Derek Norton, who has spent the past five years as an assistant wrestling coach at Shorewood, has been named head coach of the program.
Norton, a 1997 Shorewood graduate who wrestled at Shorewood and with a combined Shorewood-Shorecrest program, takes over for Arnie Moreno, who stepped down after 10 years to spend time with his family.
“I’m looking forward to having a really good team,” Norton said. “We’re young but we have a lot of talent coming through I want to build the basic fundamentals and work hard at recruiting (from within the school).”
Shorewood had its best season in school history this past winter with senior Tim Hester winning the state 4A title at 189 pounds and senior Matt Jensen placing fifth at 152 pounds.
Norton, who has coached seventh- and eighth-graders at Einstein Middle School for the past eight years, will continue in that job. Einstein feeds into the Shorewood program and Norton hopes to continue to build continuity between the middle school and high school programs.
“We feel the transition will be a smooth one and that Derek is an outstanding match for what we are looking for in a new head coach,” said Shoreline District Athletic Director Don Dalziel in a press release.
Norton wrestled in college at Highline Community College, the only college program in the state of Washington.
Hester competes at high school nationals
Shorewood’s Tim Hester won one match and lost two at the 19th Annual High School Senior National Wrestling Championships and Convention March 28-30 in Virginia Beach, Vir.
Hester, the reigning Washington state 4A 189-pound champion, competed in a 64-man bracket made up of state champions and state runners up from around the country.
Hester lost a tough 12-11 match to a three-time state champion from Arizona in his first match. He had a bye in next match and then won by injury default. Then Hester beat a wrestler from Ohio 15-3 but lost 11-6 to a three-time state placer from Michigan.
“He ran into a level of wrestler he hadn’t seen before,” said Shorewood coach Derek Norton. “It was a great experience. We got to meet some college coaches and experience the next level of wrestling. It was really good exposure for him.”
Hester has yet to finalize his college plans, but has expressed an interest in the program at North Idaho College in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.
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