Font ResizeNow Dutterer can add the title of head coach of the Hanover High Nighthawks to his portfolio. He hopes success on the mats will soon follow.
"Last year, we were a little over .500. I'd be really happy if we were a little better than that this year," Dutterer said Thursday. "We're still going to be young in some spots.
"We have some returning people back, but we're still going to have a couple of spots to fill with some young kids with not a lot of experience."
Dutterer's own familiarity with Hanover wrestling is what qualified him for the head coaching position, formerly held by Tyke Conover.
The position came open when Conover resigned July 27, citing back problems. Conover was unable to complete the 2008-09 season as coach due to back surgery.
Tyke's father, Terry Conover, had been the head wrestling coach for 37 years previously and replaced Tyke as head coach to finish last season, but his contract was not renewed.
Despite the circumstances surrounding the Conovers' exits, Dutterer said he has the support of both former coaches as he has worked with them. In 1999, Dutterer assumed head coaching duties when the elder Conover had to have heart surgery during the season.
"It's definitely a clean slate moving forward," Dutterer said. "I have approval from Terry and Tyke and they're both behind me 100 percent for taking the
When the school board decided not to renew the elder Conover's contract this summer, board president Art Smith said the administrations had "new ideas about coaching."
Ken Klenk then was Hanover's athletic director. Now, new Nighthawk Athletic Director Greg Wagner thinks he has found a wrestling coach who's "in it for the right reasons."
Wagner said Dutterer told him numerous stories while he was interviewing for the job that made Dutterer stand out as the top candidate.
One was about an unnamed wrestler who hadn't won a match for Hanover in his entire four-year career. Late in the season, with Dutterer matside as an assistant, the wrestler got his first career win. Dutterer went nuts.
"You can tell whenever he tells stories about some of the kids he's worked with and the stories that he's telling are heartfelt and he's there for the betterment of the kids," Wagner said. "To make them better athletes on the mat as well as make them better individuals as they develop and move on from Hanover."
The Nighthawks will begin practice on Nov. 20, but before then, Dutterer will have to name two assistant coaches and a new junior high coach.
Dutterer said Thursday he already has candidates for these positions and he expects them to be approved by the school board on Oct. 26.
As for his wrestlers, Dutterer plans to hold a meeting after school in the coming weeks to generate interest in wrestling for returning and new grapplers and to introduce himself as head coach.
When asked about his favorite memory as either a Hanover wrestler or assistant coach, Dutterer was quick to name it.
Although he enjoyed watching individuals win state titles through the years, Dutterer's proudest moment came during the 1997 season when the Nighthawks won the District 3 championship as a team.
Dutterer isn't guaranteeing the Nighthawks can return to that level of success this season, but he thinks they can still have a good year, the first on his watch.
"That's basically what I'd like to do. Get back to back in the '90s when our team was very good and we were very competitive," Dutterer said. "I know that's hard to live up to, but someday I'd like to have a year like we did there and maybe get a chance to do some things that we've done in the past."
tjohnson@eveningsun.com
