Hoxie wrestling finds next leader

After 17 years as head coach of the Hoxie wrestling program, Mike Porsch is stepping aside to pave the way for a new leader. Porsch has coached the Indians to the last four 3-2-1A State Championships, including a record-breaking 2023 victory that saw the Indians score 260 points, more than twice that of second place Norton. A Hoxie graduate and standout wrestler for the Indians in the late 1980s, Porsch went on to serve as an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Kirk Baker for 10 years before taking over for him after his retirement in 2006.

Now Porsch wants to hand the keys to the next leader for Indian wrestling, but plans to continue working with wrestlers at Hoxie’s Next Level Training Academy - a Freestyle, Greco, and Folkstyle training center established by Porsch’s son, Tristan, and long-time assistant Mat Gilliland, in Hoxie - and he also hopes to catch more of his daughter Marissa’s matches at Fort Hays State where she is heading into her junior season for the Tiger women’s program this fall.

“I thought the program was in great shape culture-wise and (we) have a great young guy to take over with the chance to do good things,” Porsch said of his planned successor.

The successor Porsch is referring to is current Hoxie assistant Ryan Etherton, a two-time college All-American and three time Academic All-American at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Etherton owns and operates Etherton Chiropractic in Hoxie, and has spent the past two seasons as one of Porsch’s assistants. He also spent a season working at the youth level in Hoxie and has past youth and high school coaching experience in Iowa and Nebraska.

Etherton will take over as coach pending board approval at the next meeting.

“Ryan had been a big part of the success the last few years as an assistant coach and he had been part of the development of many of the young wrestlers early in their involvement,” Porsch said. “He brings a great knowledge and understanding of wrestling at very high levels. Ryan is a family man of great character and has a passion for helping young people grow not only as wrestlers, but more importantly, as good young adults.”

If approved, Etherton inherits a loaded team with nine experienced wrestlers back from regionals and seven returning state qualifiers, including six returning state medalists. Also back is Kyle William, another Porsch assistant and key piece to Hoxie’s recent success.

“I feel like the program and I are a good fit mostly because of the group of kids I get to work with,” Etherton said. “The kids have been very committed to pushing themselves and trusting in the system. We have a great group of kids that love wrestling which makes coaching a lot easier and much more enjoyable.”

Etherton takes the reins of a program with tradition on par with any of the state’s top blue bloods. Along with the four titles Porsch has won as head coach and four as an assistant under Baker, the Indians have won 14 KSHSAA championships total, and Porsch believes Hoxie returns the talent to keep the tradition alive.

“A strong crew of guys that also saw varsity action, but didn’t make the regional squad (return) and we have a great group of incoming guys from junior high,” Porsch said. “We have a lot of kids committed to training for much of the offseason and investing a ton of time to get better at their sport. Wrestling is important to a lot of kids in Hoxie right now at all levels.”

Etherton said working with Porsch and William has helped prepare him for his new role.

"Coaching with coach Mike Porsch and coach Kyle William these last two years has been a blessing,” Etherton said. “I believe that you can never surround yourself with enough good coaches because you can always learn new things to better yourself as a coach. I've been able to do that, picking up little things that both coach Porsch and coach William do better than I do.”

And Etherton looks forward to sharing the things he’s picked up with both new and returning Hoxie wrestlers next season.

“The thing that I most look forward to with coaching this group of kids next year is watching them grow both as wrestlers, but more importantly as men and women,” Etherton said. “I want to have an impact in their lives that goes beyond wrestling and getting to be by their side when they go through the ups and downs of wrestling allows me to have more meaningful conversations with them that hopefully helps them as they grow into adults.”

As for Porsch, he leaves with the knowledge he did all he could to return the Hoxie program to its rightful place at the top of the Kansas prep wrestling scene.

“I feel good that I’m leaving the program better than I got it,” Porsch said.