South Fayette has not had a varsity wrestling coach in several years. Mike Ladick is the first to take on the reigns there since the late 1990s.

Ladick, only 23, considers his new job an honor.

"This is an unbelievable school district," Ladick said. "I've toured the campus, and I just can't believe the school district, what it has, the students, the potential the district has as a whole. Unbelievable."

As for the wrestling program itself, Ladick also sees potential. The Lions had five varsity wrestlers last year, Ladick said, but 16 at the junior high level.

This, he said, has the potential for a bright future.

"This," Ladick said, "is an opportunity for the youth to see a future. These kids have something to look at. We have a lot of Junior Olympic and junior high wrestlers. We can make this a feeder system."

The 2008-09 season will be the first in about 10 years since the South Fayette School District chose to co-op with Chartiers Valley.

Ladick said he wants to do several things with the program when he arrives from his current job, teaching math at the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center.

"I want to establish a tradition," he said. "I want to make wrestling a part of these kids' lives."

Ladick also wants to give the wrestlers at South Fayette a new appreciation for the sport.

"I want them to love the sport the way that I do. Wrestling is a character builder. Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy."

Finally, Ladick wants to establish a corps of young wrestlers that want to win, but also have a newfound hunger for the sport.

"The wins and losses will always be there, don't get me wrong. I want to win," he said. "But give me six kids that want to go out and hit their heads against a wall and wrestle hard. That's what I want."

Ladick, who hails from Penn-Trafford High School, went on to wrestle at Shippensburg University. From there, he was an assistant wrestling coach at Waynesburg University (2006-2007). He also spent some time as an assistant at Riverview High School under his mentor, Dick Bane.

"I only spent (one year) under him, but he taught me a lot. He and my parents taught me more about life than anyone."

Ladick is the son of Bob Ladick, the former wrestling coach at Woodland Hills High School.

Now, Ladick is hoping to bring some of his knowledge about wrestling to South Fayette. He hopes to build a tradition at the Green and White.

"I am a firm believer in character and respect. We need to have that. We need to be one whole, cohesive unit."