The City Kids Part 2: The Final Chapter

 

Having been out of High School coaching for 7 years, most thought Tomes had coached his last high school team, but a chain of circumstances led to taking a job at Carmen Northwest High School in Milwaukee.  Carmen shared a team with Milwaukee Marshall, then coached by Tony Smith, one of Tomes's former assistant coaches.  The two met and agreed to share Head Coaching duties, with Tomes taking over the practices and schematic front.  The results were immediate. 

 

Having finished the prior season with just three wrestlers, it was tough to have high expectations or fathom competing on a varsity schedule.  Just like he had done so many times before, Tomes looked past the daunting challenges and made it work.  

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The team would field a full lineup by early January, the first time since 1991 Marshall was able to do that.  They qualified a wrestler to the state meet for the first time in 28 years, leading sophomore Azarion Waits to a pair of appearances at the WIAA State Tournament.  The team nearly broke Bradley Tech's 12 year run of titles in the first season, losing by a lone point after a wrestler was improperly ejected for unintentionally competing in the wrong match. 8 freshman started for the Eagles that day. 

 

The team would beat the streak the next season, when they ran away with it despite just having one champion.  Every wrestler contributed wins in an all-around effort.  It was Marshall's first City Conference title since the 1991 season.  The team would go 22-8 in duals, qualified 23 wrestlers to sectionals. All of this went down on a vastly upgraded schedule that took the team around the state, including participation in the Badger State Invite, one of the state's hardest invitationals.  

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Tomes never intended to coach for very long at this stop, having taken the position more to help the young men at the school than a strong desire to lead the team.  He stepped down to an assistant's role during the 2020 season, to help transition out to focus on MMA, but the impact made at Marshall was immediate and profound. Tomes has ruled out working as a Head Coach again, but left open the possibility to establish a club in the Milwaukee area to provide affordable club/coaching options for kids facing financial challenges.  ​

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