Teacher outlasts pupil, barely

[Note: this story has been modified since its original posting.]

It might have been a little strange to shake hands as head coaches, these two men who had, at one time, both been at Rock Bridge High School.

Back in the day, one was a young assistant coach looking to work his way up; the other was a solid wrestler working his way towards becoming a two-time all-state selection.

But there they were, walking across the yellow and green mats towards each other, both with mixed emotions.

Hickman coach J.D. Coffman was relieved his team had survived the Bruins’ late surge to win the match 38-37. Rock Bridge coach Brook Harlan was disappointed but pleased his young team had competed well against a more talented and experienced Kewpies squad.

The Kewpies led the Bruins 38-31 heading into the final match. Hickman 171-pounder Jeff McHugh led 13-0 midway through the third and final period when Rock Bridge junior Chris Masters threw McHugh to his back and pinned him, shocking the boisterous crowd. The win gave the Bruins six points, still one shy of tying the match.

The match had a surprisingly close result, considering that injuries have depleted the Bruins’ young squad against a veteran Hickman team. But inspired by their new head coach, Rock Bridge overachieved and looked dramatically better than they did in tournaments earlier this month.

Beginning last spring, when Harlan was hired to replace former Bruins head man John Kopnisky, he and Coffman, his former assistant coach at Rock Bridge, have traded e-mails back and forth, sharing advice and catching up with each other. The pair have known each other for the past 12 years, back to when Brook was a freshman in high school. Both are busy these days, so there isn’t as much time as they’d like, but Tuesday night was only the beginning of what could be a long rivalry between the two friends and coaches.

“We have a great relationship,” Harlan said. “We trade e-mails and keep in contact. Even though we’re high school rivals, we’re still good friends.”

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After Tuesday evening’s close Kewpies’ victory, Coffman came away impressed with his first look at Harlan’s new team.

“Brook’s doing well with his kids,” he said. “I think he’s only going to improve the program.”

The move across town for Coffman began when he followed former Rock Bridge assistant coach Doug Black over to Hickman to be an assistant coach. Last season was Coffman’s first at the helm of the Kewpies. Harlan, meanwhile, came back to Rock Bridge as an assistant and was promoted to head coach earlier this year.

The new disciplined, tough approach that Harlan has instilled doesn’t surprise Coffman, who remembers the leadership and effort that defined Harlan during his years at Rock Bridge.

Coffman said he believes that Harlan’s roots in the town give the team a coach that will want to stick around and see them develop.

“The thing that Brook gives to their program is a little stability,” he said. “The coaches that they’ve had in past years, in my opinion, have come and gone because they weren’t attached to the city and the high school they were coaching at.”

Harlan has gone to college in New York, had several prestigious internships and been on reality television. He said he is happy being an alumnus of Rock Bridge and a lifelong resident of Columbia, and if things continue as he hopes they will, the pair of young coaches will be exchanging quite a few more post-match handshakes.