Bill Plein is in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s Wrestling Hall of Fame. He’s won six state team titles — three at state duals, and now three at the traditional tournament — and over 400 career duals. He knows a thing or two about coaching high-level wrestling.
So his message to his nine-man Notre Dame-West Burlington squad before last weekend’s three-day down-to-the-wire thriller of a Class 2A state wrestling tournament?
Be selfish.
“I told the kids, don’t worry about team points,” Plein said. “Go out and climb the podium as high as you can.”
Turns out, all nine Nike wrestlers contributed to the 109 team points accumulated by last Saturday night, enough for Notre Dame-West Burlington’s first state wrestling team championship. They were all necessary, too, as Osage totaled 108.5 for second-place.
Plein has been named the 2022 All-Iowa Boys Wrestling Coach of the Year. He and his championship-winning team will be honored at the Des Moines Register’s All-Iowa Sports Awards, which is returning to a live in-person program this year. The event’s time and date are still to be determined and will be announced soon.
“We’ve always had the talent,” Plein said. “Our kids have all grown up wrestling for the same club. but it was a situation of putting it together, putting the kids in the right weights, and getting it to gel.
Plein previously led Columbus Community for 28 years, which included a spectacular run of success from 1994-99. The Wildcats won two traditional team titles (1995, 1997) and took second three times (1995, 1998, 1999), plus a trio of state duals titles (1996, 1998, 1999), as well as a runner-up finish in 1994 and a third-place finish in 1995.
The 1976 Waukon graduate drew on that experience when he took over at Notre Dame-West Burlington ahead of the 2018-19 season. He came in shortly after Notre Dame decided to house the program after West Burlington nearly dropped it.
The build took time. The Nikes had just three state qualifiers in 2019, and took 38th in the Class 2A team race. In 2020, up in Class 3A, the Nikes finished 21st thanks to two medalists. Last year, down in 2A, they climbed into the top-10 with five qualifiers and three medalists.