Garfield G-Men offensive line/special teams coordinator Michael Finney wanted to return to coaching high school wrestling after taking a year off from the sport and found his opportunity would come close to home, be becoming the new Newton Falls’ wrestling coach.
“I am very excited,” said Finney, “That’s what I have been doing as a middle school coach for the past years I take these youth kids or some that never even tried wrestling before, and I get them on the mat and turn them into winning wrestlers just by the hard work and technique that I show.”
As The Villager previously reported, the Newton Falls Athletic Department is reviving its varsity wrestling program for the first time since the 1976-1977 school year. The Tigers will turn to Finney, to bring wrestling back to Newton Falls.
According to Finney, a Newton Falls resident, he had wanted to coach wrestling again at the high school level after enjoying a brief hiatus and searched for openings in varsity programs throughout Portage County.
It turned out that his next opportunity would come right at home in Trumbull County.
He noted that his friends had previously encouraged him to try and start a wrestling team at Newton Falls so when the position became available, it was a perfect opportunity.
“When I saw the opening, I was ‘This is perfect,’ the Southeast graduate added. “I can go back to the high school level and just get back to showing technique and showing skills, showing kids that have never done this before.”
Finney had served as Garfield’s middle school wrestling coach for seven years across two stints, originally holding the position from the 2015-26 season to the 2019-2020 season and returned in 2023 to coach the program for another two years.
In Finney’s first time as the middle school wrestling coach, he coached wrestling greats Hunter Andel and Keegan Sell, who would go on to become the first two Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III state champions in school history at the 2023 OHSAA Division III state meet.
He called his time coaching the G-Men duo invaluable.
“Just off the beginning in seventh and eighth grade, those two, I was sitting in their corners going ‘These kids are special,’, he noted “Just seeing them as kids and how they picked up on everything was so special and then I went to Columbus and watched them from the stands win those state titles.”
Although this will be Finney’s first time as a varsity head coach throughout his coaching tenure across high school sports, he is confident that his experience as a middle school wrestling coach will serve him well as he is accustomed to introducing athletes to wrestling for the first time.
“I have turned those kids into winning wrestlers, and they never even thought to wrestle a day in their lives, and just tried it one day,” he said. “I have done this for so many years, why not do this at Newton Falls?”
Since graduating from Southeast, Finney’s coaching career started immediately after high school as he worked as an assistant wrestling coach on the varsity squad for his alma matter in the 2009-2010 season.
Having been a three-time district qualifier, Finney said that his experience as a varsity wrestler helped him in coaching kids to make it to the next level.
“A big part of never making state, it always fueled me to work harder, and I have seen what other kids did to get to state,” Finney said.
Finney will continue as Garfield’s as team’s offensive line/special teams coordinator in the fall but will also juggle his new responsibilities as Newton Falls’ wrestling coach by holding open mats on the weekends and working to recruit kids to join the wrestling team.
As the Tigers are also a member of the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier Division, Finney will coach against the G-Men in conference duals and the MVAC tournament.
Finney said that he will ask interested athletes to give him one week of their time to practice wrestling for the first time and after that week, they will know whether wrestling is for them.
“Portage County wrestling is very good wrestling and to learn and see what I have been through with Portage County wrestling and bring it here to Trumbull County, because with Trumbull County wrestling, there is not much great wrestling and I am trying to bring great Portage County wrestling out here and show that it can be done,” he said.
