Marysville girls wrestlers getting new leader: longtime boys coach Shawn Andrews
With the resignation of Marysville girls wrestling coach Tim Crane in early August, boys coach Shawn Andrews had a decision to make.
After building the boys team into one of the top programs in the state, did he want to try for similar success on the girls side?
The answer to the question was yes. Andrews will be Marysville's next girls coach, pending school board approval.
“It’s probably the toughest career decision I’ve had to make,” he said. “I’ve been grateful for the chance to coach the boys team the last 20 years, 16 years as the head coach.”
Crane coached the girls for one season after previously serving as a boys assistant. He helped Cali Leng, a 2023 graduate, win her second state title in March.
“Shawn had some interest in going over to the girls side and continuing what he built from the ground up,” athletic director Joey Day said. “I certainly think it was a very tough and difficult decision for him because of his storied coaching career on the boys side, but it was an opportunity that he felt was right for him and for the program.”
Girls wrestling became an OHSAA sport last season. It was previously a club sport, with Andrews overseeing both the boys and girls teams.
“This was a decision a year ago I had to make and I really thought when I went from coaching both to just coaching the boys that the desire to help grow the girls side would wane,” Andrews said. “But when it opened up again this year, it was something I really thought a lot about and decided to make the decision to switch to coaching the girls full time.”
During his tenure as boys coach, Andrews guided four individual state champions: Noah Forrider (138 pounds) in 2013, Hayden Lee (113) and Austin Pfarr (220) in 2014 and Taleb Rahmani (152) in 2015. He coached 79 state qualifiers and 43 state placers.
Andrews compiled a record of 225-79 with eight OCC championships, eight sectional titles and four district championships.
“I don’t want to get too sentimental, but you coach because of relationships with kids, and not just the ones that you coach currently, but the ones you’ve coached throughout the years,” he said. “Some of the highlights of my professional life have been the opportunities I’ve had coaching wrestling.”
Andrews plans to be an adviser and sounding board for the new boys coach.
“The one thing that we say within our program and we really try to talk about is it being a wrestling family,” he said. “I’m hopeful that whoever lands in that boys position they feel similarly. ... I hope both programs continue to work together and maximize coaches and experience.”
A 1996 Marysville graduate, Andrews wrestled for the Monarchs and later Kent State. He served as an assistant coach for four seasons at Marysville before being named head coach in 2007, succeeding his father, Lenard.
Shawn was Division I state Coach of the Year in the 2017-18 season.
“I’m really excited about the challenge,” he said. “I’m really excited about the opportunities, but it would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge how sad I am that I’m not going to be working with those same boys that I’ve been working with for so long.”
Lenard coached the Monarchs for nine seasons, compiling a 116-34 record. The wrestling room at Marysville is named in his honor, and he was inducted into the Ohio Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame last year.
“I’ve been part of the Marysville wrestling program since I was 5 years old when my dad was coach,” Shawn said. “I don’t think that part will ever go away. I’m just excited for hopefully the next coach to continue to help grow where the program is.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Marysville wrestling coach switching from boys to girls team
