COACHING STAFF - BEGINNER LEVEL
K – 2nd Grade
Troy Freeman – Assistant Coach
Troy was part of the Nekoosa High School wrestling team from 1992-1995, where he achieved a career record of 132-19. He was a 2-time Conference Champion, 2-time Sectional Champion and placed 6th, 4thand 2ndplace at the Individual State Tournament. Troy also contributed to a Team State Championship in 1995. He currently holds the record for most wins at the varsity level in Nekoosa. Troy also continued on to wrestle at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point for the ’95-96’ season.
Troy brings in 5 years of coaching experience. Troy has experience with coaching the Wisconsin Rapids Youth Club and he is in his 4th year as head coach for the Grove Elementary program as well.
Justin Tritz – Head Coach
Justin was a part of the Lincoln High School wrestling team in Wisconsin Rapids, WI from 1995-1998 and while there, achieved a 154-18 career record. Justin held a Conference title for 4 consecutive years, was a 3-time Sectional Champion and placed 4th, 2nd and 3rd at the Individual State Tournament during his years with the wrestling team. He was also part of achieving a Team State Title in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Justin brings in over 16 years of coaching experience. His experience includes coaching at the high school level in Holman, WI and Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Along with that experience, he is a coach for the Grant Elementary School in Wisconsin Rapids, has coached with the youth club in Wisconsin Rapids and has coached for the Ringers wrestling club in Madison, WI.
Nate Weidman – Assistant Coach
Nate was part of the Lincoln High School wrestling team in Wisconsin Rapids, WI from 1992-1995 and while there, achieved a 122-10 career record. Nate was a 3-time Conference champion, 3-time Sectional champion and placed 4th, 1st and 5th place at the Individual State Tournament. He also contributed to a Team State Championship in 1995.
Nate has over 15 years of coaching experience. He coached in Buffalo, MN with the high school team for over 4 years and after moving back to the Wisconsin Rapids area in 2003, has continued to coach the youth and elementary levels in the area, giving him another 12 years of experience. Nate is currently a coach for the Grant Elementary School in Wisconsin Rapids.
Jeremy Armagost - Assistant Coach
Jeremy was part of the Lincoln High School Wrestling team in Wisconsin Rapids from 1997-2000 and achieved a 104-20 career record. Jeremy was a 2 time regional, a conference and sectional champ and placed 6th twice at the Individual State tournament. Jeremy also contributed to Team State Championships in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 wrestling seasons. Jeremy brings 6 years of coaching experience. He spent the majority of that time working with the youth wrestling program at Vesper Community Academy in Vesper, WI.
COACHING STAFF – INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
3rd – 5th Grade
Tim Bean – Assistant Coach
Tim has followed wrestling for over 30 years and looks forward to being a part of the Rapids wrestling program. Tim brings in 7 years of experience coaching the youth at the Vesper Elementary School and has helped coach within the youth club in Wisconsin Rapids. Tim actively involves himself with the program and will be returning to the youth wrestling club in Wisconsin Rapids as a coach.
K – 2nd Grade
Troy Freeman – Co-Head Coach
Troy was part of the Nekoosa High School wrestling team from 1992-1995, where he achieved a career record of 132-19. He was a 2-time Conference Champion, 2-time Sectional Champion and placed 6th, 4thand 2ndplace at the Individual State Tournament. Troy also contributed to a Team State Championship in 1995. He currently holds the record for most wins at the varsity level in Nekoosa. Troy also continued on to wrestle at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point for the ’95-96’ season. Troy brings in 5 years of coaching experience. Troy has experience with coaching the Wisconsin Rapids Youth Club and he is in his 4th year as head coach for the Grove Elementary program as well.
Jeremy Armagost - Assistant Coach
Jeremy was part of the Lincoln High School Wrestling team in Wisconsin Rapids from 1997-2000 and achieved a 104-20 career record. Jeremy was a 2 time regional, a conference and sectional champ and placed 6th twice at the Individual State tournament. Jeremy also contributed to Team State Championships in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 wrestling seasons. Jeremy brings 6 years of coaching experience. He spent the majority of that time working with the youth wrestling program at Vesper Community Academy in Vesper, WI.
Brian Back - Assistant Coach
Brian is a USA Wrestling Bronze certified coach. He currently is the head coach of Woodside. Brian has previously assisted with coaching in the Wisconsin Rapids youth club. He has a passion for wrestling and has over 500 hours of studying some of the best local coaches in the past 5 years. He not only brings in Folkstyle coaching abilities, but also has a wealth of knowledge in Freestyle and Greco.
