Brothers to be teammates again

When new Hastings College wrestling coach Shawn Kelley began recruiting Beatrice senior Jarrod Wiens, he didn't know he'd end up with a two-for-one deal.

But as Kelley recruited Jarrod Wiens, he learned that Andrew Wiens, Jarrod's older brother and a 2005 Beatrice graduate, might also be interest in returning to the wrestling mat.

And so Kelley began “doubling up” his recruiting efforts when it came to the Wiens household, which paid off for him in the end.

The Wiens brothers were two of a group of incoming wrestlers who came together on the Hastings campus recently to sign letters of intent with the newly-created Bronco wrestling program.

Both Wiens brothers are four-time Class B State medalists with Andrew Wiens winning a state championship his senior season.

Hastings' wrestling program will be starting its first season in 2007-08 and will be the seventh wrestling program in the 13-member Great Plains Athletic Conference.

Kelley was named as head coach for the new Hastings program in February. He previously coached and served as athletic director at Si Tanka University in South Dakota and was formerly an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

As the end of his high school wrestling career approached, Jarrod Wiens said he was looking more at schools for academics than athletics.

“I wanted to be in a small-school environment for academics,” Jarrod Wiens said. “With less kids, you can get more attention from teachers.”

Jarrod Wiens said he wasn't sure he wanted to continue his wrestling career when he first started looking at colleges.

When his high school season ended at the Class B State wrestling tournament in Omaha in February, however, Jarrod Wiens said he realized he still had things he wanted to accomplish on the wrestling mat.

“I didn't reach my goal (at state),” Jarrod Wiens said.

Wiens finished third in Class B, but had hoped for a state title.

The disappointment of not attaining his goal is what made him want to continue wrestling.

Once he decided he wanted to continue to wrestle, Jarrod Wiens said he looked at several colleges.

Most of the other programs Jarrod Wiens had considered were also at NAIA schools or at the NCAA Division II level. He said he looked at programs at Dana College in Blair, York College and Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., and the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

“My dad brought up about Hastings starting a new wrestling program,” Jarrod Wiens said.

Hastings had first contacted him several weeks before the state wrestling meet, Jarrod Wiens said.

Once he started looking into the Bronco program, Jarrod Wiens said he believed it was the right place for him.

“I liked the campus a lot,” Jarrod Wiens said. “It's a new program, so everyone is going to be excited about it.”

As he watched his brother finish his high school career and go through the college recruiting process, Andrew Wiens began to think about coming out of “retirement” and restarting his college wrestling career.

Initially out of high school, Andrew Wiens signed with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and spent one season with the Husker wrestling program. At that point, he decided he'd had enough and gave up his UNL scholarship.

At this year's state tournament, Andrew Wiens said he talked to a former Nebraska teammate, who was already enrolled at Hastings College.

“He said he could talk to the coach for me if I was interested,” Andrew Wiens said, “and I told him to do that.”

Andrew Wiens said Kelley contacted him the next week.

Kelley called to talk to Jarrod Wiens, but then asked to speak with his brother, also.

Jarrod Wiens said he knew his brother had been thinking about getting back into wrestling, but didn't realize how serious he was until Kelley asked to speak to Andrew that night.

Several factors made Andrew Wiens decide to start wrestling again, but the biggest turned out to be how much he missed the sport once he was away from it.

“I missed it and wanted to go at it again,” Andrew Wiens said. “Around state tournament time, I really started getting excited to wrestle again.”

Andrew Wiens had spent this past high school season helping with the Beatrice wrestling program. He said he liked being involved with the team, but added not actually being able to wrestle “got to” him.

“Seeing everybody else wrestle, and me not wrestling, kind of got to me,” Andrew Wiens said.

Andrew Wiens will have 3 1/2 years of college eligibility remaining or seven semesters.

While the brothers were on the same wrestling team in high school for two years, being on the same college team will be a little different.

Both, however, are looking forward to it.

“I've always used having him on the same team as motivation,” Jarrod Wiens said. “When you've got an older brother in the (wrestling) room, you don't want to look like the younger brother.

“You want to stay right with him.”

Andrew Wiens said being brothers and teammates can be good and bad.

“I'm sure we'll have our moments, but that's something we're used to after wrestling together for so long,” Andrew Wiens said. “For the most part, it will be good.”

The Wiens brothers won't be competing for the same spots on the Hastings team as Jarrod Wiens plans to wrestle at 133 pounds, while Andrew Wiens will wrestle at 141.

Hastings will open its 2007-08 wrestling season Nov. 10 at the Dakota Wesleyan Open in Mitchell, S.D.

The Broncos will host their first home meet Nov. 14 with a dual against Dakota Wesleyan at the Lynn Farrell Arena in the Osborne Family Sports Complex.

With the Broncos schedule set, the Wiens brothers know where they will be beginning their first season as Hastings wrestlers. The brothers also know where they'd like their initial season at Hastings to end - at the NAIA Nationals, Feb. 28-March 1, in Sioux City, Iowa.

Andrew Wiens also already set some high goals for his first season at Hastings.

“I'd like to win it (Nationals) next year,” Andrew Wiens said, smiling. “I'm setting my goals high and, hopefully, I can reach them.”

Jarrod Wiens has his sights set a little lower for his first collegiate season.

“I just want to be an All-American this year,” Jarrod Wiens said. “Ultimately, I'd like to win Nationals, too.”