PALM BAY, Fla. — The two wrestlers from opposing high schools are on the mat. They are facing each other and waiting for the referee to blow the whistle. One last check that the headgear is in place; protecting and covering both ears. The referee gives a signal to the timekeeper, blows the whistle, and shouts, “Wrestle!”

Coach Degginger is just finishing his 6th year as the wrestling head coach at Heritage High School and his 13th year as a coach in the sport. He coaches Varsity, JV, and also AAU. A wrestler himself in high school in Webb City, MO., he was a 4 time letterman in high school. Joining the National Guard his junior year of high school, he was activated the year after graduation. He then spent the next 17 years in the service with a little over 4 of that (3 tours, 2 combat) on active status. A Platoon Sgt. for a Sapper platoon in the 45th Infantry Brigade, he went back to school later in life and worked in the private sector until his wife, Sue, finished college. Then it was his turn and he is a graduate of Northeastern State University (OK.).

The love for wrestling is in the family as his oldest daughter, Tori decided in high school she wanted to be a wrestler. Living in Port St. Lucie at the time, Tori wanted to wrestle freshman year at her high school. There was no girls wrestling team, in fact, there were no other girls at the school who wrestled. The head coach, Jim Daily, wanted her to wrestle in the 103 lb. weight class. Coach Degginger was of course concerned about his daughter wrestling against boys but decided to let her try it.

As any caring father would, he watched the practices to make sure the boys were respectful with his daughter. They were, and he was convinced to let her continue. When Coach Daily found out that Degginger had been a wrestler as well, and had been invited to wrestle in the All-Army Championships, he asked him to assist with the team. This was the start of coaching for Degginger and he says it is because of his daughter and her interest in the sport. Tori went on to be an accomplished wrestler and is his assistant coach at Heritage, learning about coaching the sport alongside her father.

Coach Degginger is an effective coach because, “My kids know that helping them become better people is my primary goal. Winning wrestling matches is secondary. Once your kids know that you truly care for them, winning championships gets easy.”

In his 13 years of coaching, he has some great moments: Seeing the kids go into the world and become successful. Also, watching the program grow and improve every year. Additionally, the team qualifying for the team State Dual tourney, and winning back to back District Dual titles. Personally, he is also proud of winning his 100thth dual as a coach at Heritage.

Memorable victories are last year’s District IBT title, District Dual titles the last 2 years and Seth Adeclat and Francois Ba getting their state medals.

Degginger is a different type of coach in that he doesn’t buy into most modern coaching theories. He believes that kids respect and want boundaries. He says, “They will never know their limits and how to exceed them if you’re constantly holding their hands and complimenting them for doing things they are supposed to be doing as a matter of course. Save the compliments for the extraordinary accomplishments, not the mundane. The harder the training, the greater the sense of self worth.”

His coaching philosophy is, “To make better young men. Do this and champions will emerge.”

His wrestling team trains year round. In the off season, his club team works on advancing their technique. There are no tryouts for the high school team, but he makes the practices as hard as possible the first week to see which kids really want to be there. Then, he builds the program around those who stay.

This years Varsity team is very talented and most have been with him for 3 to 4 years. The team is state ranked and he is blessed with a group of rookies that have an amazing amount of talent. A great wrestling year and a first for Degginger with14 starters, and 12 of them have winning records. He says it was the most talented group he has coached. The team finished 8th out of 134 2A teams in duals and qualified for the State Dual tourney.

Going into the state tournament, they were ranked #1 in the District and #2 in the Region. Last year they set a school record with 6 state qualifiers. However, this year, they finished 3rd as a team in Region 4 and had 4 state qualifiers. Three of those were named Champions and 1 3rd place finisher.

Austin Jones – Region 4 Champion 113
Roman Maldonado- 3rd 120
Gabriel Ferreira- Region 4 Champion 132
Julian Stoneman- Region 4 Champion 170

The four young men just competed in the State Tournament at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee. They all won matches with Gabriel Ferreira going out in the blood round and Julian Stoneman placing 5th.

In addition to coaching, Degginger is a Social Studies and Career Research teacher and the 2020-2021 Teacher of the Year at Heritage High School. Coming from a very poor and volatile background, Coach Degginger was able to find success in the military and private sector before becoming a coach and a teacher. He has always wanted to give back and help other disadvantaged kids succeed and does just that in both of these roles. Degginger says, “God has given me a chance to do that and wrestling as the vehicle by which to get it done.”

Degginger has made a name for himself in coaching and in the hearts of young people as a teacher as well. He will continue to help guide today’s youth in wrestling and in the classroom so they have the chance to be successful adults after high school, in anything they choose.

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