New Moses Lake wrestling coach settles into his role

MOSES LAKE — Nathan Stanley has his own expectations first, everything else is second.

After Moses Lake went in a new direction by adopting a wrestling coach from outside the "family," Stanley needed little time to make it his own. In the wrestling room his predecessor built, Stanley calls out to his wrestlers, already soaked with sweat, to work harder.

Listening intently, the wrestlers go back to shooting drills their new coach showed giving vocal and physical details along the way.

"As far as expectation on myself, we want to do well on the mat and win matches, but I don't think I am spending a whole lot of time with outcome-based goals," Stanley said. "My expectations for myself is that I outwork the other coaches in the state and the program is run the best it can be."

His introduction to the wrestling family has come in the wrestling room, surrounded by a coaching staff of former Moses Lake wrestlers all set on helping the new member of the family keep the Chief tradition alive.

And it has been a warm welcome, Stanley said.

"Everyone has been very friendly and supportive of my family and the way we are going with the program and that makes me excited," Stanley said.

Stanley came from Clackamas High School in Oregon and led the high school to two top 20 finishes in the state. He also coached the high school's first state placer in 25 years to a second-place finish and helped the wrestler get a spot on the University of Stanford's wrestling team.

But, Clackamas didn't carry the tradition Stanley wanted in a community and Moses Lake filled that void. And community was the overlying factor in helping the Stanley family make the move.

"People know who I am and I don't know who they are yet," Stanley said. "I will be working in the yard and people will come down the street and say 'Hi, coach.'"

Yet, his warm welcome won't keep the coach from making a few predictions like where the Chiefs will finish in league, or where they will place at state.

That isn't how Stanley thinks.

His concerns are more rooted in development, not accomplishment. His concern is helping Moses Lake wrestlers understand the process it takes to be a successful wrestler and person.

Outcome, Stanley said, is a result of the process.

"All the research has shown as far as successful programs are concerned, the focus is on process as opposed to outcome," Stanley said. "If you do the little things you are going to win and that is what we are doing here."

So far, Stanley said, it seems to working.

"People around me have made me feel real comfortable of how we are going to do," Stanley added. "Ron Seibel has been really assuring and he thinks the team is going to do well, as well as my assistant coaches."

As of now, Stanley hasn't had a wrestling match to test his influence on a team that won districts and finished fifth at state last year. On Tuesday, the Chiefs will wrestle at the Othello Jamboree before gearing up for Thursday's league opener with Eastmont.

What Stanley has used as his base philosophy has worked at the last two programs he was at and it will be put to the test for the most successful program in Washington state wrestling history.

"Irregardless of how we do score-wise and the rest of it, my expectation is we are going to work really hard and not get outworked by anyone," Stanley said. "I think we work awfully hard."