Papillion-Lavista Monarchs Wrestling Club History

The Monarchs Wrestling Club began in 1976 after the wrestling program, run by the city of Lavista, had been dormant for 3 years. Mike Branigan and a small group of parents decided it was time to revive wrestling in the Lavista community; thus the rebirth of the Lavista Wrestling Club took place. Coach Branigan, along with 12 wrestlers started the club by wrestling in the basement of the CG Smith Real Estate building. They were wrestling on concrete floors with only a tumbling mat and mat cover as well as the consistent reminder that they had to turn the heat on when they arrived due cold temperatures.

As the club grew, it became obvious that they needed a bigger facility to wrestle in, therefore, they changed practice locations to the Lavista Jr. High locker room and eventually into the gym. With the help of Lavista Recreation Center, a new mat was purchased and the club memberships grew. After the Papillion wrestling program folded, Coach John Sanderson and his wrestlers joined the Lavista Wrestling Club. The numbers then exceeded 70 wrestlers.

With the new club striving for more, the club decided it needed 2 locations; so in 1994, they approached the Papillion-Lavista Head Wrestling Coach Jeff Kuper and Athletic Director John Watters about using the PLVHS wrestling room for a varsity youth program and the city of Lavista about using the newly built Recreation Center for a Novice program. With the blessing of both administrations, the club was allowed to use both locations and more success soon followed.

The club was now producing solid wrestlers for the Jr. High and High School wrestling programs in Papillion-Lavista and metro area. In 2001, PLHS won the Class A State Wrestling Championship with over half of the team made up Lavista Wrestling Club kids – Scherzbers, Grindstaffs and Lowens were some of the kids on this championship team.

The Papillion-Lavista Monarchs Wrestling Club has been around for over 30 years and has had a couple of name changes through the course of its existence – Lavista Wrestling Club (1976-2002), the Lavista Vipers (2002-2007), and today, the Papillion-Lavista Monarchs Wrestling Club. The wrestling club would not have survived if not for the efforts of many coaches and volunteers. Names such as: Heckert, Branigan, Theissen, Sanderson, Balletta, Vacanti, Renke, Penke, Grindstaff to name a few. Some of the young men who started wrestling for the club as kids have helped keep the tradition alive by becoming coaches. Brent Pearson and Jeff Conley have led that charge with their passion and love of the sport by continuing the tradition of volunteering their time to coach young kids the sport of wrestling.

Today, as new leaders emerge, the Monarchs Wrestling Club will continue the tradition of providing quality wrestlers in the Papillion-Lavista and metro area.

Notables:
Matt Vacanti – 4x State Champion (only 1 loss in 4 seasons)
Jason Branigan – 2x State Champion

Numerous wrestlers that came thru program were 3 and 4 time placers at state.