Editor’s Note: Greg Urbas has spent nearly 30 years as a coach and math teacher at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, including the past 18 years as the Eagles head wrestling coach. Since taking over for the late and legendary coach Howard Ferguson, Urbas’ teams have won 11 Ohio state championships and most recently was declared the No. 1 high school team — the fourth mythical national title during his tenure — after beating Blair Academy, 29-27, in a Feb. 3 dual meet, which was over a month after beating Blair in the prestigious Ironman Invitational.
W.I.N. editor Mike Finn spoke with coach Urbas about his team’s success on Feb. 6, 2007, a week before the Eagles began Sectional competition.

Q Did you expect this year to be this special?
A We have kids who work very hard and have a great crop of seniors. We thought it was going to be a very good year, barring injuries.

Q St. Ed’s has won national titles before, but what does the word national championship mean to you?
A It is a real feather in our cap over here. But we also told the kids that we also have to win Ohio before we can be proclaimed national champs. That match against Blair was a huge battle, but now we have to prepare for sectional, district and state. We need to win a state title to go along with that great win.

Q There are other high school programs around the country that don’t get to face a national schedule like St. Ed’s. What is it like to wrestle in high school on a national level?
A To compete at that level, it makes it real special and it makes it easier to have a willingness to prepare. When you are going against teams that are that good, you have to prepare really well to compete at that level. It really helps everyone’s attitude in terms that you need to prepare during the season and in the off-season.

Q You’ve had a lot of wrestlers go on to compete in college. Is it because of these national experiences that college recruiters like your wrestlers?
A They haven’t come out and said that, but they do recognize the strength of schedule that our young people have gone against. In the summer at Fargo (for the Cadet and Junior Nationals), it’s huge. You get the best of the best from the United States competing. I think it lets our kids know there are great wrestlers from all over the United States and you have to work hard to compete at that level.

Q Why is northeast Ohio so successful in wrestling? What would you recommend to programs, which do not have your traditions and success?
A Coach Bob Latessa really put it well. He was the head coach at Lehigh and is currently coaching at Lakota East in Cincinnati, where he is also a math teacher. He recruited Rick Hepp, who wrestled for us and was a three-time All-American for Lehigh. He said that northeast Ohio has had wrestling for so many years. The first state championship in Ohio was 1938. That started a state-wide wrestling tournament here in Ohio and Coach Latessa told me that kids who were real good in wrestling from northeast Ohio went on to college, but then come back to northeast Ohio and brought back what they learned on the collegiate level. It starts snowballing from there. It gives even more skills to the high school level.

Q You’ve been coaching on the high school level for a long time. What do the experiences from the Blair dual feel like to you?
A It was exciting as anything. It always is against a great competitor; whether it is a win or a loss. If it goes your way, you can sit back and smile for a day or two. If it doesn’t go your way, you start saying, ‘What did we prepare for or what didn’t we prepare for? How do we need to prepare differently to have more success?’

Q Prior to the Blair dual, you were presented an award for your accomplishments and the student section was chanting your name during the meet. What did that feel like?
A I didn’t hear it. Besides John (Heffernan) is our top coach. I’m the head coach, but John (Heffernan) is the top coach in our program. He runs every practice. He is our main clinician here. He is amazing. As head coach, the buck stops at me, but he is the main man. He is the heart of this team. It’s also (assistant coaches) Jeff Leonard, Frank Jayne and many other coaches. This show doesn’t work because of one person. We have 12 coaches here.
The kids are the ones who should get the most respect. I told the kids, prior to the Blair dual, that it’s going to be packed, standing-room only. But the reason they are coming here is for a bunch of 14- to 18-year-olds who are competitors. They are not here to see coaches. They are not here to see the refs. They are here to see you guys who have trained so hard to compete. You are the competitors. Enjoy the moment. Go out there and let it rip.

Q Is that something that coach Ferguson would have said to his wrestlers?
A Yes. He would have also said something we say to the kids today, “Use the sport. Don’t let the sport use you.” This sport can open doors for possible college educations that you might not be able to get into. Otherwise, it can really help change your life. Be great to the sport, but realize the sport does end.

Q When you took over for Coach Ferguson, how tough was the transition for you?
A It was unbelievable because he died in October of 1989 and our first practice was going to start a month later. All the coaches stayed with us and basically they pushed me up and said, ‘You are going to be the head coach.’ There was total support from every coach, who coached their fannies off at practice. They are so knowledgeable. They have such great technique. They told me to deal with the (head coaching) aspect. They would would deal with the wrestling aspect.

