By Ben Pherson

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

Last week, Art Trimble was named the new head wrestling coach at Rochester Mayo High School.

Trimble takes over for longtime coach Dwight Gingerich, who retired at the end of last school year.

Trimble had been Gingerich's assistant at Mayo since 2001, and he's a 1997 graduate of Mayo High School.

Trimble was a member of the Mayo wrestling team and went on to wrestle at Luther College. He was a two-time Academic All-American for the Norse in 1999 and 2000. Trimble still holds the No. 5 spot in career pins at Luther.

"We're extremely excited to have Art take over our wrestling program," Mayo athletics director Jeff Whitney said in a release last week. "He is a very active staff member at Mayo and will be a strong advocate for our athletes in the classroom and in the wrestling room."

While Whitney is excited to have him on board, Trimble said he's equally pumped up to be taking over the program. Since Day 1, Trimble said, he knew he eventually wanted to be a head coach.

"It's been a great experience working under Dwight. I learned a lot of new techniques, and I've followed along with him, taking notes all these years," he said. "This is something I've definitely wanted to do for a long time.

"And to have my first head-coaching job be at Mayo is special. I went here, and I bleed green and gold. It's a great opportunity for me."

Trimble said he'll benefit from the tradition established by Gingerich. "I don't have to rebuild from the ground up. I'm hoping to continue the tradition of winning we've had going the last 10 or 12 years," Trimble said.

For years, Trimble has been very involved with the Rochester youth wrestling program. He said he'll continue to be involved at the youth level because it's so important to the success of the program.

With the Spartans graduating a good chunk of quality seniors from last year's team, Trimble knows that 2009-10 will be a challenge. The Spartans are particularly thin in the heavier weight classes. But Trimble said there are enough bodies to fill those spots by the end of the season.

"We have a lot of young guys coming up," he said. "Some ninth- and 10th-graders may have to step up. We're focusing on recruiting right now, and we're raiding the ninth-grade football team, and we're hoping we can get a lot of those kids in the room this year."

The first day of practice (Nov. 23) is less than a month away. Trimble said he's both nervous and excited to get started.

"I've run plenty of practices before, but I'm sure I'll still have some nerves. Mostly I'm excited. The kids are excited, and we can't wait to get started," Trimble said.

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