With less than three weeks before the season opener, the Enterprise wrestling team has a new head coach, though a familiar one to the community and to members of the wrestling team.
Kyle Stiffler, who has owned and coached the Assassins Wrestling Club in Enterprise for the last seven years, was hired as the Wildcats head coach on Tuesday by the Enterprise City Board of Education.
He replaces Jon Townsend, who was hired in June, but resigned a few weeks ago for personal reasons. Griffin Windham coached the Wildcats last year before taking an offensive coordinator role on Carroll football’s team in the spring.
Stiffler was hired on a contract basis, said EHS Athletic Director Trent Trawick, and will not have any teaching roles in the school system.
While he takes over the Wildcat program, Stiffler will have to give up some of his duties with the Assassins because of AHSAA regulations.
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“I have always wanted to (be a high school coach), but with the stipulation Alabama has it makes it harder to travel around the country like I used to,” Stiffler said. “Right now, you can’t coach both club and high school. The kids in the high school, you can’t coach in the offseason.
“You can still coach the young kids, which is fine, because I love coaching the youth, but there is nothing like traveling the country and getting in front of those college coaches and going toe-to-toe with the best guys in the country (with the older kids).”
The timing of Stiffler taking over at EHS comes when two of his sons are members of the team, including the senior year of oldest son, Kameron. His middle son, Karter, is a sophomore. His youngest son, Kage, is a member of the Assassins Wrestling Club, a youth and high school club.
“I have always got to coach my kids, but it is nice to have two on the team and being able to coach my oldest during his senior year,” Stiffler said. “Hopefully, we can get him to his 200th win. He is about at 145-150 right now. So that is another goal I get to enjoy with him on his journey before he goes off to college.”
Stiffler also takes over an Enterprise High wrestling program that has been on the rise the last few years and is stocked this year with a strong seven-member senior class, led by returning Class 7A state champions Grier Hunt and his son Kameron. The Wildcats return six state qualifiers from last year, including five who placed in the top six at state.
“We have been around for 6-7 years, and we have been making a lot of progress in the state,” Stiffler said, referring to the program that restarted in 2018 after being dormant since the 1970s. “We got second last year (in Class 7A) and top four the year prior to that.
“This year, we should be a contender for the state title. If the kids come and do the job like they are supposed to, I don’t see why we couldn’t walk away with the team title.”
After 36 wrestlers came out for the opening practice on Wednesday, Stiffler sees the Wildcat program potentially staying among the Class 7A echelon for a while. Enterprise will field both a junior varsity team and a varsity team.
“The team is bigger than it has been in the past, which is good and lets me know we are doing the right thing with all these kids wanting to come out now,” Stiffler said. “It has taken off more than I thought it would, honestly.”
For Stiffler, the sport of wrestling has long been a part of his life. Both his grandfathers wrestled and as well as his dad in their youth.
“It is culture we have,” Stiffler said of wrestling in his family. “I have been wrestling since I was 5. Now going on 33 years (in the sport). I started in (Destin) Florida where I was born, went to South Dakota for a bunch of years and moved to (New) Jersey and finished up high school there. I did everything – folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman – and competed in many national tournaments.”
While at Pemberton High School in New Jersey, he was a three-time district champion and three time fourth-place finisher in the regional postseason tournament.
He said he briefly “lost the love” for the sport late during his junior year before returning for his senior year.
Following high school, he competed in MMA cage matches for several years. He began coaching youth wrestling when his kids became old enough after he and his wife, Sammi, moved to Enterprise after his dad retired.
“Once I had kids, my (wrestling) shoes came back on and that is where I fell in love again with the sport and working with kids that maybe were not quite big enough for football or tall enough for basketball,” Stiffler said. “Everybody can wrestle and that is why we have so many weight classes.”
For the last seven years, he has worked with wrestlers from high school down to 5 years old with the Assassins.
“My goal is always to put Enterprise on the (wrestling) map and put Alabama on the map,” Stiffler said. “We are getting there. This year, should put us up there to let everybody know, ‘Hey, we are a force to be reckon with.’”
His other goal with the Wildcat program is to instill a sound work ethic in the wrestlers.
“You have to be a workhorse in the practice room,” Stiffler said. “If you do, you are going to go places. That is what I am trying to instill in these kids – just be a hard workhorse in the practice room.
“At the end of the day if I can build these kids into hard-working kids with good work ethic and high academic kids … these kids will have bright futures.”
Stiffler’s first meet as Enterprise’s head coach comes next Saturday, Nov. 9 when the junior varsity team competes at the Little Swede Invitational, hosted by Auburn Junior High School. After a JV tri-match at home on Nov. 14 against Dothan and Houston Academy, the varsity Wildcats begin the season on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Southeast Duals at Thompson High School.
Stiffler brothers shine in Iowa: Both Kameron and Karter Stiffler had a strong showing at the Brian Keck Preseason National meet in Des Moines, Iowa, this past weekend.
Wrestling in the Showcase 132-weight class, Kameron Stiffler went 2-2 and just missed placing in the top eight of the 24-man bracket. He was 1-2 in the 11-12th grade 132 weight class, while Karter Stiffler went 2-2 in the 9-10th grade 120-pound weight class.
In the Showcase division, Kameron Stiffler took a 22-6 win over Wisconsin’s Mason Dewing and earned a second-period pin over Nebraska’s Brody Pinter in his first two matches before losing 16-3 to California’s Aaron Silva and 18-2 to California’s Leo Macias.
In the 11-12 132-weight class, Kameron Stiffler earned a second-period pin over Kansas’ Tanner Heincker before losing 3-2 to Nebraska’s Devin Nuttleman and falling on a third-period pin to Iowa’s Evan Erpenbach.
Karter Stiffler, meanwhile, opened with a bang, earning a first-period pin over Illinois’ Jeremiah Haynes, while leading10-1. He followed with a 19-9 win over Washington’s Carter Tughman before losing 16-0 to Michigan’s Ryan Totten and 13-2 to Illinois’ Robert Ruscitti.
