Former Olympian looks to build up Army wrestling team with new talent Soldiers go to the mat at All-Army championships at Fort Hood

By Tim Hipps
U.S. Army Community & Family Support Center Sports Correspondent

FORT HOOD, Texas - Rookie coach Shon Lewis faces a tough mission incorporating 15 new faces on the 16-man All-Army wrestling team that preparing for the Armed Forces Championships scheduled for March 9 through 12 at Fort Hood, Texas, site of the All-Army Wrestling Championships Feb. 16-17.

But if anyone knows a challenge, it's Lewis, a 13-time Armed Forces champion who left his wrestling shoes on the mat after being eliminated from the 2000 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials last spring at Reunion Arena in Dallas.

Lewis, 33, became a four-time U.S. National Champion and three-time World Cup U.S. Team member before stepping down to restore proud tradition to the All-Army wrestling program.

"That was the main reason why I hung up my boots," Lewis said after completing his first camp as coach of the All-Army Team. "It wasn't because I couldn't continue to compete at this level or keep winning, but I knew they were looking for a coach. At most, I only had four more years to compete; that would put me at 37. My record speaks for itself. There's no one in Armed Forces who can compare with my record.

"But since 1995-96, we haven't duplicated the same success All-Army had grown accustomed to. It's all about winning and giving these young soldiers the opportunity to have a chance to win. I want to restore that kind of tradition."

To hear his young wrestlers tell it, Lewis has the All-Army team headed in the right direction.

"It will be a good challenge for Shon to try to bring along some new Army talent," said Sgt. Dominique Black, who represented the U.S. Army in Sydney, Australia, as an alternate on the 2000 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team. "In college, a new coach comes in and inherits the last guy's recruits. But for Shon this is good: a new millennium, new coach and a whole new team. It's all starting at Ground Zero, and it will be good to see what he can do with these guys. There's a lot of tradition in the program because we've won the last 10 Armed Forces Championships."

Lewis has no reservations about taking over the team.

"I could be selfish and stay there and hold that spot," Lewis said. "I'm still thumping these guys and seeing their weaknesses on a daily basis, but would that be fair to these young soldiers? I think the ultimate way to show you're sincere about the sport and sincere about the program is to help build the future rather than hindering the future. I have a passion for showing technique and teaching guys stuff.

"Now my pleasure is watching them execute stuff that I've shown them. That's how I get my joy. And these guys have bought into the concept. They want to be a team, want to be a family, want to win together. And that makes it all good, that they want to be an Army of One, if you will."

Black, who bypassed the Armed Forces Championships last year to concentrate on working his way Down Under, returns for another four-year run at Athens, Greece, site of the 2004 Summer Games. Lewis is counting on Black to help lead his team back atop the military wrestling world. And the loaded Marine team, based at Quantico Marine Corps Base, Va., presents quite a challenge.

"This will be, by far, our toughest rebuilding year in a decade," Lewis admitted. "The Marines are going to come to Fort Hood with their same eight guys who've been wrestling at Armed Forces for the last six or seven years. We're going to be a serious underdog, but I think we'll be ready for them. We're going to be able to outsmart them."

Black, 31, of Lexington, Ken., earned All-Army spots in both Greco-Roman and freestyle 213-pound divisions. He defeated runner-up Spc. Damon Daniels of host Fort Hood, 10-0, and Patrick Schuster, 10-2, in freestyle. And he captured the Greco-Roman berth with convincing victories over Schuster and Daniels.

"The first thing I had to overcome was how lost my spot on the U.S. National Team," said Black, who injury-defaulted out of the Olympic Trials in the finals against Melvin Douglas with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. "That bothered me for a while. . . As soon as I went down, I knew it was over. I just knew I couldn't win, that I wasn't going to the Olympics."

Black is back to 100 percent physically, and he's raring and ready to go again.

Keith Sieracki and Michael Santos, who both wrestled in the Army's World Class Athlete Program and have been on All-Army Teams, also bypassed Armed Forces last year. Last weekend they were on a tour of Russia with USA Wrestling. Both will return to bolster the Army's ranks. But for now, all the Greco-Roman guys are brand new.

Fort Carson Sgt. Jason Kutz returns from Armed Forces on the freestyle side at 138 pounds, and he's surrounded by seven newcomers. Thus, Lewis feels like an Army of One in more ways than one as the new millennium officially gets underway for All-Army Wrestling.

