Nic Calls On One Of Its Own Former National Champ Whitcomb Named Cardinals Wrestling Coach

Pat Whitcomb won two national championships as a wrestler at North Idaho College.

Now, he’s getting the chance to see if he can coach NIC to a title.

“It’s the best junior college job in the nation,” said Whitcomb, named on Wednesday as coach of the powerful program. “It’s one of the best college jobs of all.”

Whitcomb replaces John Owen, who resigned earlier this month to spend more time with his family.

In a way, Whitcomb is part of Owen’s extended family.

“Our alumni are very supportive of Pat,” Owen said. “You won’t find anybody who would say, ‘Hey, that’s not a great choice.”’

The choice of Whitcomb is one Owen had hoped NIC would make. Owen and athletic director Jim Headley reviewed applications and narrowed the list to four. Only Whitcomb was interviewed.

“We felt Pat was the best choice,” Headley said. “We’ve watched Pat develop from being an athlete here to what he’s done in his coaching career and community involvement. Obviously we’re excited.”

Whitcomb, 30, coached wrestling and taught U.S. history at Lake City High the last three years. He previously coached three years at Kellogg High. He also spent one year as an assistant at NIC and Western Montana.

Whitcomb will be paid $23,000 for coaching. It’s expected that he will take on additional duties at NIC to boost his pay, but currently there aren’t any openings.

The Michigan native came to NIC and won consecutive 190-pound titles in 1986-87. He went on to Oklahoma, where he suffered a shoulder injury. He finished his career at Western Montana, taking second at nationals.

He replaces a legend in Owen, who coached NIC to eight NJCAA titles, but insists there’s no pressure.

“As far as NIC, the goal is always to win a national championship,” Whitcomb said. “No one can replace John Owen, so that takes the pressure off right there.”

Owen will keep a hand in the program, helping with recruiting and in other areas to smooth the way for Whitcomb’s transition.

“I want badly for this program to be successful,” Owen said.

“He may think he’s retiring, but he’s not,” Whitcomb joked.

Owen said Whitcomb is better equipped to take over a program than when Owen did so at NIC in the late 1970s.

“People see Pat at 250 pounds and question his technical ability. They assume that he doesn’t know how to teach because he just grabs a hold of you and squeezes,” Owen said. “He’s more qualified than when I started. Les Hogan (coach prior to Owen) and Rolly Williams (then athletic director) gave me a chance. Pat’s never had to recruit, but neither did I.”

NIC returns two starters from last year, Tony Gomez at 126 pounds and Trevor Prangley at 177. Prangley placed eighth at nationals. Gomez qualified but didn’t place.

Whitcomb hopes to model Owen’s success at keeping the practice room stocked with talent, which leads to intense competition and individual improvement.

“Like they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said Whitcomb, who has a 2-year-old son, Philip, and 1-year-old daughter, Kassi. “My wife (Jan) asked me if I thought I would be the coach when I was wrestling at NIC. It didn’t cross my mind at that time. But I did know I wanted to be in coaching and part of that comes from the influence coaches have had on me.”

He’s had an influence on his coaches, too. His high school coach in Michigan flew to Coeur d’Alene several years ago to watch Whitcomb wrestle in an international meet against a Russian.

“You never hear him brag about himself,” Owen said. “Even in his most successful moments, he always found a way to involve me. He just attracts people. He reminds me of Rolly in a way. He has a presence when he walks into a room.”

Owen said he’s going to work his tail off this spring and then “hand Pat the keys. It gives me peace of mind.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SLIM PICKINGS NIC returns two starters from last year, Tony Gomez at 126 and Trevor Prangley at 177. Prangley placed eighth at nationals.