Walker Leaves Wood Program

Posted: June 8, 2016
By ROB NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — After 12 seasons and 253 wins, Greg Walker has resigned as James Wood’s wrestling coach.

Walker said Tuesday he is leaving James Wood to take a job as a physical education, health and driver’s education teacher at John Champe High School in Aldie. Walker also has an offer to be the school’s head wrestling coach, though he has not decided yet whether to accept it.

“With what they’re offering as far as salary and benefits, I couldn’t turn it down,” said Walker, a 1993 James Wood graduate who was a Colonels assistant coach for four years before taking the head job in 2004. “It’s the best thing for me and my family right now.”

Walker is one of only three head coaches that James Wood has had in the 51-year history of its program. Willie Walters (18 years) and Jaye Copp (21 years) preceded him.

Walker’s desire to spend more time with his children, 12-year-old Olivia and Jacob, 11, is part of the reason why he hasn’t made up his mind yet about coaching at John Champe. (Walker has until the beginning of the 2016 school year to decide.)

Olivia, who plays soccer, is a member of the Winchester United Under-12 team that recently won the 2016 US Youth Soccer Region I Presidents Cup, which stretches from Virginia to Maine. Jacob plays soccer and basketball.

As for James Wood, Walker thinks the program would benefit from different leadership. The Colonels have been a consistently strong team under Walker, but they haven’t won as many championships as he would have liked.

James Wood last won a Northwestern District regular season title in 2009, and the Colonels haven’t won a district tournament since their wildly successful 2007 season. James Wood went 39-4 in duals that year and won its first region title since 1972.

“I told [Colonels coordinator of student activities Craig Woshner] that if you can’t win a district championship every four or five years, it’s time for someone new to take over the program,” Walker said. “I thought this year was our year. We had some injuries, but we just weren’t able to get it done.”

Sherando won the Northwestern District title this year, while Handley won the Conference 21 West tournament. James Wood lost to both teams in dual competition, took fourth in the Conference 21 West tournament and ninth in the 4A West Region tournament.

When asked about his favorite memories coaching James Wood, Walker brought up the 2007 team because of how hard those wrestlers worked.

Other highlights for James Wood under Walker include taking seventh at the 2009 Group AA state tournament and sixth at the 2010 Group AA state tournament. Walker also had four individuals win a total of five state championships — S.R. Shiley in 2006 and 2007, Gage Swartz and Austin Woodall in 2010, and Aaron Black in 2014.

Sherando coach Pepper Martin said Walker’s teams and wrestlers were consistently difficult to face.

Martin’s relationship with Walker goes back to Walker’s freshman year at James Wood in 1989-90. Back then, Martin was a Colonels assistant who would drill with Walker, a 130-pounder who was named The Winchester Star Wrestler of the Year during a season in which he took second at the Group AAA state tournament. (Walker had to stop wrestling for James Wood after two years because of a neck injury.)

“You can see how much his wrestlers improved and progressed from the beginning of the season to the end, and that’s the mark of a good coach,” said Martin, who also had Walker on his Sherando staff for a year or two before Walker went to James Wood. “Year in and year out, he got the most out of his wrestlers. I thought he did an outstanding job.”

Even if Walker doesn’t take the John Champe head coaching position, he figures he’ll be coaching wrestling again in some capacity down the road.

“I’ve been coaching for 22 years,” Walker said. “It’s in my blood.”

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