Scarborough co-head coach Shane Stephenson (standing) looks on during the Red Storm’s match against Biddeford on Wednesday, Dec. 19. (Pat McDonald photo

SCARBOROUGH — The Scarborough wrestling program struggled to find a new leader after Deron Sharp decided to step away after the 2017-18 campaign, but eventually a familiar face stepped up to help the Red Storm.

Former head coach Shane Stephenson decided to jump back into the coaching world and he’s joined by co-head coach Andrew Morische.

“Obviously, I didn’t want them to not have a coach. Scarborough is awesome. The kids are great. The athletic director is awesome to work for,” said Stephenson.

If Stephenson and Morische didn’t step up Scarborough could have possibly been forced to seek out another option for the 2018-19 season.

“They were going to do a co-op with another team, but they just wanted to keep their own program because you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” said Stephenson.

Having co-head coaches may be unusual for a varsity wrestling program, but it was necessary for Stepehenson to be able to come back.

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“It’s awesome. It’s the only way I could do it. I wouldn’t be able to do it if I didn’t have the help and that’s the only way I was able to accept it because I get held late at my job,” said Stephenson, who is a police officer in South Portland.

Stephenson was also thrilled to have Mike Cyr, who worked with Sharp, stay on the Scarborough staff this season.

“It’s great and I still talk to Deron on the phone, so it’s great still having him as a resource and having Mike in the room to help make that transition a lot easier for the kids too. I think it’s huge,” said Stephenson, who also has Brian Letarte on the coaching staff.

One major reason Stephenson decided to return to the mats was the fact that several current Red Storm wrestlers started their careers with him as their coach.

“A lot of the kids were from my youth program and seeing those kids in the varsity program now, it’s pretty cool so it was kind of hard to say no,” said Stephenson.

Scarborough only has 11 wrestlers on the roster this year and will struggle with giving up forfeits, but Stephenson is hoping the current coaching staff can eventually change that.

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“The numbers are down, but numbers are down everywhere and it is what it is and hopefully we can help get more kids out,” said Stephenson, who will be looking for big seasons from Addison Boisvert, Eli Holbrook and Cam Freedman.

One step to improving numbers may be Stephenson eventually stepping away from the varsity level and returning to his roots as a youth coach.

“We’ll see long term, but I might transition into the youth. I’m just kind of getting the feet wet for Andrew to take over. It all depends on what happens, but I have a four-and-a-half year old so it (would be good) to get the youth program going again and that’s where you will have your success,” Stephenson said.

When it comes to this season, Stephenson knows his team will struggle to win duals but he isn’t worried about the wins and losses.

“Just building … that’s the goal is just to build,” said Stephenson. “Winning isn’t everything with wrestling, it’s just the fact that they’re out there. It’s not the easiest sport in the world. It’s probably hands down the toughest sport, so a kid that goes out there and gets beat — in my mind it’s amazing to see the resiliency of the kids to go out there, get beat and keep coming back and keep trying to get better, so building is obviously the ultimate goal for us.”

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