The Pella High wrestling team will have an entirely new look this season.
The Little Dutch graduated one of its largest senior classes ever, and Jon Mendoza has replaced Joe Burch as the team’s coach.
The former Central College wrestler takes over a program that has no seniors on the roster and is extremely young. He says that has both positives and negatives. The positives are mostly in the future as his young team grows together towards success. The negatives could be apparent this season.
“Right now all we have is a lot of young kids, and we only have two kids returning who have even wrestled varsity. Our goals are little by little, little successes, little steps here and there. This year’s goal is to have the kids buy into our new vision and the discipline and dedication that it takes to become a champion, a better athlete and a better wrestler.”
The new look Little Dutch will take to the mat for the first time in 2017 on Thursday night at a quad at Colfax-Mingo that also features Pleasantville and Iowa Valley.