Locked in a fierce battle, bodies smack against the rubber mat, as encouragement is offered to the two high school wrestlers, each looking to best their opponent and bring their team closer to victory. 

First year Bowie head coach Tyson Dobinsky commands his team from the bench, instructing the Bowie wrestlers and willing them to success. 

From rival to ruler, Dobinsky arrived from cross-town high school, Westlake, replacing Glen Lewis as Bowie’s wrestling head coach at the start of the 2021-2022 school year. Dobinsky looks to build the Bowie wrestling squad into one of the most prominent in the state, but he also understands the importance of his athletes’ development.

“Winning is at the end of their career,” Dobinsky said. “Winning is the discipline that they get from wrestling, that they carry forward into their studies that they carry forward into, their college, or their employment, their families. Those things are the winning.”

As a coach, Dobinsky is very involved with his student-athletes, making sure each wrestler is successful in all aspects of school and the sport of wrestling. In his time at Bowie, Dobinsky has developed several relationships beyond just being a coach.

“I look forward to building those relationships where, yeah, it’s about wrestling, but it’s also what they’re doing in life, and how they’re doing,” Dobinsky said. “Those things are important to me, making sure they’re taking care of their academics, and that they’re preparing themselves so that they can be a really successful adult.”

Sharpening his coaching skills as an assistant at Westlake High School for the past five years, Dobinsky was already familiar with many of the Bowie wrestlers. Senior varsity wrestler Joshua Moreno has encountered Bowie’s newest coach throughout his polished high school career. 

“I have watched him after matches where I had just finished my match and he was off coaching his students, individually critiquing them so they can do better next time,” Moreno said. “That type of ability as a coach has definitely strengthened my respect for him.”

A confident presence on the bench, Dobinsky constantly works to improve the character, skill, and athleticism of his subjects, making sure they make the best of their potential. In the short time they have worked together, Moreno appreciated Dobinsky’s efforts to help his personal development.

“Coach Dobinsky focuses on the smallest details, analyzing every single member’s skill and is able to guide us in the right direction to perfect our own craft,” Moreno said. “He represents Bowie as a whole with class and confidence. He is always looking out for everyone, and will always help, even if you are a total stranger.”

Dobinsky’s impact has been instant, specifically on many of the less experienced underclassmen. Readily accepting the new head coach, sophomore Cooper Fike has taken notice of the effect of Dobinsky’s arrival.  

“Coach Dobinsky has had a major effect on me as a wrestler and person by changing my attitude and outlook on things,” Fike said. “Wrestling is a sport of what you put in, you get out of it and he pushes me mentally and physically.” 

As a first-year head coach, expectations are high for the future. Dobinsky envisions the Bowie wrestling team as a state contending program, and he has made that clear to all of the Bowie wrestlers.

“Coach Dobinsky has really brought a change of tempo to Bowie Wrestling,” Moreno said. “He has changed our belief as a team; he has helped our newer members focus on a goal and demonstrate what they need to do to accomplish that goal.”

Accepting the role as the head coach of the Bowie wrestling team, Dobinsky teaches both boys and girls in the art of wrestling. An ever-growing sport, compounded with girls’ wrestling individual excellence at Bowie, offers a sturdy base for Dobinsky to build upon. 

“I would really like to work on recruiting and growing our girls wrestling team,” Dobinsky said. “It is the fastest growing scholarship sport in women’s college athletics, with universities like Iowa and Oklahoma State adding it this year. So, there is an absolute opportunity for our girls here at Bowie.” 

A physically demanding sport, the will of each student-athlete is tested in wrestling. Mentally, Dobinsky preaches persistence, accepting nothing less than his team’s best effort. 

“And so, it builds that character, that toughness,” Dobinsky said. “You have two choices: you can quit, or you can push through and get better at that point.”

A duel between two athletes, wrestling packages immense personal responsibility. Dobinsky mentions the power each of his athletes hold, guiding them to apply what they have learned through wrestling into becoming a young adult.

“I think mentally, if they’re growing and developing the discipline, wrestling teaches you,” Dobinsky said. “It’s only you, you make it, you make a mistake, and you pay the consequences right there. And so just understanding that, that culpability, that you’re culpable for everything that happens out there. That’s powerful.”