As a former Durant wrestler, Jim Kauderman knows exactly what a strong program looks like.
That’s part of the reason Kauderman was hired as the new head coach in June, following the departure of Drake Millard from the program. Kauderman wants to keep the Cougars competitive and put student athletes in place to succeed right away.
“I want to bring the championships back,” Kauderman says.
This is the first time Kauderman, a Pennsylvania native, will be a head wrestling coach in his six-year coaching career. He’s coming off of a five-year stint as a Spoto High assistant and had previously coached the University of South Florida’s club team for a year.
He began wrestling in second grade but, a year after moving to Florida in fifth grade, left the sport for two years.
“I went to the Brandon camp in middle school,” Kauderman says. “It was a lot different than what I was used to in Pennsylvania.”
In high school, Kauderman was drawn back into the sport. He joined the Cougars’ team as a freshman, partly because his brother had wrestled for the school and partly because he liked the atmosphere coach Dennis Kitko had created.
“I think it was more of a team kind of thing,” Kauderman says. “Rather than a brand or a club, it was a team thing. It was different.”
As a Cougar, Kauderman qualified for states in his junior and senior years. He never managed to place in those competitions, citing injuries, and had to have knee surgery after his high school career ended.
He joined the club team while at University of South Florida as a way to stay in shape and have fun but injured his shoulder and once again had to go under the knife. It was then that he transitioned into coaching, overseeing the club team’s practices while working on his education degree.
“USF didn’t have a lot of kids,” Kauderman said. “It was come-and-go for practices. It’s a lot better now. I just ran practices — it wasn’t really serious.”
After graduating, he moved to the high school level to join the Spartans’ staff in 2011. Five years later, Kauderman decided to move on and try something new. He applied for the Durant job and, to his surprise, got the call.
“Once Ms. (Pam) Bowden called me, it was kind of overwhelming, at first,” Kauderman says. “But I was really excited. I told all my friends.”
Kauderman joins the staff as both a head coach and a math teacher. He’s now Durant’s third varsity head coach in 13 years, following Kitko (hired 2003) and Millard (hired 2012).
Making things easier is that junior varsity head coach Kerry Beaty is staying with the program.
Kauderman has been holding practices three days a week for about 12 wrestlers who attend regularly. He plans to start on one of his two main goals immediately.
“I want to raise intensity,” Kauderman said. “I had a parent meeting the week before practices started, and a lot of kids asked about the intensity.”
His other goal for the 2016-17 season is to take the team to districts and come back with some new hardware.
“We hope to bring a district championship this year,” Kauderman says. “We had a few state qualifiers last year, and I definitely want to bump that number up.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
FOR THE KIDS
One of the things Jim Kauderman and the Durant wrestling staff are hoping to bring to the table this summer is a kids’ program.
The program, which could potentially start in August, would give young wrestlers the chance to hone their skills with coach John Heyman and the staff. To participate, wrestlers would have to join USA Wrestling and fill out a card, which can be found online at USAWmembership.com.
This program is still in development.