Hale takes reins of NHS wrestling

For the love of the sport, Adam Hale is the new Newton High wrestling head coach. After serving as an assistant coach for the Cardinals the past seven years, Hale steps into the top coaching position.

“Being a head coach really wasn’t something I always worked for and I enjoyed being involved with the sport as an assistant coach but this opportunity came around and I believe God puts us in situations for a reason,” Hale said.

“I’m excited about being Newton’s head coach. It’s a challenging opportunity and I’m ready to take it on to help our athletes to not only be better wrestlers but better people. That is what we’ve striven for in this program over the years.”

Hale said he got into coachingfor the same reason he became a teacher — to help people, especially young people. He is a physical education teacher for fifth and sixth grades at Berg Middle School.

Hale’s love and passion for wrestling grew from wrestling with his father, who wrestled in high school, in the family’s living room in Mount Vernon. Hale said his mother grew up in Lisbon where wrestling is big so wrestling was a family sport.

“At one point, I considered quitting because I wasn’t very good. I stuck with it because my dad wrestled in high school and I wanted to be like him. I began wrestling in the youth club and had strong coaches throughout my career,” Hale said.

Hale, who is 31, wrestled in his hometown of Mount Vernon starting in the youth club then the middle school. He was a four-year varsity wrestler for the Mount Vernon High team winning an Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference 112-pound championship in 2005. He recorded 39 falls in his 91 high school career wins.

Hale did not wrestle in college, making the decision to concentrate on academics at Central College.

Hale said he contacted Central head coach Eric Van Kley and he was allowed to come into the wrestling room to work out during his years at college. He said he has remained close to the Dutch wrestling program.

“I’ve been fortunate all through to have contact with great coaches. I’ve learned a lot coaching with Coach (Andy) Swedenhjelm here in Newton,” Hale said.

“The coaches I’ve been around have made it a culture of family for their programs. Swede has done that here and I plan to continue fostering that. We have a great group of boys and girls in our program.”

Hale said as a coach he focuses on being a positive role model and helping the boys and girls in the Newton program to be good people on and off the wrestling mat. He will work to teach the athletes a strong basic core of the sport.

Hale plans to help bring a consistency of basic wrestling from the youth program through the high school team.

Community service will be priority for the Cardinal wrestling program also.

Hale and his wife, Jacqui, have two sons, Nolan and Case.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com