Some stories fall into the “sad but not surprising” category.
The likely plug pulling of St. Helena High wrestling would be one of them. I hesitate
to use the word “death” because you never knew when or if someone can revive the
program. Saints wrestling was once a dynasty. Now, it’s more like “die nasty.” St. Helena
is likely not going to have a wrestling season in 2017-2018 or for the foreseeable future.
The first question you ask is what in the name of Herschel Sandler, Joe Luna, Geoff Harner,
Tim Nuss and Gian Traverso is happening? For openers, there is no coach and maybe three
kids interested in the sport. While you hate to penalize the few kids that are interested, I don’t
blame the powers that be (specifically athletic director Tom Hoppe) for opting not to have a
season. Considering the distance St. Helena High travels to sports events, sometimes 150
miles round-trip, transportation can be costly.
St. Helena High wrestling’s last high point as a team came in February of 2007 at Clear Lake
High, winning their ninth league title in ten seasons under Sandler’s watch as head coach.
Though basketball is a more spectator friendly sport, for 13 years it was cool to be a wrestler
at St. Helena.
Days before the 2007-2008 season, Sandler informed the team and Hoppe that he was resigning
after 13 seasons. Luna, who helped starred as a wrestler under Sandler and later became an
assistant coach, replaced Sandler as head coach. At the time, Sandler sited personal and family
reasons for his resignation since they had recently become parents.
From that point forward, Saints wrestling faded in more ways than one. Sandler, who has since
moved to the Central Valley, was sentenced to 270 days in Napa County jail and five years on
probation.
The Napa County Probation Department recommended that Sandler be allowed to leave the
courthouse a free man because he had served time after his arrest. However, Napa County
Superior Court Judge Rodney Stone ordered Sandler to serve the nine months in jail while
having to register as a sex offender.
Stone said the two teen female victims were especially vulnerable, and Sandler had used his
position of trust to take advantage of them.
When Sandler was arrested in April 2008, he was charged with two counts of oral copulation
with a minor under 16, one count of oral copulation with a minor under 18, and one count of a
lewd act with minor under 16.
Although the incidents happened almost a decade earlier, the victims did not come forward
until earlier that year.
In May 2008, Sandler pleaded no contest to two counts of oral copulation. Part of the plea bargain
was he would not serve prison time, according to the Napa County District Attorney’s Office.
The victims were 15 and 16 when the assaults happened at his office, on the school grounds and
inside his car between 1996 and 1999. Sandler was 33.
Both victims told investigators the sex was consensual, adding he never forced himself on them.
However, the girls told authorities that Sandler initiated the sexual encounters. Though I enjoyed
a great working relationship with Sandler, I have no problem saying he was in the wrong. When
you are in a position of authority and influence, you don’t put yourself in any position that can
cause even the faintest of trouble. You can make a case and ask, “why did the victims not come
forward sooner?” Fair question but also weak logic. Unless you have been in their situation, you
don’t know how difficult it is to come forward after such a traumatic experience.
Anyhow, I won’t revisit anymore. I hope the victims have received the help they need and I hope
Sandler has learned from his mis-steps.
Sandler came to St. Helena from St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo). Sandler’s Bruins won seven
straight league titles. That success continued with the Saints, who won a CIF North Coast Section
Class A title under Sandler’s watch. Sandler also coached Saints volleyball to four postseason
appearances from 1996-1999.
Luna helped the Saints wrestling program in 1999 by becoming the first St. Helena High wrestler
since Dan Bohan in 1972 to reach the CIF State Meet. Luna was the good soldier by agreeing to
follow the man that coached him to greatness as an athlete.
The choice of Luna made sense at the time. He was the first of four wrestlers that reached the
State meet under Sandler followed by Harner, Nuss and Traverso. Luna was also an assistant for
Sandler at Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School.
The Saints stranglehold on the CMC faded. They finished fourth at the league meet the next two
seasons (2008 and 2009) and second in 2010 but interest continued to wane. Luna resigned after
2013. Former Middletown High wrestler Matt Coit and former Justin-Siena wrestling head coach
Roger Bubel tried to keep the program afloat but to no avail.
Though Sandler’s reputation took a major hit because of his legal problems, and rightfully so, the
sense of pride he built beginning in 1994 will be hard to duplicate. Unless someone else rides into
town on a white horse.
One common adage in sports is that teams take on the personality of their head coach. The Saints
were an extension of Sandler — always well-prepared, and when they wrestled, they had that “we’re
small but bring it on” approach.
There’s a segment of this community that constantly whimpered about a percentage of St. Helena
kids opting to go to Justin-Siena. Sandler showed that there’s a way around that — have a superior
program and they’ll stay. Period. End of sentence. End of discussion.
OK, so I sound a little snarky, but how many really good wrestlers did the Saints lose to Justin under
Sandler? None. Why? Success. And commitment to success.
Look no further than the fact that the Saints won the first two King of the Valley tournaments
that featured Napa, Vintage and Justin-Siena in 2006 and 2007. You see, in most sports, those schools
have the mentality that the Saints don’t belong on the same field as them. Granted, in some sports
that result proves that mentality right.
But not in wrestling.
In 2006, the Saints took Vintage, Napa and Justin. They chewed them up and spit them out. In
2007, the Saints hammered Justin and Vintage before winning a close one against Napa.
Granted, dealing with weight classes in wrestling can be an equalizer. After all, Gian Traverso is
the same size (154 pounds) as Napa or Vintage’s 154-pounder. However, those bigger schools still
have that advantage because there are so many more bodies from which to pull to fill that weight class.
One thing, however, that stood out most about Sandler was the life lessons that he taught his athletes.
Those lessons were taken to heart so often that former wrestlers like Nate Engel and Harner would
stop by practice and help their old coach when they were back in town.
Barring anything unforeseen, wrestling seems so far out of town in St. Helena that it can’t be
found on a GPS.
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