Bottiger named 1st Butler girls wrestling coach
Butler resident Nathan Bottiger has been named the first varsity girls wrestling coach at Butler Area High School.
Bottiger, 31, was approved for the position at Monday night’s Butler school board meeting. He has been an assistant coach in the Golden Tornado mat program — primarily at the junior high level — for the past seven years.
“I wasn’t planning on pursuing the position at first,” Bottiger said. “I was approached by (Butler senior wrestler) Ana Malovich and her mother, Jess, who asked me to apply.
“I’ve worked with five or six of the girls in the junior high program. I know them and they know me. That will be a big plus.”
That familiarity played a factor in Bottiger being chosen for the job out of three applicants.
“It’s an important factor,” Butler athletic director Bill Mylan said. “He’s been a part of Butler wrestling for a number of years now. He’s done a great job with our junior high wrestlers and I’m confident Nathan will grow this program.”
A survey was taken by the school district in early September to gauge female student interest in a high school girls wrestling program. Approximately 20 girls responded with interest.
Bottiger emphasized he is unsure what the team’s original numbers will be.
“Nov. 17 is when we can start and we won’t know what our numbers are like until then,” he said.
Mylan said registration for winter sports “only started last week. If we can get a double-digit number of girls on this first team, that’d be a good start.”
Ana Malovich is a nationally-ranked high school girls wrestler who has competed in numerous national tournaments. Brin Zehmisch, a Butler freshman, competed at nationals in Fargo, N.D., over the summer.
Bottiger expects “five or six girls I’ve helped coach in junior high” to join the his team. He will also be dealing with some girls who have never tried wrestling before.
“There’s going to be a fine balance,” he admitted. “I have to make the practices worthwhile to girls like Ana and Brin while making sure the new girls don’t get overwhelmed.
“This is definitely a program I want to build. We may have a couple of ‘Try It’ nights between now and when we get started to try to a get a few late sign-ups.”
Bottiger wrestled from age 4 through high school and is a graduate of Shikellamy High School in Pennsylvania.
He emphasized that his move over to the new girls wrestling program creates a void in coaching with other teams in the program.
“(Junior high coach) Donnie Geibel was a big help to me getting acclimated to coaching over the years and (boys varsity coach) Scott Stoner brought me in to begin with,” Bottiger said. “We could use another coach or two in Butler wrestling if anyone out there is interested.”