"As a whole, we had a lot of support here at Fort Hood," Lewis said. "The living facilities for the guys were outstanding. Guys came here knowing what they were here for, they stayed focused and completed the first phase of the mission, and I feel good about it.

"The first thing I told them was 'no nonsense.' I wasn't going to bend on or compromise was discipline and focus. That's the first thing I wanted to ingrain in the soldier-athlete: 'You're fortunate to be here. A lot of guys back in your parent stations and around the world are dug in right now, and we're going to dig in and do what we have to do to make them proud because they're making us proud by carrying our ruck while we're gone. We're going to make them proud, and we're not going to let them down.' This is just the beginning of some great things to happen."

All-Army Wrestling Coach Shon Lewis, a 13-time Armed Forces champion, has tough work bringing 15 new faces together on the All-Army Wrestling Team for the 2001 Armed Forces Championships, scheduled for March 9 through 11 at Fort Hood, Texas. Photo by Tim Hipps

Results: All-Army Wrestling Championships
February 16,17, 2000
Fort Hood, Texas

Freestyle
119 pounds - Gold: Spc. Anthony Gibbons, Fort Hood, Texas; Silver: Pfc. Richard Uslin, Fort Polk, La.; Bronze: Sgt. Michel Santos, Fort Carson, Colo.
127 - Gold: Pfc. Lucas Spencer, Fort Carson; Silver: Staff Sgt. Darren Oakely, Bamberg, Germany; Bronze: Pfc. Tron Daniels, Fort Campbell, Ken.
138 - Gold: Sgt. Jason Kutz, Fort Carson; Silver: Spc. Joshua Reed, Fort Drum, N.Y.; Bronze: Pfc. James Johnson, Bamberg, Germany.
152 - Gold: Pfc. Oscar Wood, Fort Carson; Silver: Pvt. Maxwell Shingara, Fort Carson; Bronze: Pfc. Michael Fleishour, Fort Bragg, N.C.
167 - Gold: Spc. Charles Daniels, Fort Rucker, Ala.; Silver: Sgt. Westley Bockert Jr.; Bronze: Spc. Bruce Robinson, Fort Bragg.
187 - Gold: Spc. Markese Nelson, Fort Campbell, Ken.; Silver: Pfc. James Kutz, Fort Carson; Bronze: Spc. Emil Schrull, Fort Hood.
213 - Gold: Sgt. Dominique Black, Fort Carson; Silver: Spc. Damon Daniels, Fort Hood.
Heavyweight - Gold: Spc. Patrick Schuester, Fort Campbell; Silver: Sgt. Joachim Page, Fort Hood; Bronze: Spc. Adrian Jones, Fort Campbell.

Greco-Roman
119 pounds - Sgt. Michel Santos, Fort Carson; Silver: Spc. Anthony Gibbons, Fort Hood; Bronze: Spc. Jesse Moroni, Kitzingen, Germany.
127 - Gold: Spc. Erin Kowal, Fort Bragg; Silver: Pfc. Tron Daniels, Fort Campbell; Bronze: Staff Sgt. Darren Oakley, Bamberg, Germany.
138 - Gold: Pfc. James Johnson, Bamberg, Germany; Silver: Spc. Joshua Reed, Fort Drum; Bronze: Spc. Damon Wingo, Fort Bragg.
152 - Gold: Pfc. Oscar Wood, Fort Carson; Silver: Pvt. Maxwell Shingara, Fort Carson; Bronze: Pfc. Michael Fleishour, Fort Bragg.
167 - Gold: Bruce Robinson, Fort Bragg; Silver: Spc. Chris Taylor, Fort Drum; Bronze: Sgt. Westley Bockert Jr., Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
187 - Gold: Pfc. Jason Kutz, Fort Carson; Silver: Sgt. Markese Nelson, Fort Campbell; Bronze: Spc. Emil Schrull, Fort Hood.
213 - Gold: Sgt. Dominique Black, Fort Carson; Silver: Spc. Damon Daniels, Fort Hood.
Heavyweight - Gold: Spc. Patrick Schuester, Fort Campbell; Silver: Sgt. Joachim Page, Fort Hood; Bronze: Spc. Adrian Jones, Fort Campbell.