Columbus grad Pugh’s favorite time of year

This is Randy Pugh's favorite time of year.

The temperatures are beginning to rise, the snow is melting and spring is in the air.

Those things are just fine, but what really stokes Pugh's fire is the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which are set for the next three days at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

For University of Northern Iowa assistant coach Pugh, 12 months of hard work comes to fruition this weekend, as well as saying goodbye to several seniors he has invested in during the last five years of his life.

The reward for Pugh happened partially this last weekend, but more so later on as the wrestlers go on to find success in life using the principals and values instilled in them through wrestling.

So yeah, this is Pugh's favorite time of the year, and it's easy to understand why.

'It's been 19 years since I competed. It goes by fast. It goes by fast when you look at how many national tournaments you've been a part of,” said Pugh, who was a two-time state champion for Columbus High School and an All-American wrestler for UNI. 'Like I told the guys, unfortunately they will be judged on how they perform. That's the way the sport is. We have to make sure they are ready to scrap. We have to stay in the now.”

Pugh, who started his coaching career under former UNI head coach Brad Penrith, made a seamless transition when Doug Schwab took the reins nine years ago. He has been part of the resurgence of the program, helped in large part by recruiting high school wrestlers from Iowa. Four of the six Panthers who qualified for this year's national tournament are homegrown talents.

The Panthers are ready to take that next step and put themselves in the upper echelon of teams contending for team trophies and national championships.

'We have some good depth. That came into play when we decided to pull the redshirt on Tyrell Gordon this year when Jacob Holschlag got injured,” Pugh said. 'We did that a few years ago with Bryce Steiert. Steiert wanted to wrestle as a true freshman. It's such a grind for a true freshman, We wrestle a tough schedule. Every dual he wrestled against a ranked guy except for two. We feel like we are battle tested.”

Pugh, who placed fourth at 174 pounds at the 2000 NCAA Championships, still gets on the mat and trains the athletes. Two of the athletes he trains on a regular basis - Drew Foster and Josh Alber - competed this weekend and Foster won a national title. Pugh takes a keen interest in Foster, a Mediapolis High School graduate. Pugh saw something in Foster that no other coaches saw. Foster, a two-time Big 12 Conference champion, made his third trip to nationals. He was an All-American two years ago, placing seventh at 184 pounds.

'Randy is the man,” Foster said. 'He keeps me consistent and level-headed. There is no way I would be where I'm at right now without him. I owe him a lot. He's a great coach and an even better man.”

Foster never won a state title in high school, but with the help of Pugh is now a national champion, capping his college career as the 184-pound champion with a 6-4 win over Cornell's Max Dean.

'It means a bunch,” said Foster, UNI's 25th two-time All-American. 'But I can't take all the credit at all. I got teammates I work out with. I have coaches that believe in me, that help coach me.”

Foster wasn't heavily recruited and many didn't consider him a D-I talent. Pugh insisted there was something special in Foster and stuck with him through a 15-18 freshman campaign.

'Just a shoutout to Randy Pugh,” Foster said. 'The guy's believed in me since day one, been by my side. Been in my ear - he was in my ear the whole match. I owe that guy a lot. I owe my teammates a lot, my family, and all the support from the Panther Train. This is definitely bigger than me. It's a Panther Train.”

Foster (28-5) scored the first takedown, but Dean responded for a 3-2 lead after one. Dean extended it to 4-2 with a second-period escape.

The tide changed in the third when Foster escaped and his consistent attacks throughout the match resulted in a takedown with 38 seconds left.

'That's practice from habits,” Foster said. 'That's coaches putting us in situations where it's a tied match and you've got to go get a score with 30 seconds, with a minute or whatever it is. Randy and I have been working on just circling left, a quick little snap, jab, shoot.”

'He went back to his training,” UNI Coach Doug Schwab said, 'and hit an incredible attack and then didn't let him get off his dang belly.”

Foster became UNI Coach Doug Schwab's first NCAA champ. He is the epitome of hard work and dedication, paving way for future Panthers and his students as an educator.

'He's going to help change the world,” Schwab said. 'That's what I want our guys to be able to do.

'Now, you have a guy you can point to. Look at Foster. Look where Foster was at as a freshman. Are you tell me if you go out, work your tail off and you believe in what's going on that you can't make those jumps? You have to be willing to invest and believe in yourself and that's what he did.”

'I do a lot of individual training with the guys. I work with Foster and Alber a lot. We do a lot of individuals drills in the mornings and we sit down and do some game planning and strategizing. Sometimes we just go out for coffee and talk. We try to get together two or three times a week outside of practices,” Pugh said. 'I pretty much have the same role I've always had. We all do a lot of the recruiting and we all work with certain guys on individual training. I help out with fundraising and I do a little bit of sports psychology. Every day is a new chapter.”

Pugh said his duties in Pittsburgh last weekend will include individual workouts and coaching in the corner for some matches. Pugh said the UNI coaching staff lets the wrestlers decide which coaches they want in their corner for their matches.

'I hope we perform to the best of our abilities,” Pugh said. 'I want to see these guys achieve the goals they've spent the last 20 years trying to get.”

And when the NCAA Championships wrap up on Saturday night, it will be right back to work for Pugh, who will hit the recruiting trail and the freestyle circuits looking for the next All-Americans and national champions.

Pugh admits it has become more difficult in recent years as his two daughters get older and more involved in athletics and other school functions. But his passion for wrestling hasn't waned. He still has that burning desire to succeed and to help his athletes find success. That has never changed.

'My daughters are starting to get involved in a lot of sports and that's making it harder. They have volleyball, basketball and soccer tournaments on the weekends and that makes it difficult for me to watch them,” Pugh said. 'I am looking forward to this weekend. This is what we have been training all year for. It's an exciting time of the year.”