WRESTLING: Flathead's Rich Vasquez resigns as coach

Flathead wrestling coach Rich Vasquez has resigned after three seasons at the helm of Braves’ wrestling program, citing an ongoing medical issue.

Vasquez rebuilt the Braves into one of the top programs in the state, and Flathead will enter this season among the favorites to win the Class AA state championship. It would be the Braves’ first since claiming the last of five straight titles in 2010.

Vasquez’s resignation also comes a little more than one month after Kalispell Police cited him for driving under the influence.

The now-former Flathead coach described his medical condition as non-life threatening but that doctors warned him of grave consequences if he did not cut back his hectic schedule. In addition to his head coaching duties at Flathead, Vasquez owns a landscaping company and is active with local wrestling clubs and with Montana USA wrestling.

“Just overall stress causes some of it but when it comes down to it they tell you that if you don’t back off you’re not going to be there to see your daughter to walk down the aisle,” he said.

“High school coaching, there’s a huge commitment as far as time and energy and it’s year-round,” he continued. “The schedule I kept was kind of crazy and it caught up with me a little bit.”

Wilson said it was just that work ethic that made Vasquez a successful coach.

“He outworked everyone,” Wilson said. “You talk to him and it wasn’t a three-month season, it was a 12-month season for him. I think he probably outworks everybody throughout the state. His passion for wrestling is really great and his knowledge within the room is right up there with anybody.”

Kalispell Police cited Vasquez on Aug. 17 for DUI. He informed school administrators of his arrest the following day.

Flathead Activities Director Bryce Wilson said there is no firm district-wide policy for dealing with DUI arrests although there are policies in place regarding personal conduct.

“Obviously we stress good conduct but I don’t know that there’s a hard-and-fast rule that we’ve ever used,” Wilson said. “I guess I’m not aware if there is.”

Wilson said Vasquez’s arrest did not directly lead to his resignation.

“For him, [the arrest] was a wakeup call as far as some of his medical issues that he’s dealing with,” Wilson said. “He came in with me the very next day and said what happened. That’s probably a wake-up call for him and made him make the decision that he needed to take some time for himself.”

On the mats, Vasquez quickly turned around the Braves upon his arrival in 2013. Flathead was 11th at the Class AA state meet in 2014, sixth in 2015 and finished third this past season.

His son, Trae, is one of the best wrestlers in Montana and has won state titles in each of his first two seasons, including a perfect 41-0 march to the 120-pound title as a sophomore. Vasquez’s daughter, Tilynne, is a nationally ranked grappler herself and expects to wrestle on the varsity team as a freshman this winter.

The Braves also return state runner-up Hunter Rush at 103 pounds and state placers Cody Devall (sixth, 113 pounds), Tucker Nadeau (fifth, 160), Matt Gash-Gilder (fifth, 170) and Michael Lee (fifth, 285). Flathead, too, will bring back junior Payton Hume, who was one of the favorites for the 138-pound state championship before being ruled ineligible at that weight by the Montana High School Association.

“The team’s sitting great,” Vasquez said. “We should be preseason number one. I’ll still be around, just with this stuff going on I can’t handle [coaching].”

The search for Flathead’s next head wrestling coach will begin internally, where the Braves have a pair of highly successful coaches already in the building in teachers Jeff Thompson and Jeff Anderson.

Thompson won four state titles in eight years as head wrestling coach from 2001-08, earning Montana coach of the year honors four times. Anderson, who preceded Thompson as head coach, later served as his assistant and was named the national assistant coach of the year in 2006.

Three other teachers at the school, Brock Anderson, Matt Upham and Mark Nadeau, are also experienced wrestlers and coaches.

“We’re blessed at Flathead with a great wealth of wrestling knowledge and [the job is] open internally through next Tuesday,” Wilson said.

If an internal candidate does not fill the job, the search would be opened up to external applicants.

The first day of practice for the 2016-17 wrestling season is Nov. 17.