One of the state's most decorated wrestling programs is under new leadership for the first time in 30 years.  

After guiding Norton Community High School to 11 state championships, Bill Johnson announced last spring he was stepping down as wrestling coach to accept an administrative position at the school. 

The Bluejays looked to one of their own to keep the proud tradition going strong, tabbing Norton native Bill Broeckelman to succeed Johnson as head coach. 

Johnson's exit strategy was about three years in the making once he started pursuing his master's degree in educational leadership. Soon after completing the program, he was hired as Norton Junior High principal and athletic director for grades 7-12 for the Bluejays.

Broeckelman served as an assistant for the last three seasons under Johnson.

"The last two years Johnson has kind helped me transition (to head coach)," Broeckelman said. "There were a couple weeks where I would kind of run practice, just to get the hang of it." 

Broeckelman will look to continue a tradition of excellence that was first established by legendary coach Jake Durham in the late 1950's. Durham guided the Bluejays to six team state championships before retiring in 1989.  

Johnson, a former standout wrestler at Fort Hays State, took over the program in 1991. He captured his first team state championship at Norton in 2004. His run of state titles included five straight from 2013 and 2017, with his final team championship coming in 2020. 

"One of the things I picked up from him – I really struggled with this when I was young in the program – it's not always about winning and losing, the biggest thing is to go out and compete and just try to score points," Broeckelman said. "Once the kids figure that out, the winning comes by itself. It's more enjoyable that way. You don't get so frustrated.

"The other thing is that we're not only going to be good wrestlers, we're going to be good people on and off the mat. I always try to help kids that may not always have a positive figure in their life, and be that positive figure for them so that can have somebody to lean on and talk to if they need to." 

Norton will be led by two-time state champion Kolton Field, the Bluejays' lone senior. Field captured the Class 3-2-1A state title at 120 pounds in 2020 before winning the 126 title last year as a junior. He completed a 34-1 season with a pin over Hoxie's Dayton Bell in the final.   

"He's a kid that just loves to compete," Broeckelman said of Field. "A prime example is that he bumped up to wrestle Drew Bell (at 126). He could have had an undefeated season last year but he'd rather have the stacked competition and see who's top dog. He loves to compete and he sets that example every day in practice." 

Norton also has a returning state qualifier in Garrett Urban, who placed fifth at 152 pounds last year. 

Broeckelman expects a breakout year for 195-pound junior Jefferson Otter.

Others in the varsity lineup will include Derian Musquiz (120), Clayton Sumner (132), Colby Menagh (138), Logan Pfannenstiel (145) and Alex Brown (285) 

"Last year we had a lot of young kids wrestling varsity and some of them really stepped up to the challenge and some of them weren't quite ready," Broeckelman said. "This summer we made a lot of improvements and I saw a lot of kids make that leap. We're going to have a lot of kids that are going to be ready for that varsity level this year." 

After securing its first team state championship last year, Hoxie enters as the favorite to repeat in Class 3-2-1A, returning three individual state champions in Drew Bell, Derek Johnson and Drew Bretz.  

Bell (126 and 132) and Johnson (138 and 145) are both two-time state champions while Bretz won his first title last year at 138 pounds. Drew Bell is ranked No. 1 at 138 while Johnson is third at 160 and Bretz No. 1 at 152.  

Dayton Bell and Tate Weimer (106) both earned second at state last year. Other returning state placers for the Indians include Wayne Shepard, Carson Ochs and Brandon Baker.  

Hill City was runner-up a year ago and returns five state placers in Carter Underhill, Kaleb Atkins, Aiden Amrein, Aidan Hockman and Thayn Walt.  

Silver Lake is ranked second in Class 3-2-1A. The Eagles are led by Daigan Kruger, who went 50-2 last year but was upset in the first round by Plainville's Ben Hansen at 170. He bounced back to earn third place.