The name at the top of the roster for the Oak Harbor High School wrestling program is different, but the central principles of the team remain the same.

Larry Falcon, an assistant at OHHS since 2003, begins his first year as the head coach when the Wildcats hit the mat room Monday for the first practice of the season.

Falcon takes over for Peter Esvelt, who coached for two years after replacing Mike Crebbin.

Through the changes, the team motto “Cor Aut Mors” (Heart or Death) has remained the same.

“We run a program here that has all the elements of all the great programs in the nation,” Falcon said.

“As Oak Harbor High School wrestling is concerned, we all believe in our motto and our core covenants: leadership, loyalty, competition and integrity. Without these fundamental elements, we would just be another team.”

The coaching staff teaches its athletes to “give your heart to your (immediate) family first, wrestling family and yourself above all else,” Falcon said.

Falcon will continue this tradition because believes it is the “foundation of a great person.”

“I hope to grow leaders that are loyal to others and themselves, that will compete for what they want or what they believe in or what is right and just, and do so with integrity,” he said. “There is nothing that I would change in our program as I believe in what we have created from the start.”

Falcon grew up in Bonners Ferry, Ida., attended Lewis-Clark College and did his graduate work at the University of Idaho and Seattle Pacific University. He has taught school in Idaho, New Mexico and Oak Harbor.

After wrestling in high school, Falcon returned during weekends and college breaks to help coach at his alma mater.

Once he started teaching, he helped with club wrestling and later joined the Oak Harbor High School staff in 2003 as an assistant for then head coach Brian Farmer.

While coaching with Crebbin, Falcon helped initiate the girls wrestling program: “It was a small and grassroots movement that was challenging to get started.”

Under the direction of Falcon, the Wildcat girls produced numerous state qualifiers and several college wrestlers.

“Wrestling is one of those sports that shows you who you are,” he said. “Even more important than the wins and losses, cheers and tears, which the sport brings out, it is the process of reaching that point that will remain with you for a lifetime.

“There is no other sport that I have coached that exemplifies the qualities we as a society desire in each other.”

His passion for wrestling was fostered by his high school coach and developed while working with Farmer, Crebbin and Esvelt.

“I want to continue the great tradition that Oak Harbor wrestling has become in our community and continue to be the sport that promotes great athletes and people,” Falcon said. “I love this sport, all it has given to me, and I want to be able to provide that to any and all athletes in our program and school.”