NSC's dean of wrestling coaches Nance set to retire after 32 years

As the longest-serving North Suburban Conference wrestling head coach, Wauconda's Tom Nance has been through a lot of ups and downs in more than three decades of service.

But as Nance heads into retirement following his 32nd season this winter, he is left with mostly fond memories of the time he has spent at Wauconda, despite the super-challenging schedule his teams always faced in both dual meets and tournament competition.

Nance's wrestling career kicked into high gear as a senior at Prophetstown High School in 1978 when he qualified for the Class A state meet at 167 pounds and won a match downstate.

Then it was on to Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, where he wrestled for two years and experienced some success before transferring to Southern Illinois University, where he began to focus on what would become a long and successful teaching and coaching career.

After a brief one-year stint at Morrison High School, Nance replaced former Wauconda coach Mike McEvily following the 1983-84 season when Tony Piotrowski became the first state champion in school history. Ironically, Piotrowski's son Travis just captured the Class 2A state wrestling title with a perfect 40-0 record for Prairie Ridge two weeks ago in Champaign.

The early years in the Northwest Suburban Conference proved to be a dogfight for Nance and the Bulldogs.

But when all was said and done at the end of the 2015-16 season, Nance had guided 35 wrestlers into the state meet, including 10 state place-finishers and two state champions in 2009 and 2014.

The slogan found in Wauconda's wrestling room is "Work Hard and Think Big." And as longtime assistant coach Bob Kenison can attest, Nance was a great example of that motto which has helped carry him and many of his former wrestlers a long way in the game of life as well as their sports careers.

"It takes a special breed who has the confidence to compete against the likes of Grant, Warren and Libertyville, and he had the longevity," said Kenison. "The school and athletic director (Andy Lambert) got together and gave him a plaque of the two state champions he coached jumping into his arms after they won the match. There aren't many coaches around who have coached at the same school for 32 years."

Nance's first state champ was Scott Carlson in 2009 before Nate Magiera brought home the first-place medal in 2014. Dave Cashmore was Nance's first state place-winner with a third in 1990, and like Piotrowski, Cashmore's son Colten took first place in the state this season with a 28-2 record for Class 1A school Alden-Hebron.

But while Nance is proud of all of the individuals who reached the top of the mountain like Carlson and Magiera, he said he will also remember many of his former athletes who never even qualified for the state meet.

"(Carlson and Magiera) followed through with our mantra of working hard and thinking big, but I have great memories of kids who did not make it to the floor of the Assembly Hall," said Nance, who teaches English and speech. "We know we made a difference in their lives, and being able to contribute to the successes we had is something they can be proud of. And those are very important success stories for us too."

Another big success story for the Bulldogs' program came on a cold January night in 2011 when Wauconda was able to seize the moment with a huge 28-27 tiebreaker victory over visiting rival Grant.

Grant had never lost an NSC Prairie Division dual meet heading into that showdown with a 58 wins in a row dating back to 2001. But on that historic night, Wauconda was able to win the final five matches to ultimately topple Grant and win the only Prairie Division crown in school history. The Bulldogs won the tiebreaker by winning eight bouts to only six wins for Grant.

In fact, it had been 52 years since a Wauconda wrestling team had beat a Grant wrestling team. Since that meet, perennial power Grant has gone on to win 30 straight division meets for a stunning 88-1 record.

"He was always very gracious and when we lost that evening at Wauconda I remember thinking what a great guy Tom was on my way home," said legendary Grant coach Ryan Geist, who was replaced by Lenny Grodoski this season. "He was very gracious in victory and I remember him consoling me. He was not the kind of guy that jumped around after winning, and he turned out a lot of great wrestlers."

Among Nance's other elite wrestlers were state runner-up Brian Kent (2011) and third-place finishers Jason Daun (1991), Todd Costa (1995) and Devin Tortorice (2013). Nance got fourths from Nate Schroeder (1991) and Pete Kootstra (2011).

Nance's career also includes coaching his son Matthew for four years.

"I've enjoyed Wauconda," Nance said. "It's been good to me. All three of my children went to District 118 schools, and two of them were in my class a little bit. It takes a village to raise a kid, and the parents in our community and our assistant coaches have just been wonderful. So everyone who played a supporting role like the ADs I really appreciate."

Nance also found time to coach baseball and softball, including both of his daughters (Amanda and Cara), who were both all-conference softball players at Wauconda.

In addition to that, Nance has been an IHSA baseball umpire for over 25 years, and he has been certified as a softball umpire for 10 years. Nance's son is also an IHSA softball and baseball umpire.

Nance plans to retire near his mom in western Illinois, where he grew up, and pursue some of his other outdoor hobbies.

"Hopefully I'm going to be able to buy a few acres on a river and enjoy my kayaking, fishing and hunting," Nance said. "I can actually have some time during the holidays that are not sandwiched around wrestling. Golfing will definitely be on the agenda, I'll get better at it, but we'll see if I can stay in the low 40s (nine holes) or low 90s (18)."

The other athletic directors Nance served under were Dean Jensen, Jim LePage and Jim Van Fleet. While Nance will be missed by the Lake County wrestling community, he did not leave the cupboard bare. The Bulldogs will have eight sectional qualifiers, including two state qualifiers, back next year.

"It's an exhausting job. It's a long winter season," Nance said. "And I'm looking forward to retiring after over three busy decades."