TORRINGTON – Jared Hatley is no stranger to the Torrington High School wrestling scene.
He is a former four-time state champion (2005-08) sporting a 160-6 record and has been an assistant coach under Doyle Meyer for the past two seasons.
On June 4, THS athletic director Dave Plendl made it official that Hatley will be the next head coach for the Blazer wrestling program, taking over for the Doyle Meyer, who retired at the following the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.
“I’m excited. We are getting a fresh start,” Hatley said. “This is about as good as it gets in some respects because we are going to get to take the program on with a young team and basically, it’s a clean slate.”
Hatley will be brining on Cody Grant, another four-time state champion (2001-04) and THS graduate, to help.
“We’ve got a lot to get done,” Hatley said. “Cody Grant and I have a pretty big to-do list before the season gets started.”
Hatley admitted the duo doesn’t have much experience from a coaching perspective, knowing he has big shoes to fill.
“Coach Meyer, he was the longest running coach in Torrington’s history. We are going to have big shoes to fill,” Hatley said. “There is a lot of time and experience that Cody and I aren’t bringing to the table as coaches. We are going to have to learn at a rapid pace, just as our athletes are. It’s refreshing in a way since we get to start with a clean slate.”
With the fresh start and a young squad, the new head coach expects his team to move forward at a quick pace.
“I expect us to move forward pretty rapidly and see a ton of progress in a short amount of time,” Hatley said. “Hopefully, we can change the culture back to when Cody and I were in school.”
During the eight-year span when Hatley and Grant wrestled for Torrington, the Blazers won two state championships, finished runner-up four times and placed fourth on two occasions.
“Coach Meyer did a great job of helping me out those last two years and pushing me in the right direction and showing me the way he’s done things. It’s given me the opportunity to develop my own ideas and principals that I think will help make our team successful,” Hatley said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity. Our program’s future is bright, and I expect our program to progress rapidly. I expect big things to happen quickly.”
