"He was a teacher first and then a coach and he understood kids and had a great passion for the sport and it rubbed off on the kids and they fed off his enthusiasm," Richardson said. "I've talked to a few candidates for the job but we still haven't decided who will replace him. Coaches like Marti are hard to replace."
After coaching varsity wrestling the past 34 years - including the last 32 at Byron - Swaziland Marti Covert has finally decided it's time to step down and enjoy the fruits of retirement
WRESTLING: ‘Institution' retires
Caption: Marti Covert center, is flanked by his Byron wresling assistant coaches Terry Drury, left, and Mark Schaefer. The photo was snapped during the 2009-10 season. Covert has decided to step down after 32 years as the Eagles' varsity head wrestling coach.
Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 12:00 pm | Updated: 2:43 pm, Thu Jul 8, 2010.
By JEROME MURPHY Argus-Press Sports Writer | 0 comments
BYRON - An era has ended in Byron High School wrestling.
After coaching varsity wrestling the past 34 years - including the last 32 at Byron - Marti Covert has finally decided it's time to step down and enjoy the fruits of retirement.
But if you think he's completely out of wrestling, think again.
Covert, a registered Michigan High School Athletic Association official for 37 years, will continue to stay active in that capacity.
"My intention is to officiate," Covert said. "It could still be a couple of nights a week. It could still be a Saturday, when I wanted to do a Saturday. But, hours-wise, I figure it will be about half as much time. It will still keep me busy and still keep me involved, still keep me physically active."
No successor to Covert has been announced, but Byron athletic director Dave Richardson said Covert is a Hall of Fame type coach who won't easily be replaced.
"He was a teacher first and then a coach and he understood kids and had a great passion for the sport and it rubbed off on the kids and they fed off his enthusiasm," Richardson said. "I've talked to a few candidates for the job but we still haven't decided who will replace him. Coaches like Marti are hard to replace."
Counting his two years at Redford Union High School in the mid 1970s, Covert's overall coaching record stands at 403-418-2.
He said that reaching 400 wins as a coach was an honor.
"It was a milestone," Covert said. "I remember I hit 300 at Mt. Morris while my kids were in college. And they actually drove down to Mt. Morris because it was an away meet. And my 400th was a league meet this past year."
Covert guided the Eagles to 14 district crowns and one regional title. Working under six principals and six athletic directors, Covert also coached 33 state medalists.
Varsity wrestling first started in Byron during the winter of 1974-75. Covert, one of only three varsity coaches the school has ever had, took over the Byron wrestling coaching reigns during the winter of 1978-79.
Covert said he coached two individual state champions during his stint at Byron: Jason Jarvinen in 1994 and Jason Adams in 1992.
"Jarvinen lost one match (in 1994)," Covert said. "He got pinned by Jason Pyles from Shepherd in the district finals. Pyles stood up, Jason grabbed him by the waist and pulled him back and knocked the wind out of himself and the guy landed on him. He pulled him over and pinned him. But Jason came back and beat him in the finals of the regionals."
The same winter, Byron posted a 21-8 campaign, winning the school's first-ever team regional wrestling title.
Anchored by Jarvinen at heavyweight, Byron downed Clinton in the Class C regional semifinals 48-15 and then topped Leslie 38-22 in the regional finals. But New Lothrop then defeated Byron in the state quarterfinals 35-24. The Hornets, under coach John Quaderer, went on to the Class C-D state title that year.
"We had already lost to them (the Hornets) in the league meet," Covert said. "We didn't match up against each other in the districts or the regionals. But in the quarterfinals, we were the only ones who came close. We gave them a run for their money that year."
Adams, a 135-pound senior back in 1992, had just two losses during his state championship run.
Covert took Byron to the regional finals six times and one particular match was the most exciting of all. It came four years ago.
"Probably the most exciting one of those was when we wrestled at Ithaca," Covert said. "We beat Ithaca by seven in the first round of regionals. And Springport had shut out Saranac 84-0 and that's who we had in the final. Then we lost on the seventh tiebreaker, 36-36, to Springport."
Covert also retired from the classroom at the end of the 2009-10 school year. The Fenton resident taught 30 years of math at Byron High School and two at the middle school.
Covert has also served on several high school wrestling boards. He has served on the Michigan High School Coaches Association board for five years and will begin serving a stint as the MHSCA president in September. He's currently vice president of the MHSCA.
He's also served on the Michigan Wrestling Association board for 15 years, including two as president and has been a National Wrestling Association state representative for three years.
Covert said he tried to teach his athletes much more than just wrestling skills.
"As I would tell my kids, No. 1 is family, No. 2 is your education and No. 3 is athletics," Covert said. "I tried to teach them a lot of life lessons because you're not going to win them all. But you have to look in the mirror and say I did the best I could."
Covert said he's had plenty of support from his wrestlers and fellow coaches.
"I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I've had the same assistant coach for 28 years - Mark Schaefer," Covert said. "He wrestled for me four years and then came back every year after that. The other assistant was Terry Drury. And he was the middle school coach 'til they canceled the middle school program. He was there nine years."
Covert graduated from Fenton High School in 1969. He wrestled three years under MHSCA Hall of Fame coach Duane Wohlfert.
He also wrestled one year at Central Michigan University under Chick Sherwood.
After graduating from Central in 1972, he taught in Bad Axe before joining the Peace Corps and teaching math in Swaziland, South Africa for more than two years, from October 1973 to December 1975.
Covert and his wife of 31 years, Chris, have two daughters - Kara, age 29, a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and Kathryn, 27, who works in public relations in D.C. as well. Both live in Virginia.
