Chinook's Hinebauch to coach GFCC wrestling

Former Chinook High School state wrestling champion Eric Hinebauch has a new gig. On Monday, Hinebauch was announced as Great Falls Central Catholic’s first wrestling coach.

GFCC will begin competing in Class C wrestling next season, and the school hired Hinebauch, who wrestled collegiately for the University of Great Falls, and is currently an assistant to former Havre Blue Pony Erin Jensen at CMR, to build the new program.

"I'm a (Class) B-C guy, grew up in that realm, so I thought this would be a fun undertaking," Hinebauch told the Great Falls Tribune on Monday.

Hinebauch is the oldest of the famed Hinebauch wrestling brothers. He won a state championship his senior year at Chinook wrestling for famed Sugarbeeter head coach Perry Miller, before watching younger brothers Evan, Ethan and Eli win state championships with the Havre High wrestling program. While Eric then took his talents to Great Falls, all three of his brothers wound up signing with the Montana State University-Northern Lights, where Evan won a national title and was a four-time All-American, and Ethan is a senior this season. Eli was never able to compete for the Lights after suffering a career-ending injury.

The new job will be a challenge for the eldest Hinebauch. GFCC currently has five under classmen who have expressed interest in the growing school’s new wrestling program. The school also announced Monday it will add tennis next season, and is planning to build a new health and wellness facility.

"Once the CMR season ends, I hope to do some open gym-type stuff with the interested kids," he said. "And then, if everybody's ready to go, we might to do some camps and stuff."