Justin Tritz – Assistant Coach
Justin was part of the Lincoln High School wrestling team in Wisconsin Rapids, WI from 1995-1998 and while there, achieved a 154-18 career record. Justin held a Conference title for 4 consecutive years, was a 3-time Sectional Champion and placed 4th, 2nd and 3rd at the Individual State Tournament during his years with the wrestling team. He was also part of achieving a Team State Title in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Justin brings in over 16 years of coaching experience. His experience includes coaching at the high school level in Holman, WI and Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Along with that experience, he is a coach for the Grant Elementary School in Wisconsin Rapids, has coached with the youth club in Wisconsin Rapids and has coached for the Ringers wrestling club in Madison, WI.
Travis Tritz - Assistant Coach
Travis was part of the Lincoln High School wrestling team in Wisconsin Rapids, WI from 1999-2002 and achieved a 169-9 career record. Travis was a 4-time Conference champion, 4 time sectional champion, 2 time Individual State Champion and also placed 2nd and 4th as well at the State Individuals. Travis contributed to a Team State Championship in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
Travis brings in 7 years of coaching experience. He has spent the majority of that time working with the youth and elementary school in Vesper, WI. His experience also includes coaching freestyle in the Wisconsin Rapids area.
Nate Weidman – Co-Head Coach
Nate was part of the Lincoln High School wrestling team in Wisconsin Rapids, WI from 1992-1995 and while there, achieved a 122-10 career record. Nate was a 3-time Conference champion, 3-time Sectional champion and placed 4th, 1st and 5th place at the Individual State Tournament. He also contributed to a Team State Championship in 1995.
Nate has over 15 years of coaching experience. He coached in Buffalo, MN with the high school team for over 4 years and after moving back to the Wisconsin Rapids area in 2003, has continued to coach the youth and elementary levels in the area, giving him another 12 years of experience. Nate is currently a coach for the Grant Elementary School in Wisconsin Rapids.
COACHING STAFF – ADVANCED LEVEL
6th – 8th Grade
Lewie Benitz – Head Coach
Benitz arrived in Wisconsin Rapids in 1966 after coaching for one year at Menomonie High School. He graduated from Boyceville High School in 1962. Benitz, who wrestled in high school, chose UW-Stout in large part for its wrestling program and was a starter for four years.
He went on to be ranked 8thof all time by the National Federation of High Schools, achieving 712 wins while coaching from 1965 – 2008.
He has been inducted into the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, received the Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and in 2007 became the second Wisconsin coach ever to be inducted into the National Federation of State High School Associations Hall of Fame.
Benitz has achieved an impressive 20 state team championships, 34 regional titles, 32 sectional crowns and 33 Wisconsin Valley Conference championships, all state records.
Shane Benitz – Assistant Coach
Shane was a part of the Lincoln High School wrestling team from 1986-1989 and was a part of the Team State Championship team in 1989. During that time he coached at the youth and club level in Wisconsin Rapids. He coached the Rocori, MN club for 4 years while attending college at St. Cloud State and was a head and assistant HS coach in Buffalo, MN from 1995-1998. Shane joined the Lincoln High School staff in 1999 and coached teams that won 10 WIAA State Championships during his 12 years there. He has also coached elementary, club and freestyle/Greco teams in Wisconsin Rapids since moving back in 1999. Shane has coached at the Wisconsin Rapids Area Middle School, currently is coaching at Lincoln High School and has over 26 years of coaching experience.
Jere Hamel – Assistant Coach
Jere was part of the Lincoln High School wrestling team from 1988-1991 and while there, achieved a 144-14 career record. He was a 4 time Conference Champion, 3-time Sectional Champion, 2-time Individual State Champion and also placed 3rd at the Individual State Tournament. Jere was also part of a Team State title in 1989. He went on to wrestle in college at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. While wrestling for UW-Stevens Point, he was a 3-time all-american, placing eighth in 1994, fourth in 1995 and fifth in 1996. Hamel won the WSUC championships at 134 pounds in 1995 and 1996 and was a member of 4 conference championship teams and team MVP in 1996. He achieved a career record of 117-37, which included 462 takedowns and 22 pins from 1992-1996. These achievements earned him a spot in the UWSP Hall of Fame.
Jared Jaminski – Assistant Coach
Jared was part of the Lincoln High School team from 2004-2007 and while there, achieved a 149-24 career record. Jared was a 2-time Conference Champion, Sectional Champion and a 2-time Individual State Champion. Jared was part of a Team State Championship every year during his high school wrestling career. Jared went on to wrestle at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh.
Jared is currently coaching in the Wisconsin Rapids school district.
