By John RittenhouseThe 2005-06 winter sports season will bring two coaches to Luverne High School programs.Craig Schneider will be the fourth new head wrestling coach the program has seen in the past four years.Chris Medill will take over as the head boys’ hockey coach this winter.Schneider has been hired to replace Tim Homan, who headed the wrestling program for one year before resigning last spring.A sixth-grade social studies instructor from Wisconsin, Schneider can’t wait for the mats to be rolled out and practice to begin."I’m really excited about getting the season started," he said."This will be an educational year for myself and the kids. We’ll make some mistakes, but we’ll work to improve and let the chips fall where they may at the end of the year."Schneider, who served as the freshman coach in the LHS football program this fall, attended Brillion (Wis.) High School for his freshman through sophomore years, but he graduated from Hilbert High School in 1999.He attended Lawrence University for one year before spending the next three years at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he graduated in December of 2004.Schneider wrestled in high school and in college before a knee injury sidelined his college career.During his college days, Schneider served as volunteer assistant coach with the Hilbert High School program. He also was the head coach for La Crosse’s Park and Recreation youth wrestling program.Luverne offered Schneider his first full-time teaching position. He served as a long-term substitute teacher for the Port Edward (Wis.) School District last spring.Prior to taking the job, Schneider was made aware of the dwindling numbers that hampered the LHS wrestling program in recent years. Still, he accepted the job with no hesitation."That’s part of the challenge," he said."I want to see if we can increase the numbers in the program and see the wrestlers experience success on and off the mat.""It will take a while," Schneider continued."It will take a commitment not only from myself, but all of those who help out by volunteering their time to the youth program in Luverne. I want to rebuild the program to the way it once was."In Medill, the boys’ hockey program gets a coach with past playing experience in Luverne.Medill replaces Nick Nafziger, who resigned from his head coaching position after a two-year stint in September.A 1994 LHS graduate, Medill played goalie for Luverne’s Junior Gold team before the Cards joined the Minnesota State High School League in the late 1990s.Medill, who said he skated in Luverne’s hockey program since he was six years old, played one year of Junior B hockey for a team based in South St. Paul after high school.He also played club hockey for three years at Northern State University, Aberdeen, S.D.Medill moved to Sioux Falls in 2001, where he started a business (Medill Plaster & Drywall) with his father, Tim Medill. Tim Medill was one of two coaches Chris played for during his days as a Junior Gold player.Luverne’s new coach said he served as an assistant coach in the lower level of the local hockey program for one year. When he discovered the head coaching position in Luverne was open on the MSHSL’s Web site in September, he decided to throw his hat into the ring of consideration."I wanted to get involved in the program again ever since I moved back to this area," Medill said."I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. When I noticed there was an (coaching) opening here the last time, I wasn’t sure I was going to stay in this area, so I didn’t consider it. Now I know I’m not going anywhere else, so I decided to try it."Medill will be living a dream when the Cardinals take the ice for the first time Nov. 26 in Mankato.As a Junior Gold skater, Medill and his teammates considered playing high school hockey in Minnesota as being the ultimate experience."I remember being excited when I heard Luverne was getting a high school program. I know things have gone down hill since then. Hopefully, we can do something about that," he said.Medill has been precise in his preparation for the season, carefully jotting down his drills in a practice plan for the first six weeks of the season.The coach will instruct the players on the game’s fundamentals, while placing an emphasis on scoring by taking advantage of opportunities."It’s hard to put a label on the type of game we’ll play," he said."I have an idea how I want the kids to play, but it’s hard to place an offensive or defensive identity on the style we’ll be playing. We’ll try to take advantage of all the situations we face," he concluded.