Cummings lays solid foundation for Whippets

 

By NATE HECKENBERGER

Five years ago Darrin Cummings faced the daunting task of building a new, successful program out of a traditionally strong athletic school that was forced to split.
Cummings came to Downingtown West in 2003, joined by assistant coach Corey Sigle, who was also from Downingtown High. His next step was to hire Brad Breese, Cummings’ son, and Wade’s coach in youth wrestling. It was Breese’s ability to relate to the kids that Cummings was drawn to despite Breese never coaching high school before.
Two years later, Cummings added former state champion and West Chester Henderson coach, Glen Koser, to an already-talented staff. Cummings calls those three hires his “best decisions as a coach.”
That foundation the fab four established in the last five years was never more apparent than this season, and thus, Cummings has been named the Daily Local News Wrestling Coach of the Year for the third straight season. But of the three, this year might have been his finest work.
Losing over 150 wins and three state qualifiers to graduation is no fun task for any coaching staff, let alone one with serious expectations in place.
What made this season special was the development of the younger, inexperienced wrestlers to fit in around the strong core left from the previous three Ches-Mont championship teams.
Not only did the Whippets win their fourth consecutive league title -- never losing a league meet in that stretch -- but they also finished fourth at District Duals, along with taking Section 4 and District 1 Central team titles, all three of which were firsts in school history.
Things were shaky to start the season as the new team gelled, but it was a huddle in the middle of practice as district duals neared that turned things around.
“Basically I challenged the senior class,” Cummings said. “‘This isn’t much of a year for us,’ I said. ‘Your legacy isn’t much compared to the past. We still have district duals and can win the league but it’s up to you.’”
The message was heard loud and clear as the Whippets made a nice run as the No. 12 seed at District Duals, as well as advancing 11 of 14 starters to districts.
It was the emergence of wrestlers like freshman Josiah Bull (103), junior Anthony Madanat (130) and sophomore Eric Dunheimer (140) that really proved Cummings and his staff’s previous accomplishments were not a product of a stacked roster. It was the idea of teaching a few things simply, but teaching them hard.
Dunheimer, who had only one varsity match under his belt coming into the season, won 24 matches this season, including some huge ones at District Duals.
“The coaches expect a lot,” Dunheimer said. “You have to perform. They teach you how to do a few things well and they know how to motivate you.”
Two Whippets -- senior Pat May (119) and junior Josh Homer (171) -- reached states after six qualified for regionals.
Homer has progressed each season, starting with districts as a freshman, regionals as a sophomore and finally Hershey in March.
“The coaches do well with kids who don’t really know a lot about wrestling,” Homer said. “And they turn them into really decent wrestlers.”
Those goals, conjured up five years ago -- to develop a tradition, not just a good team here and there, and to develop everyone, not just stars -- have materialized. And once again, even when it looked like the Whippets’ run as top dog in Chester County was over, Cummings and his staff proved that tradition is an annual kind of thing.

To contact correspondent Nate Heckenberger, e-mail sports@dailylocal.com.