Fontainebleau High School’s Bulldog wrestling team began its 14th season Nov. 1 at the Black and Red intra-squad scrimmage under new head coach Rick Zimmer.

The scrimmage was held in the school’s gym followed by a dinner for the wrestlers and their families in the cafeteria. All wrestlers were given the opportunity to showcase their wrestling skills in front of family and friends during the 25 matches that were scheduled.

Leading the Bulldogs this season, Zimmer was awarded the head coaching position at the end of last school year when then head coach Paul Beebe accepted the head football coaching position at Live Oak High School after four years leading the Bulldog wrestling team.

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Zimmer is only the third wrestling head coach at Fontainebleau, with Steve Soileau, who started the wrestling program in 1994, being the first head coach.

According to Zimmer, this season will be exciting for the Bulldog wrestling family because of the age of his kids.

“With only two seniors on this year’s squad, some of the younger kids are going to have to step up and fill in some slots. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see which of our newer wrestlers do that,” said Zimmer.

He also stressed that a tougher schedule this year will put more pressure on his younger athletes to perform earlier in the season. There have been some changes to the program with Zimmer in his new role.

Each wrestler now must sign a contract with his coach and family committing to follow strict team rules.

“Wrestling is a great sport, but what this is really about is preparing kids for the real world. Hard work and dedication will pay off in the long run. These kids learn that in wrestling. Most of them find out they can do things they never thought possible both physically and mentally,” said Zimmer.

Another change is that the wrestlers attended a weekend long camp recently. Team building and leadership training were major parts of the camp, not just wrestling technique. Zimmer said his goal is to continue to grow the wrestling program at Fontainebleau.

“I have the pleasure to work at a great school with a supportive administration. In my role as a special education teacher and as a wrestling coach, I want to do my best. That means I need to give these kids the chance to grow to their potential,” said Zimmer.

This is not Zimmer’s first stint as a head coach. He has coached wrestling since 1995, starting as an assistant coach at Andrew Jackson High School in Chalmette. Zimmer took over the reins as head coach at Andrew Jackson during the 1998 season, leading them until 2005. For the 2006 season, he became an assistant coach at Fontainebleau.

Zimmer began wrestling as a member of Holy Cross High School’s wrestling team, which won two state championships during his wrestling career. He is also currently a USA Wrestling Silver Certified coach and Membership Director/Treasurer for USA Wrestling in Louisiana.