Young Craft oversees progress at CCS

Josh Craft may have wondered if he had tackled a gorilla when he accepted the job as wrestling coach at Chattanooga Christian.

He entered his group with only experienced wrestler in the junior varsity division of Ooltewah's Keith Johnson Memorial tournament. The Chargers left that early December tournament with just one medalist.

At the regional JV tournament last Tuesday, each of the Chargers got into the medals.

"It was great to see the guys' improvement," said the former state champion and two-time finalist at East Ridge. "I really feel fortunate because the guys have worked hard. I told them we can be as good as they want to be. They got after it and never complained although I pushed them pretty hard."

If the Chargers have managed to try his patience, Craft didn't let it show. He has coached in youth programs for several years, and he follows the old adage about crawling before walking.

Chattanooga Christian will have six wrestlers in the Region 4 traditional tournament Thursday and Friday at Red Bank, and it is likely that at least one could qualify for the state.

"That would be a realistic goal, but we are certainly going to get some wins," Craft said.

Josh's father, Mike Craft, wrestled for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and coached for a while at Jacksonville (Ala.) State. One of the area's most respected referees, he also coached for years in the East Ridge kids programs.

It was while Mike was coaching in the East Ridge programs that Josh first got the wrestling bug.

"At first I'd take my He-Man action figures and play with them while he was coaching," Josh recalled. "But the time I was 5, I was begging to wrestle, and he finally let me a year later."

Mike has offered advice only when Josh specifically asked, and he has tried to give his son room to grow.

"I have talked with him about different conditioning routines and when to do certain things in the practice room and how to avoid the kids getting burned out," the father said.

"Wrestling has always been in his blood. I think he'll be a great coach. He loves working with kids and he loves wrestling. He is also a student of the sport. I'm very proud of him."

Josh, who wrestled for a couple of years at UTC under Terry Brands -- and current coach Heath Eslinger as a Mocs assistant -- apparently has made an impact at CCS.

"I think Josh is a good person and he has a lot of knowledge about and a passion for the sport," athletic director John Visser said. "We are in our fledgling years. We have had a tough combination with wrestling in trying to combine the middle and high school programs, but Josh has done a good job with a program in progress."