who looked at all athetlic or filled a weight we needed,” Julien said, when asked how he built the team. The rest was making a more challenging schedule with the help of his assistant coaches, and trying to keep the team together. “It’s frustrating dealing with all the different types of people on a team,” Julien admitted.
With two of the teams varsity wrestlers out for injuries and another on academic probation right before the championship, it is easy to see why. Even with the struggles, to Julien, it’s worth it. Winning never gets old, he says, and the possibility of winning is enough to keep the team motivated. He feels lucky now because the team has strong wrestlers, including 3 district champions, but he knows they still have work to do. “Once they get cocky it’s over,” Julien adds, “They know they’re great, but Northeast is great too. If we slip up we lose, it’s simple as that.” This means a harsh rule of not getting to wrestle if you miss one practice, three hours of practice each day, morning practice Tuesdays and Thursdays, and even a two-day tournament over winter break. The hard work pays off, getting the team into the championship the second year in a row, and earning Julien the title of “Coach of the Year” as voted by all public league wrestling coaches.
Both Coach Trott and Coach Julien worked hard to help their teams to victory, and the night of the boys’ soccer championship, the friends went out for a celebratory dinner. “We’ve been waiting for this moment since high school,” Julien joked, “let’s hope it’s not the last time it happens.”