 |  |
| Bruce Shumaker | |||
|
Head Wrestling Coach bruce.shumaker@hii-nns.com 757-380-2724 |
||
Bruce Shumaker, long-time high school wrestling coach across the Peninsula, enters his fifth year as head coach of The Apprentice School wrestling program. He came to the Builders after serving as the coach at Lafayette High School from 1998-2007.
Shumaker graduated from Edinboro University where he was a walk-on with the wrestling program who progressed to earning a partial scholarship by the end of his first season. He won over 70% of his collegiate bouts in his four-years and participated in two Olympic Trials.
In his fourth season, the Builders broke the school record for dual match wins becming the first team to win 20 in a season as they finished 20-8. Three Builders earned NCWA All-American honors, while two joined the Centurion Club winning their 100th career matches for the Builders.
In his third season, the Builders went 18-5 in dual matches and took second place in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Duals and National Championship event. Two Builders wrestled for national titles as senior Ty Holley won at 141 pounds to become the tenth Builder to win an individual championship.
In his second season, his team won their first National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championship by claiming the title in the 84-team event the Builders hosted at Hampton University. They went 6-1 against NCWA opposition and made it to the second day of the prestigious Virginia Duals for the third year in a row. Six Builder wrestlers earned NCWA All-American honors highlighted by the programs first national champion since 2002 in senior heavyweight Cecil Lee. The Portsmouth native set school records for pins (51), victories in a season (46) and career wins (124).
In Shumaker’s first season, the Builders were 5-0 against NCWA opposition and had three wrestlers earn NCWA All-American honors as the team finished tenth at nationals. The team also won its opening round match at the prestigious Virginia Duals for the second year in a row.
His first area stop was at Denbigh High School from 1974-80 before heading to Lexington, VA for a season as an Assistant Coach at Virginia Military Institute and six years at Natural Bridge High School. At Natural Bridge, he coached 10 individual state champions and 12 place-winners from 1981-87.
He returned to the Peninsula in 1989 to coach at Mathews High School where his teams compiled a 118-48 dual match record. His Blue Devil teams won five regional and two state titles, while placing in the top three four times. At Mathews he won his first of two Virginia State Wrestling Coach of the Year honors.
Since 1998 he was the coach at Lafayette High School in Williamsburg. In that time his teams have been 184-41 in dual meets and have won three Bay Rivers District Dual Meet titles. The Rams have won three Region I titles and have been runner-ups five times. In the Virginia Group AA Tournament the Rams have been in the top 10 seven times in nine years including two fourth-place finishes.
“I feel very fortunate to be the coach of the Apprentice School. This is a serious wrestling program and there will be a new challenge every week,” he said. “Our first priority will be to continue the success of the Builder’s wrestling and then to make a connection with some of the local talent.”
