By Andy Walter

CAMDEN — Dan Rigby is only 34 years old.

But he’s been involved in wrestling since before he was in high school.
So, after 17 seasons as a high school coach — including 12 as a head coach — Rigby thought it was time to see what it was like doing something different.

On Monday, Rigby told his Caesar Rodney High wrestlers that he would not be returning as the Riders’ coach.

“I don’t know what a wrestling season without coaching wrestling is going to look like,” said Rigby. “I don’t know what the future holds for me. It’s kind of exciting and kind of scary at the same time.

“But I like to travel, I like to live life. I want to try that stuff a little bit and then see what happens.”

In seven seasons coaching at his alma mater, Rigby took the Riders to the DIAA Division I dual-meet state finals three times, winning the title in 2018. He also led Milford to back-to-back Division II state crowns (2015-16) in his five seasons as the Buccaneers’ head coach.

This winter, CR reached the Division I state finals and won the Henlopen Conference tournament title.

Rigby said he made up his mind to step down earlier in the season. The fact that the Riders had a successful campaign made it that much easier.

“As the season progressed, my girlfriend and my family kept saying, ‘You’re going to change your mind,’” said Rigby. “But I kept getting closer with this team and the team kept getting closer and closer together. We ended up making it to the state finals and winning the Henlopen Conference tournament.

“I knew this was the group I wanted to go out with. I wanted to go out on my own terms on a really positive note. I know that I made the right decision.”

The Riders had only six seniors on this year’s squad. They also had 64 wrestlers in the program, including a growing number of female wrestlers taking up the sport.

Rigby, who first became a head coach when he was only 22, said coaching any high school sport is more or less a year-round job now and it gets draining after a while.

A physical education teacher at CR, Rigby said he’s proud of what his teams accomplished over the years and the adults that his wrestlers became. At the end of the day, though, he said he knew he wanted to see what it was like not being a coach.

Telling his wrestlers, though, wasn’t easy.

“It was a little bit tougher than I thought it was going to be,” said Rigby. “I’m ‘Mr. anti-emotion’ and I’m talking to these guys and I see some heads go down. I’m like, where’s this cracking in my voice coming from.

“I think the part that gives me a lot of peace is that I have the ability to jump back into this, at some point, somewhere, if I decide I want to.”

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at @DSNSports.