11/25/2009 6:00:00 AM New wrestling coach, Allen Foster, a familiar face to Chino Valley Returning champ
Review/Geri Kinsley
New coach Allen Foster, refereeing the Blue and Gray team match on Friday.
Review/Geri Kinsley
New coach Allen Foster talking to his team.
By Geri Kinsley Chino Valley Review
Allen Foster returns to Chino Valley High School (CVHS) as the school's 2009 Head Wrestling Coach.
Foster grew up in Chino Valley, wrestled here while in elementary and middle school, then traveled to Prescott for high school during the time when Chino Valley did not have a high school.
Back in Chino, Foster has high hopes for this year's team.
"We are a young team this year with juniors, sophomores and incoming freshmen," Foster said. "The nice thing about this year is that we will be able to compete with a full team."
Foster's assistant coach, Scott Muir, (principal of Heritage Middle School) coached wrestling in Idaho before coming to Chino Valley. assistant coach Eric Ginn (Chino Valley firefighter) was a state placer on the 2000 Chino Valley Cougar Regional Championship team. Also assisting the team is former Chino standout wrestler, Matt Dalcerro.
"We are looking forward to a great season," Foster said. "We hope to do well when CVHS hosts the Regional Championship in February."
Championships are something Foster knows first-hand as a player. While attending Prescott High School, Foster was the 1991 State Wrestling champion. The only time the 36-year-old Foster has lived outside of Chino Valley was when he attended Easter Arizona College in Thatcher, where he also met his to-be wife, Velmarie.
Foster then received a wrestling scholarship the following year to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (94-95). The next year Foster started working as a land surveyor for a local firm and coached at Heritage Middle School for two years and then became the assistant wrestling coach at CVHS from 1998 to 2001. The Cougar Wrestling team won the Regional Championship in 2000 while Foster was assistant coach.
Foster left the coaching staff at CVHS to start coaching his son, Kendall. He started a wrestling program with Joe Howard (now principal at Prescott Mile High Middle School) in 2002 to start coaching Kendall, who is now wrestling as a 6th-grader at Heritage Middle School. The Werewolf Wrestling program is still introducing kids (4-12 years old) to wrestling in each of the quad-city areas; the program begins each year in February.
Kyle Lindahl will be returning to this year's varsity team as a State placer and one of the team captains; he will be wrestling in the 112-pound division. Also returning to the varsity squad this year are Team Captains Ridge Hackett and Joe Leyva. Hackett will be wrestling the in the 140-pound division and Leyva will be wresting in the heavy-weight division.
The Cougar Wrestling Team met in the East Gym Friday night for Blue and Gray night, competing against each other. They spent the night as a team conditioning and getting ready for their first meet Dec. 3 in Camp Verde.
