CHILLICOTHE – A staple in the local wrestling community has finished coaching varsity after the cancellation of winter sports and the 2020 OHSAA State Wrestling Tournament.

After sitting seven years matside in the varsity wrestling coach’s chair and 12 years coaching wrestling, Unioto wrestling coach Adam Dettwiller is stepping down as head coach.  

“I have been running the wrestling programs at all three levels (youth, junior high, and varsity) for seven years,” said Dettwiller. “Throw on a number of softball and baseball teams that I coach for that same time frame…so after this seventh year I’ve decided to step back and be dad a little more and not so much coach to my own children. I miss a lot of their stuff with being committed to the program, so stepping back will allow me to be at more of their stuff.”  

Detwiller’s family is heavy involved in sports, but he will continue to run the youth program TEAM ULTRA. His stepson Layton Vennon was a freshman wrestler on the varsity wrestling team this season, his sons Axe and Ace and stepsons Reed and Chance Bauer wrestle in their youth programs, and his two daughters also participate in sports as well. 

“I will be helping at the high school and junior high levels when time allows,” said Dettwiller. Dettwiller, along with his three brothers, wrestled at McClain High School and placed fourth in districts his senior year during the 1997/1998 wrestling season, but missed qualifying for state by one point to the second and third placers. He helped coach his brothers at McClain after graduating and would go on to help with the youth programs at Paint Valley and Zane Trace after completing college.

In the fall of 2013, Dettwiller started the process of a youth program at Unioto. Then tragedy struck the wrestling community after storied coach Jerry Driggs unexpectedly passed away a month before the start of the 2013 varsity wrestling season. So Dettwiller, whose original plan was to coach the young wrestlers and help build the program from the ground up, took the varsity program over two days before mandatory practices.

“Jerry was very well liked by the guys on the team,” said Dettwiller. “It took most of that first season to start gaining/earning the respect of the guys. I was a total stranger out with them after a very tragic event in their lives. It was a challenge. My style and coaching were much different for them. I believe that being as good as you can be at the basic moves of this sport is key and if you can score take downs you can control the match. I was driven to build a long-lasting program that would be competitive at the SVC level and beyond.”

After seven years Detwiller has had a total of 12 wrestlers make it to district with several having multiple appearances and two state qualifiers with one state placer.

“It’s a huge accomplishment for that athlete to make state,” said Dettwiller. “As a coach there’s a proud moment, that you are so excited for that kid to be one of the top wrestlers in the state. That’s not an easy goal to obtain, most athletes never get to feel that excitement. So, to know I had a small part in that success for that athlete, it’s a very proud moment.”

Unioto alum Ben Davenport was the first wrestler for Unioto to qualify and place at the state wrestling tournament in 2017 under Dettwiller. Davenport would place eighth overall to make Unioto history. 

“I remember the very first day we met Adam after the death of Coach Driggs,” said Davenport.” Adam immediately took us in as if we were his own kids, sacrificing his time and energy and giving it completely to the program and us kids. As our years went on, he became more and more like a second father to me, opening his house to me to watch wrestling videos, sporting events, even stay the night to go help coach his young sons the next day at pee wee tournaments. No matter what or where or when, I could count on Adam. I had a slight problem in my early high school years of getting heated over things that I couldn’t control in a match. Coach Dettwiller always said just one thing to me. He’d say, ‘Stop Ben, control what you can control.’ The only thing I will ever regret about Coach Dettwiller and all my years with him is that I couldn’t do more on the mat for him and that no matter how many times I thank him, I will never be able to thank him enough for everything he did for me and my family, including my teammates.”

Like Davenport, Unioto senior Tim Diamond would accomplish his ultimate dream of qualifying for state his senior year. However, due to the coronavirus, Diamond would not be able to wrestle with the cancellation of spring sports.  Similar to Davenport, Diamond also considered Dettwiller a father figure.

“Adam always told us wrestling is not just a sport it’s a way of living,” said Diamond. “Wrestling teaches you a lot actually. How to be patient but also how to work your way out of bad situations. I don’t like him leaving. He’s been there for me since my freshman year. I look at him as a dad I never had and someone there for me. He’s a good coach but a great guy. He means a lot to me and honestly, he helped me get through some hard things in my life by just being there and always honest.”

As Dettwiller steps down, fellow SVC wrestling coach Bob Hoselton has nothing but praise for Dettwiller. Dettwiller helped Hoselton coach the Zane Trace youth program for a few years before he went to Unioto.  

“I believe that Adam has done a fantastic job at Unioto,” said Hoselton.  “He had undertaken a lot when he took the position and he has built the program every year. Not only at the varsity level, but at the junior high and youth levels as well. Adam is a very competitive and caring coach. Not just about his wrestlers, but the wrestlers in the area as a whole as well. Adam has always worked hard at coaching. He puts a lot of time into the sport and the wrestlers. He will be missed by the sport of wrestling and he will leave behind big shoes for someone to step into. Most of all I believe that the wrestlers who’s lives he has touched will miss him dearly. And he will miss them also...I wish him the best of luck.”

Dettwiller has high hopes for Unioto’s wrestling future.

“I have been in talks with a young guy that has a very big impact on wrestling about taking this over” said Dettwiller. “There’s nothing official from the school yet, but I have a good feeling about where things are headed. I hope by the 2033 season, when my little guys are seniors, that there has been huge keeps in this program. I know it will take someone other than myself to get this to a powerhouse program.”