Walker Valley High School has hired Bradley Central wrestling assistant Adam Rains for a similar position.
Rains will join a Mustangs staff that consists entirely of former Bradley wrestlers, including head coach Alan Morris and assistants Andy Morris and Bryant Blackmon.
“I felt I had a good staff with Bryant and Andy, and Adam is one of the top young coaches in the state,” said Alan Morris, the first person to wrestle a varsity match for Bradley. “All three of the assistants bring energy, and Adam gives us another quality coach in the room. He has been part of a winning program.”
All three of Mustangs assistants are former state medalists.
“This staff is as good as any around,” the head coach said. “The good thing is that we have known each other. They have been teammates, and I coached all of them in the kids club program. We’re going to work hard but we’re going to have fun.”
Rains said the move will give him a chance to teach and increase his pay. He’s been a teacher’s assistant at Bradley.
“I wasn’t wanting to leave where I was, but it was an opportunity to be in a classroom, and that’s what I went to [college] for,” Rains said.
Wrestling will remain a priority, however, for someone who has been involved with a program that has won 22 team state championships in the last 18 years.
“At Bradley there were expectations, and I’m looking to bring those same expectations to Walker Valley,” Rains said. “I told the kids [at Walker Valley] that I knew what their coaches expected of them and that I wanted to help them reach those expectations.”