By Jeff Chaney
Doug Baird says it’s been a simple formula for success in Hesperia – have great kids who are willing to work hard in a great community and the wins will come.
Baird, who for the last 18 years has been coaching wrestling and cross country at Hesperia, has seen plenty of wins at the small Division 4 school north of Muskegon.
Assistant coach Craig Zeerip was the head wrestling coach from 1991-2001 before Baird took over the job and Zeerip moved to the assistant position. Baird and Zeerip have led the wrestling team to one state championship in 2008 and four runner-up finishes.
As the cross country coach, Baird led the boys’ team to state championships in 2004 and 2006 and a runner-up finish in 2007 and the girls’ team to the 2010 and 2011 championships.
“I’m getting tired,” Baird said. “This is 23 years of coaching three sports. [He also coaches middle school boys’ and girls’ track.] When you work at small school you have that, but I just enjoy being around the kids and lucky that all of our programs are successful.”
“For 21 straight seasons, not years, the varsity boys’ and girls’ cross country and wrestling team have advanced to state finals, and I’m proud of that,” he added. “And something else, we have had 20 top 10 finishes in that time. It’s been a great ride, and I don’t know how long it can go. The programs are in good shape. People are all on board — it’s a true family affair here at Hesperia.”
Now Baird’s attention is on the wrestling team. It’s a program that has produced 25 individual state championships since 1997 to go with those team state champion and runner-up finishes.
Before 1990, the school had just one individual champion.
Zeerip wrestled at Fremont High School and Ohio State University. His three sons, Justin, Collin, and Brandon, were all multiple state champions for Hesperia who now wrestle at the University of Michigan.
Zeerip says he and Baird work well together. “You can see the success we have had; we have a great friendship,” he said. “He helped me out when I was coach, and now I want to help him. He has been generous and shared the wealth.”
Zeerip had success as head coach, leading the Panthers to the state semifinals in 1991 and the quarterfinals the next year.
This year, both coaches are working with a young squad that has potential, and that potential showed during the first week of the high school wrestling season.
Wrestling in the 1st Annual Dorothy McClenathan Memorial Tournament, a tournament that had some of the best Division 1 and 2 teams competing in it, Hesperia took fifth in the 14-team field.
The Panthers crowned two individual champions, also. Zach Yates, whose older brother Dan was a multiple state champion who now wrestles at U of M, won at 119, and Brett Martin won at heavyweight.
“This team is very young,” Baird said. “We start seven sophomores. We lost six all-state wrestlers from last year, so we are in a rebuilding mode.
“But we are challenging kids now coming to a tournament like [the Dorothy McClenathan Memorial], and hopefully that pays off dividends. We have to go against a Shelby team that is loaded with seniors, so we are challenging them now and hope that pays off.”
Baird hopes that pays off with another trip to Battle Creek for the team state championships and another shot at a team title.
“We have a lot of people that care about wrestling in Hesperia from top to bottom,” Baird said. “From our youth program to middle school to high school. And expectations are high. We’ve made it to Battle Creek 12 times since 1996 and eight times in a row. That’s what the kids expect.”