Rainier Wrestling Coach Chris Holterman Honored as 2B Coach of the Year

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Rainier High School’s head wrestling coach Chris Holterman was recently named the 2B Wrestling Coach of the Year following the Mat Classic event in February.

Holterman was nominated by coaches in district four. Then the coaches in the 2B classification voted on who would receive the honor prior to the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

Holterman’s recognition comes 40 years after his father, Rolland Holterman, received the same honor at the 1A level. He said it was “pretty cool” that he was recognized four decades after his dad.

The Mountaineers sported a young team during the 2022-23 season, but Holterman said his team’s youth was not a weakness.

“We were a pretty young team this year, but we showed a lot of growth from the start of the year to the end,” Holterman said. “We had kids joining all season long. We even had a couple of kids start in January, which is pretty late in the game. We just kept getting athletes that wanted to try wrestling. The more kids you have to practice with, the better your team will be.”

The team was the runner up at seven different tournaments throughout the season, Holterman said.

“We didn’t get many championships, but it was still a great run to be a runner up as many times as we were,” Holterman said. “But the kids are bought in all season long and that’s what ultimately makes a great team.”

The Mountaineers finished at the Mat Classic with two state placers. Freshman Dorien Cano, 170, finished the annual tournament in fourth place after a loss to Conner Kline of Reardan in the third-place match.



Sophomore Zander Peck, 160, finished fifth at the Mat Classic, after defeating Jacob Price of Adna in the fifth place match.

Coach Holterman said the two had a great run this season. Both finished with over 50 matches under their belts.

He also credited junior Ryder Cruise, who didn’t wrestle in the Mat Classic due to an injury. Holterman said Cruise was a good leader for the team this season. The coach noted Cruise always does a good job of encouraging and working with his younger teammates.

The team will graduate just two seniors this year, with the rest of the team returning for the 2023-24 season.

“I would think we’re going to continue to build on what we did this year,” Holterman said. “The kids will continue to get stronger and better and I envision us having a pretty strong year next year.”

Overall, Holterman is grateful for not only the award he received, but for the “outstanding” support he has around him.

“While my name is on the coach of the year award, you don’t get the award if you don’t have good kids, good assistants and good parents. There’s a lot of contributing factors. It’s not just me,” Holterman said. “I’m not doing this all by myself. Ricky Cruise, Kelli Garner, Will Peck and Bill Swan are great assistants and I have very supportive parents that help out where they can. I’m not getting any awards if I don’t have a great surrounding cast.”