Ziebel moves up to head Tigercat football

LaCrosse/Washtucna football coach for next season will be Justin Ziebel of Ritzville. He served as assistant coach under Jeff Nelson last year with the Tigercats.

Nelson decided to step down from coaching the Tigercats after 19 years of heading the football program. The stint included five state eight-man titles and a state record string of football wins over four-plus title years.

Ziebel last year commuted south from Ritzville to Washtucna or LaCrosse to assist with Tigercat practices. He is employed by the City of Ritzville, and an early shift there allowed him time to hit the road south and convert to a coaching mode.

Tigercats practices alternate from week to week between Washtucna and LaCrosse. Ziebel noted the commute from his home totaled 28 miles to Washtucna and about 52 miles to LaCrosse.

Ziebel attended junior high and high school at Ritzville and graduated with the class of 2000. He played on the Bronco football and wrestling teams under Coach Mike Lynch.

He played tight end and defensive end for the grid team, and wrestled in the lightweight classes for most of his high school career.

"I really didn’t grow much in high school until the last year," he noted. In his final year of wrestling he competed in the 171- pound class.

Last fall Ziebel was part of a Tigercat run which saw L/W advance through the first round of the playoffs. They defeated Almira/Coulee/ Hartline in the first round and were then stopped by the eventual state champions, the Liberty Christian Patriots.

The Pats also defeated the Tigercats in the league round as part of their strong campaign in the SE Eights last year.

Ziebel’s assistants for this coming season will be Sawyer Hostetler and Seth Weekes.

Hostetler wrapped up a career as a running back with the Tigercats last season and graduated with this year’s class at Washtucna. He plans to help coach next fall for the Tigercats before embarking in a career with the military.

Weekes played as a lineman for the Tigercats and was a member of the 2009 class at LaCrosse. He is now farming with his family.

Ziebel said he looks forward to coaching the team in the upcoming season. He expects about 20 recruits will hit the turf for the Tigercats when practice season starts the third week of August.