Greenlee provides tested leadership abilities

by Joe Arnold
Staff Writer

When Ohio wrestling coach Joel Greenlee was hired as an assistant/interim head coach in 1997, he thought his role would be to support then head coach Harry Houska. A year later, Greenlee had the "interim" removed from his title and was named the Bobcats' head wrestling coach.

Greenlee came to Ohio from Northern Iowa where he had was an assistant on the Panthers' staff from 1989 to 1997. Greenlee also wrestled for the Panthers, posting the highest winning percentage in Northern Iowa history with a 127-16-4 record and a 58-0-3 dual meet record. He was a two-time All-American.

Greenlee credits his wrestling achievements to growing up in Iowa, a state where wrestling is **the** sport, he said.

"It doesn't matter where you go, if you wrestled in Iowa, that carries a little bit of weight," he said. "People really recognize Iowa as a good wrestling state. I had some great experiences as a wrestler and I had some great coaches as well."

Greenlee said he always had wanted to coach at the collegiate level, and the move to Ohio gave him a chance to become a head coach.

"It was an opportunity for me to come in as an interim head coach for a year, with the possibility of being a head coach," he said. "And that was something I had wanted to do for a long time, and it was just a good opportunity for me."

In his fourth season as coach of the Bobcats, Greenlee has a 43-24-2 overall record and a 13-4-1 Mid-American Conference record. While at Ohio, Greenlee only has lost to two MAC teams, Central Michigan and Northern Illinois. Greenlee, however, said he is not worried about records and winning percentages.

"A lot of people get too wrapped up in winning and losing," he said. "We don't talk a lot of winning and losing. We talk about going out and wrestling as hard as we can for seven minutes."

In 1998 the Bobcats, guided by Greenlee who had to take over the reigns from a sick Houska, won the regular season MAC Title, going 5-0 in MAC competition. That same year, the National Wrestling Coaches Association named Greenlee Assistant Coach of the Year.

Last season, Greenlee's Bobcats were ranked 10th among all Division I wrestling programs in academics. Good personnel and team chemistry have been the reason for the Bobcats' success, Greenlee said.

"I attribute a lot of (the success) to the kids we have on our team," Greenlee said. "We've got good kids that are not only good student-athletes and good wrestlers, but they're good people too. You have a tough time winning if you don't have good people on your team."

The change in coaches brought about a change in the entire wrestling program, wrestler JohnWervey said. Wervey and fellow senior Dan Bednar have wrestled for Greenlee since he began in 1997.

"(Coach Greenlee) has definitely made the atmosphere around here much more enjoyable, and I think the program is better off," he said. "He brought the fun back to the sport for me."

Greenlee is more involved in the day-to-day workings with the team through practice and preseason and postseason meetings, Bednar said.

"Coach is always (at practice) all the time, always working with you," Bednar said. "You get to know him really well. He's always in your face, and you really can't hide from him. He showed me the things I had to work on, and he relayed it very well to me."

With only three weeks before the MAC Tournament, the Bobcats are in a position to accomplish the goals they set, Greenlee said.

"Our goals, since I've been here, have been to win the MAC Championship and be a top-15 team in the country, year in and year out," he said. "This year we're pretty young, but I'm excited about the guys we have on our team. We have good leadership with our seniors, and we have an outstanding group of young guys.

"We've gotten better every time out, and I think by the MAC Tournament time and national tournament time, our guys are going to be there."