Mar 8, 2016 4 min read

The spotlight at the PIAA Wrestling Championships is on the athletes, which is where it should be.

But it would be a mistake to believe the coaches in the corner are little more than showpieces when the tournament gets under way Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Jefferson-Morgan’s Mike Lesko will be in the chair for Gavin Teasdale’s run at repeating as a Class AA state champion, and Rick Chaussard will be in the same position when South Fayette’s Mike Carr goes for his second straight.

Outside of their family, the person who knows these wrestlers best is the coach.

Lesko and Chaussard face different challenges. Teasdale, who enters the tournament undefeated over his two varsity seasons, had some minor weight issues at 113 pounds. Carr, who like Teasdale is unbeaten in his last two seasons, is adjusting to a slight tear of his meniscus that occurred three weeks ago.

“The biggest issue with Gavin is just monitoring his weight,” said Lesko. “This year, there was a little issue but last week, it was great. We’ve had issues in the past. Gavin knows what he has to do. You have to be strong and ready to go up there. From last year to this year, anything can happen. And you have to prepare for that.”

Teasdale looked sluggish in a 14-6 major decision over Keaton Furry of North Star and Lesko felt the post weigh-in activity was the problem.

“We saw something happen with our food intake,” said Lesko. “We have to change that after weigh-ins. We have to be prepared that that doesn’t happen. I don’t want that to happen again.”

And Lesko said while the urge to entertain might creep into a wrestler’s mind during the state tournament, it’s a much better strategy to use what works. Keeping Teasdale on that path is Lesko’s responsibility.

“We talked about sticking with the basics, no foot sweeps or inside trips just for show,” Lesko said. “That’s what got you Pan-Am gold; that’s what got you a state championship. When you start playing around, that’s when bad things can happen. I don’t know if anyone can stay with Gavin. He has so much attack in him that there is no being on the defensive. He’s always attacking. Someone like that, who is always attacking, is going to win.”

Chaussard’s job over the past few weeks is convincing Carr he can wrestle at a superior level with the injury. Chaussard should know. He tore a meniscus and still competed in high school.

“We told him to do what you do best, and we’ll make adjustments if we have to along the way,” said Chaussard. “We talked about doing different things if there is discomfort and he doesn’t feel he can shoot (as well) off it. We’ll go a different way. Since he hurt his knee, his style hasn’t really changed all that much. He doesn’t do anything different. It’s the mental side of it that he has a torn meniscus. He knows he has a knee injury. If you watch when he’s in the match and his mind goes away from it, he’s fine.”

Chaussard said he is working with Carr to be more unpredictable, and Carr looked strong in winning his third regional title. Changes aren’t suggested because of the injury, just to be more unpredictable, which in turn makes him harder to beat.

“We talked about changing things up to give a different look,” he said. “Every wrestler has tendencies about what they want to do and we’re trying to eliminate some of those tendencies.”

Chaussard believes Carr took a major step toward winning a second title over the summer, when he dedicated himself to preparation.

“His training in the offseason was phenomenal,” said Chaussard. “I could tell in July that he was a better wrestler than in March, when he won the state title. He did a lot of wrestling, in our room and other places. The main thing we talked about was that the bulls-eye on his back got a lot bigger. Everyone wants to take down a state champ.”