Wade-ing into elite company: Crestview thrower takes aim at records nearly 60 years old

OLIVESBURG – It might not be the toughest period during his school day, but study hall has certainly proven to be the most productive for Crestview senior Wade Bolin.

Sidelined for the entire 2023 track and field season by a torn ACL, Bolin had to look for other ways to hone his skills in the discus and shot put without practicing or competing.

Study hall became his lab and his sanctuary.

“I’d sit there and watch the Olympics, watch (the competitors) throw,” Bolin said. “I was doing whatever I could to better myself.”

SMILEY KILEIGH: A light in the world: Kyleigh Reiter's positivity, love for life set to pay off in big ways

Surrounding himself with good people outside of study hall – like former throws coach Nate Manges and his replacement, Trent Hovis – has been another key factor in Bolin making tremendous strides in his varsity career.

His progress after being idle for a year has the makings of a comeback story to rival any seen in Richland County in recent memory.

In a two-week span, Bolin won the discus at the 91st Mehock Relays with a then-personal best toss of 172 feet and then swept the discus (173-1) and shot put (54-6.25) at home in the 36th Forest Pruner Invitational, setting a meet mark in the former.

In between, during a tri-meet at Norwalk St. Paul, he flung the disc 180-1.75, for the best mark in Division III this season.

It’s 15 feet better than his best as a sophomore, when he made the state meet finals in the shot and also qualified for state in the discus.

“I definitely didn’t think I was going to pick up where I left off, but I knew I was going to put in all the work I could to get back to where I was,” Bolin said. “So far, I’ve been fortunate to be where I am.”

He feels blessed to have had Manges and now Hovis in his corner. And having a former sidekick like Noah Stuart – who had the previous Pruner Invite discus record – certainly hastened his development, giving Crestview the area’s best 1-2 punch in the throws in 2022.

“Nate was definitely there to get me and Noah going, making sure our passion stayed, and getting us to where we were,” Bolin said. “And I definitely trust Trent’s thoughts and what he’s telling me. Whatever he tells me to do I try to do it. If it helps, it helps. If it doesn’t, we try something else.

“So far, the amount of reps I’ve gotten has definitely helped me stay consistent.”

Bolin’s record-setting performance at the Pruner Invite marked the fourth straight meet he had thrown the disc over 170 feet. He’s so locked in, it’s hard to imagine him not breaking the school records in both.

Never mind that they are the oldest records on the books and have stood for 57 years.

John Casler, a high school All-American, owns them both – 188-1.5 in the discus and 55-2.5 – setting those marks in 1967.

“I’d be overjoyed if I could get them,” Bolin said.

Hovis wouldn’t bet against him.

“He’s on top of the D3 state rankings, and now he’s chasing a state title,” he said. “He already had success as a sophomore, throwing 165 feet. Once you have a kid who’s already to that status, you’re not going to change a whole lot. You just want to help where you think you can help and critique what you think you can critique.”

Hovis was a thrower for Gibsonburg High School, where his older brother, Tyler, holds the school records in both throws. Tyler is with the Air Force, stationed in South Dakota, but Trent will send him video of Bolin to critique.

In fact, Hovis has a network of knowledgeable people helping to mentor Bolin. Shea Watkins, Hovis’ buddy from Arcadia and a former thrower for Notre Dame, was back home from Virginia and took some time Sunday to work with Bolin.

Hovis also sent video of Bolin to Gary Lill, a legendary throws coach in Sandusky who developed 10 state champions, 10 state runners-up and over 30 All-Ohioans.

“It’s a community,” Hovis said. “I don’t act like I know everything. What I do know is the basics I’ve learned from coach (Mike) DeAngelis, a long-time throws coach at Gibsonburg. He always taught the basics, and I teach the basics now. The drills we used back then I still implement to this day.”

Hovis had already been an assistant football and wrestling coach for two years at Crestview before joining Tim Kuhn’s track staff this spring. He admits to being somewhat concerned about how quickly Bolin would bounce back after being out for a year.

“I was his linebackers coach when he tore (his ACL),” he said. “I was a little bit worried (about his comeback), but I knew he would do the right thing, the right rehab to get to this point.

“I had a similar situation. I didn’t tear my ACL, but I shredded my meniscus and tore a hamstring my senior year of football and had to wear a brace. So I see where the struggles are, with the rotational (challenges) and the torque on the knee. But he’s been able to minimize all of that.”

The timing of joining the staff couldn’t have been more perfect for Hovis. Manges had to step aside because of a job promotion, so Hovis inherited Bolin and added a senior first-time thrower in Gavin Cains. He was runner-up to Bolin in the discus at the Pruner Invite.

“Nate had talked to me about taking over last year, but I told him I didn’t have the time,” Hovis said. “Then this year he told me he didn’t have a choice, and I felt like I didn’t have a choice either. Having coached Wade in football and him going through knee surgery made me want to do my part to help the kid out.”

Kuhn knows what a healthy Bolin would have meant to the Cougars’ state title aspirations last season. They finished fifth, just five points out of second and 13 behind champion Marion Local.

“We could have won last year with who we had there if we had performed the way we could have performed,” Kuhn said. “But if we had Wade … my goodness.”

Don’t think Bolin hasn’t thought the same thing.

“It’s a huge ‘what if’ as far as what could have happened,” he said. “I think about it all the time. It got to me sometimes, wishing I was out there. I’m definitely overjoyed to be out there now, with all my buddies, competing and doing as well as I can.”

There’s no reason this can’t be the year Bolin – and the Cougars – put it all together. Maybe Bolin replicates what his football teammate, Caleb Cunningham, did by winning a state heavyweight title in wrestling in March. And maybe the Cougs bring home the first-place trophy that barely eluded them at last year’s state meet.

“I think we have a chance,” said Kuhn, who led Crestview to three straight Firelands Conference and regional titles and four straight district championships. “Our 4x8 team is taking shape, our 4x4 team (which has one member back from last year’s state title crew) is solid, Wade’s really solid; we have Logan Friges (a state medalist in the 800), Cooper (Brockway, distances), and Liam (Kuhn’s son, a state medalist in the pole vault) … so we can do some stuff.”

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Crestview thrower takes aim at records nearly 60 years old