Q What are some of the things that you learned from him that you are using today?
A As I said, “Use the sport, don’t let it use you.” Otherwise, he would say, “Never give up on a kid. Kids can change.” If some kids were rough around the edges a little bit, just keep working with them. Keep leading them. He was huge in education. He got his CPA right after college. He was a great motivator. He wrote the book, ‘The Edge.’ He got all these words of wisdom from some of the most fantastic people in business or the sports field or religion. He learned from others. He would say, ‘Surround yourself with people who know more than you because they have their talents and you have your talents. Work together as a team.’

Q Have the expectations changed for your program?
A Even back then, coach Ferguson would take on a very tough schedule; saying that it would excite the kids and it would be easier to work in the off-season, knowing that you have big matches coming up.

Q How about the young men? Have they changed and/or has it forced you to change with the times?
A It seems like there are more competitions in the spring and summer with freestyle and Greco. But overall, kids are kids. They love and enjoy the sport and kids just want it. I don’t think kids have changed that much.

Q You have a reputation of someone who works all the time. Where did you learn your work ethic?
A It came from a big family. We had seven kids in our family. My mom was a nurse and my dad ran a grocery store. They worked long hours and had a huge family to care for. Plus when you love your job, it’s not work. When you love teaching and coaching, which we do here, we hardly have any turnover within our school. It’s such an unbelievable steady faculty and the coaching staff hardly changes at all. I don’t know if anyone looks at it as a job. We just have fun.

Q You served in the Marines from 1973-77. How much did your experience in the Marines help you?
A There is tremendous leadership in the Marine Corps. Those days were incredible. The leadership and brotherhood was very special. That’s why there is the phrase, ‘Once a Marine, always a Marine.’ There is no such thing as ex-Marine. We’re former Marines. I get tears in my eyes when I see someone come by in dress blues (uniform). In my office, I have a bunch of kids who have gone on to military service. I have a picture of five kids who were in the Air Force Academy at one time. I have pictures of guys who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan. I don’t have pictures of guys who just wrestled. These guys are putting it on the line and they mean a lot to me. It puts everything in perspective.

Q How important is developing leadership as a coach?
A In my life, it’s got to be God first, family second; that’s the way I was raised. Then it’s St. Edward High School. It’s a great opportunity to lead young people in the right way. It is a responsibility and a challenge.

Q High school coaches have had to deal with weight management issues this season and, of course, there has been the problem with Herpes Gladiatorum, which shut down the sport in Minnesota for a week. How difficult is it to monitor these situations on the high school level?
A We are very fortunate at St. Ed’s that we’ve done pretty darn well with the skin issue. We have Steve Hart, who is connected with the Cleveland Clinic and is a trainer. During the morning, he rehabs people with shoulder surgeries or knee surgeries, then he becomes our trainer here. He is tremendous with getting kids back on the mat and tremendous with checking any skin conditions that may have to go to a doctor. We are taking care of the mats before every practice. We keep impressing upon the kids that hygiene is a huge part of the sport. We ask the kids with the slightest skin mark to go check with Mr. Hart. We try to jump on it right away.
Regarding the weight management issue, I was pretty darn nervous because I was coaching football and wasn’t around the preseason. The majority of our kids — perhaps 95 percent of them — weighed in on the earliest possible date. Coach Heffernan told the kids, ‘We can’t be waiting until the last minute to get our weight down to make weight the first week of the season.’ We need to do this alpha weigh-in stuff, which I thought was going to be a real royal pain. But it has not been. Mr. Hart conducted it here. We had five different schools come in here and he set up all the trainers for the skin-fold tests and checked with the hydration part. It went like clockwork and our kids had their weight down way ahead of time.

Q Are there any recommendations that you would give to make the sport of wrestling better?
A Just give a lot more pats on the backs to kids who are participating in the sport. It’s such a tough sport, an unbelievably tough sport and I think the kids need that pat on the back. They are the ones putting their foot on the line. The easiest thing for them to do would be to sit and watch a TV show at home. But they are choosing to go and work out hard to learn and compete. If they win, that’s great. But if they lose, do they have to look in the mirror and say, ‘Why did I not score more points?’ I think a pat on the back is a lot more encouraging. I would make recommendations to parents and coaches, including myself, to keep giving those pats on the back and say, “You guys are competing. That’s awesome. Keep it up.”