Posted: Feb. 2, 2010

Germantown — Standing on the Germantown mats where he worked as coach for more than 20 years, surrounded by 33 alumni of the Warhawks program, Homestead wrestling coach Barry Bernstein had a hard time answering the question "How does it feel to be back in the old gym?"

So after several long seconds, he handed off the query to one of his senior wrestlers, 215-pounder Ryan Greve, to explain what it had been like for the former Germantown coach in preparing for this dual meet, which the Highlanders lost to the Warhawks, 54-21, on Jan. 28.

"It doesn't involve hatred or revenge or anything like that," said Greve, who won his match on a pin. "We didn't come here to beat them up. He just wanted us to do our best. The whole week was really hectic for him, knowing all the alumni who would be coming in to watch. He told us that he would be talking to a lot of people (from Germantown), but not to think that he didn't want us to give anything less than our best.

"He couldn't ignore those people, but he didn't let it affect the way he coached us tonight," Greve said.

And one couldn't blame Bernstein for feeling a touch conflicted. He's coached at Whitefish Bay, Germantown and Homestead in the North Shore Conference for more than three decades, but Germantown was the place he called home for most of that time, serving as an assistant principal for many years before retiring a few years ago.

And even though Germantown coach Casey Gabrielson is as competitive as the man who helped him to state about a decade ago, he wanted Bernstein to feel welcome on this alumni and senior night for the Warhawks, their last home varsity event of the season.

"I know it's a little hard for him but we both have fun with it," said Gabrielson. "To have as many alumni sign in as we did was just amazing. It shows that our tradition is coming back."

Bernstein was not disappointed with his team's effort before his old fans and alumni. The Highlanders were shorthanded due to illness and other commitments. He is very proud of the work that Gabrielson has done in his first year.

"We had some guys sick, but that wasn't the story tonight," Bernstein said. "They (the Warhawks) just had a better team. Casey has done a wonderful job here."

Gabrielson was proud of his team, too. After injuries and illnesses had slowed it for the first half of the season, he said he had his full varsity lineup out there for the first time this winter.

Germantown improved to 5-1 in league duals. The North Shore Tournament will be at Cedarburg at 9 a.m. Saturday. Port Washington will be the favorite.