Randles reaches a level all his own

COEUR d’ALENE — When the lights are on, Coeur d’Alene High senior wrestler Casey Randles is one nice guy.

Put that spotlight on him in the circle of the wrestling mat, however, and he’ll be your worst nightmare for that six minutes.

But it’s not just wrestling that makes him tick.

“I really like swimming,” Randles said. “I didn’t end up doing that this year (for the high school program), but used to do that during the fall to get my cardio going for wrestling.”

Randles also enjoys mountain biking during his down time.

“I also spend a lot of time reading,” Randles said. “I enjoy swimming because it makes me use my entire body and gets my heart rate going. It’s a good way to train and not have it impact my body.”

Randles, wrestling at 195 pounds, is 27-0 this season entering this weekend’s 23-team North Idaho Rumble at Coeur d’Alene High.

He won two straight state 4A titles at Sandpoint — both at 182 — before transferring to Coeur d’Alene this fall.

Randles — the oldest of three siblings — transferred to Coeur d’Alene when his father and coach, Mike, accepted the assistant principal position at Coeur d’Alene High in August. Mike was a longtime wrestling coach in Sandpoint.

“I was in a real comfort zone and was going to camps with the Sandpoint kids and getting them ready for the upcoming season,” Mike Randles said. “And the position kind of came out of nowhere.”

Mike Randles also weighed an offer to move the family to the Boise area and even gave Casey the option to remain in Sandpoint for his senior year. Casey’s mother, Teresa, is a first-grade teacher at Washington Elementary School in Sandpoint.

“Having the chance to stay in North Idaho, it was a great opportunity,” Mike Randles said. “Having Casey come to Coeur d’Alene, I knew it was going to be in solid hands with the coaching staff and I was confident he’d be in good hands.”

And from what Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Moffat saw in passing during duals and tournaments, he knew what kind of wrestler he was getting.

“He’s a really tough wrestler and aggressive kid,” Moffat said. “I really didn’t get to see him much because we’d only dual them once a year. I never really got to see him wrestle at regionals because they were in 4A. He’d be at the state finals, but you’re kind of busy with your own matches, but I knew how tough of a kid he was.”

Mike Randles led Sandpoint to state 4A titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and was an assistant coach for another three state titles in 1994, 1995 and 1996. He coached for 17 seasons and taught school in the Sandpoint area for 19 years. He’ll attend practices from time to time at Coeur d’Alene, but has left the coaching up to Moffat and his staff.

“Casey’s been able to drill a different technique and work on his bottom work,” Randles said. “I’ll get up to the (wrestling) room when I can, and the Moffat brothers (Jeff and his assistant coach Kelly) and Tony Hook, they’re taking what I’ve taught him and what skills he has and expanded it. It’s good, solid technique that’s designed to make kids better at the Division I level.”

“He had a big influence on me,” Casey Randles said of his dad. “It’s kind of weird not having him coaching this year, but I think it’s going to be a good transition. Before, we didn’t want it to become personal, but it was personal. That’s my dad sitting in the corner over there, and it was difficult for me to see him as my coach. I was thankful to have him as a coach and it was great to have him as a coach for all those years.”

Mike Randles will still pop into Casey’s corner from time to time.

“He’s still in my corner when I’m wrestling big matches and tells me he’s proud of me,” Casey said. “I’m sure he’ll be coaching me in the offseason.”

As it tends to happen up north during wrestling season, Casey Randles had to face his former team — and former training partner Owen Stebbins — in a dual at Coeur d’Alene High on Jan. 4.

“It was a little strange,” Randles said. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be because my dad isn’t on the other side coaching, and that would have been weird. It was still weird walking out there and looking across at what used to be my teammates.”

Randles and Stebbins trained together in Sandpoint for more than a decade.

“I’d been practicing with him since we’d been in first grade,” Casey Randles said. “We’ve always been close to the same weight, and he ended up moving up this year and we had to wrestle in the dual. I’d seen him at tournaments, but he’d always be on the other side of the bracket, so it was the first time we’d wrestled in a match.”

Randles beat Stebbins by an 18-8 major decision as the Vikings beat the Bulldogs 43-30 in the dual at Coeur d’Alene High.

“When Sandpoint showed up that night, we just kind of smiled at each other,” Casey Randles said. “It was probably because we knew we were going to end up wrestling that night.”

For Mike, it was a little different feeling.

“Outside of Coeur d’Alene, there’s no program I’d wish the best for other than Sandpoint,” Mike Randles said. “It was a little strange that night, but I was 100 percent cheering for Coeur d’Alene. It was a little awkward seeing them, but I settled that a long time ago.”

Thanks to the move, Casey Randles — winning at 195 pounds — became the first wrestler at the Tri-State Invitational to win an individual title for two different schools.

When comparing Moffat and his father as coaches, Casey noted Moffat has a little different approach.

“He’s a lot more hard-nosed than my dad was, I think,” Casey said. “His work ethic, and we tend to drill a little more on the bottom. I didn’t have much bottom work before, so that will be nice moving on to college.”

Casey Randles signed to wrestle at Wyoming in November.

“I really didn’t see that coming,” Casey Randles said. “I went to Wyoming on a visit and thought it was going to be ugly. But it isn’t. It has mountains, and lakes and I really like the coaching staff. They made a great offer and it was a good opportunity.”

Mike Randles has coached a handful of Division I wrestlers at Sandpoint — Jake and Jared Rosholt (Oklahoma State), Chris Feist (Portland State) and Luke Feist (Stanford), Jared and Brett Lawrence (Minnesota) and Hook (Oregon State) — who have gone on to stellar college wrestling careers with national championships and All-American honors.

“He’s incredible,” said Mike of Casey. “He’s the hardest working kid I’ve coached. He might not be as athletic as Jake Rosholt or Tony Hook, but it’s about hard work and that internal drive. He’s awake at 4:50 a.m. and at the club by 5. For me, it’s been a real blessing because he’s so competitive. He’s one of those kids that’s up five days a week at 4:50 and training. Not once in the years I’ve been coaching him have I had to tell him to pick it up. If anything, I’ve had to pump the brakes and let him have a little bit of a childhood.”

For now, Casey Randles appears full steam ahead for a third straight individual title.