DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
The next high school wrestling season in Adams County will feature a new head coach as the South Adams school board accepted the resignation of Starfire mat coach Jesse Gaskill at Tuesday night’s board meeting.
Gaskill recently completed his eighth year in charge of the program after taking over for caretaker Barry Humble back in 2015. After back-to-back Team State appearances in the first two years of the event with coaches Eric Myers and Humble, Gaskill had to rebuild the program somewhat in his beginning years before returning to Team State at the Coliseum in 2018.
Three of the last four years have seen the Starfires compete at the 1A Team meet.
“As I look back on my near decade in charge,” Gaskill told WZBD this week, “I am thankful for the relationships I’ve made with people and the ability to work alongside some great people. It’s been an honor to coach this team and to be involved with wrestling in Adams County. There’s honestly nothing like it anywhere else in the state. There’s so much encouragement out there from the community.”
Gaskill’s passion for the sport and the school will be missed, says Jay County head coach Eric Myers.
“He did a nice job there. He seemed to really work well with the kids and connect. Qualifying for Team State several times is a big deal for a school of that size. He will certainly be missed in the conference and in our sectional,” said Myers.
Gaskill noted that the tough decision was ultimately made with his young family in mind.
“It’s definitely a tough decision and not one made just overnight, but over many months,” he said.
The coach feels that his program is set up to be competitive in the ACAC and in 1A across the state for the next few years and the time is right to turn over the reins to the next coach.
“I’ve checked my humility and I feel it’s time. I believe there is someone better out there to keep moving forward.”
Gaskill coached three state qualifiers in his eight years: Wyatt Miller, Isaiah Baumgartner and most recently, AJ Dull.
Also of note in the Starfire program is the loss of long-time assistant Robert Loshe, who has faithfully been coaching the middle school program as head coach for years.
Sawyer Miller, who wrestled under the lights in the state championship bout with coach Humble, recently joined the program as an assistant and could be a candidate to replace Gaskill.