JOLIET – On one hand, Chuck Rumpf experienced some of the same types of experiences as many others before they landed their first head coaching job.

However, the 2001 Lincoln-Way graduate took a somewhat circuitous route in the coaching profession before accepting the spot to lead Joliet West's wrestling program.

Rumpf, who lost in overtime in the Class AA finals at 112 pounds in his last high school match, served as an assistant with five different programs during the past seven years before accepting a full-time teaching position along with the Tigers coaching job.

"I got hired in late May, and that was important for my athletic director because he wanted me to have the summer with the kids," Rumpf said. "He not only wanted me to meet them but also to run a successful summer program. We did two days a week of summer camp here, and on Tuesdays we went to the summer league. We had a good core group that showed up consistently, but it's tough in the summer because of football and jobs.

"I haven't met all of the kids yet, so I'm looking forward to meeting the rest when school starts. The ones who showed up in the summer are good-character kids, and that's fun when you get to coach wrestlers like that. Hopefully, you'll see kids here who set high goals for themselves and not only have the desire to win and, if they win, to do it with class."

The new Tigers coach, who succeeds Joey Benefiel and will teach photography, knows the area all too well after not only competing at a nearby school but also spending most of his years as an assistant coach with a variety of local programs.

"Because of my teaching position, I've had to coach in different places, and things have kind of come full circle," Rumpf said. "Joliet was the first district to hire me, and I coached a year here in 2007-08; and I got to work with coach (Mac) McLaughlin, which was a great opportunity, and I learned a lot from that.

"Obviously, you're going to learn more at each stop that you go to. Then I coached two years with Jack Young at Lincoln-Way North, which was a brand-new program, and that was another good experience. And then I spent a year coaching at Stagg and another coaching at Sandburg, where I was fortunate to be on staff when they won a state title. And then last year I was an assistant coach at Manteno."

Rumpf has learned a thing here or there from a number of longtime coaches during his travels. He competed for Mark Ruettiger and Tim Reilly in high school, with Pat O'Connell and McLaughlin at JT, Brian Jackson at Stagg and Eric Siebert and Mike Polz at Sandburg.

"Getting the opportunity to coach here six years ago, I kind of know about the history here," Rumpf said. "I was able to get a perspective on that from guys like Mac and Pat, who talked about the battles that they had with West and East. Those were exciting times for Joliet wrestling; and if we can work toward making it exciting here, that would be great.

"Some of the best teams in the state wrestle in this conference, so competing in it is very challenging. But the other side to that is that if you perform well in the conference, that will translate into having success in statewide competition. This is a great situation and place to be, and the teaching and coaching positions are just a dream come true."