Ortonville resident Kent Bailo may have been away from coaching wrestling for 18 years, but he still had a bird’s-eye view of the sport.
Bailo, who works full-time at General Motors in Pontiac, was a high school and college referee during that time span. Now Bailo is being asked to call upon his coaching and refereeing experience to help turn Brandon High School’s wrestling program around.
Brandon Athletic Director Larry Lamphere announced July 28 that Bailo, 53, has been hired as the Blackhawks? new varsity wrestling coach. He brings a career coaching record of 243-46-2 to the table.
His greatest success came as the head coach of Rochester Adams, where he took a program that was 0-11 in the Metro Suburban League the year before and led the Highlanders to six conference titles in six years.
Bailo has also coached at Alpena (two years), Pontiac Catholic (one year) and Flint Bentley (one year). He wrestled at South Lyon High School and spent two years as a graduate assistant on Eastern Michigan University’s wrestling team.
When he was a referee, Bailo had the chance to officiate 10 of the last 11 Michigan high school wrestling finals, as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association finals for the last seven years.
It was his refereeing travels that led Bailo to found the United States Girls Wrestling Association, which he operates out of Ortonville. As a referee, he encountered boys wrestling girls several times. He said he grew tired of watching that because it was a ‘lose-lose situation? for both parties.
With that in mind, he founded the association in 1997 to give female wrestlers a chance to compete on equal footing. That year, a girls? wrestling tournament was held at Lake Orion High School. Today, there are about 3,000 members in the association and girls? wrestling tournaments in 35 other states.
He said the grind of traveling to referee matches several nights per week ? not to mention the opportunity to coach in his backyard and get involved in his community? led him to accept the Brandon job.
‘With my refereeing stuff, I’m away from home too much,? Bailo said. ‘You’re busy four, five, six days a week, and it was wearing me out timewise. Being a high school coach, you have two meets a week and practice.?
However, he believes his refereeing experience will be an asset coaching the Blackhawks.
‘As a referee, you see the best techniques of hundreds of people,? he said. ‘You teach different wrestlers holds for different body shapes of people.?
Bailo will be coaching a Brandon team that he described as ‘pretty young and inexperienced.? His goals for the Blackhawks are ‘to get better and have fun.?
‘We need to fill the roster and have kids finish four-year high school careers,? he said. ‘Some of the guys have experienced the frustration of losing earlier in their careers, and by the time they’re juniors and seniors, they’re no longer on the team.?
A 10-year resident of Lake Orion before moving to Ortonville three years ago, Bailo is married to wife Cindy. The couple has three children: Brent, 30; Laura, 28; and Brian, 26.