Wrestling captains Michael Maksimovic and Logan Weintraub both believe that Head Coach Mark Rebora has done it all.
Rebora’s self-proclaimed adventurous spirit has taken him all over the world. After graduating from college, Rebora enjoyed a stint as a member of the United States wrestling team, where he toured around Europe, wrestling against opponents from other countries.
Rebora, however, would disagree with his wrestlers’ sentiment that he has truly seen and done everything.
“My son Cole is trying desperately to be a professional skier, which means he’s out West a lot,” said Rebora. “I don’t ever get to see him ski. He was away during high school, he was away part of college, so for me to help out and manage him a little bit and actually to go watch and hang with him will be pretty nice.”
With that in mind, Rebora decided to retire from his position as head coach of the wrestling program at the end of last season. Due to “different hiring and teaching situations,” though, Rebora had to delay his retirement until 2013.
Weintraub said that members of the team were very understanding of Rebora’s
planned retirement. Weintraub also noted how excited they were that Rebora would be back for a final season.
“It was going to be hard to imagine not having Rebora there for my senior year,” said Weintraub. “Having him cut out from that senior year and not having him there to complete my experience [as a wrestler] was going to be very difficult.”
Rebora said that he “fell in love with wrestling” when he first picked up the sport as a high schooler, and his involvement with the sport has spanned nearly 40 years because of his passion to be a successful wrestler.
“I’ve always tried to encourage [a competitive spirit] with my wrestlers,” said Rebora. “High school sports are definitely competitive, and being the best you can be is going to make you a better person in the long run, both socially and in terms of a competitive nature. Our society is very competitive, but if they get that competitive edge from high school athletics, they can be successful in whatever endeavours they choose.”
Maksimovic said he has learned many valuable lessons from the stories Rebora tells.
“This one time, he told us this story about how he just dropped everything for a year and went down to Mexico to surf,” said Maksimovic. “I found the whole concept of that to be pretty funny, but he’s taught me to just do what I enjoy and not overthink things.”
Weintraub said he feels some extra incentive for success this year, knowing this is Rebora’s final season.
“To me, it seems perfect to end my high school career with [Rebora’s],” said Weintraub. “It’s the end of a legacy, and he definitely deserves to end his career on a high note, so obviously I want to do whatever I can to work hard and make that happen.”