Chad Ansbaugh steps down, will coach girls hoops

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

St. Cloud High has a new athletic director, Matt Milton, after Chad Ansbaugh stepped down two weeks ago.

Milton, 30, who was a dean at the high school, has been the Bulldogs wrestling coach the past four seasons and the boys golf coach for two years. He coached Frank Cousins Jr. to consecutive state wrestling championships in 2009-10.

Milton, at the school for six years, will retain his job as the Bulldogs wrestling coach, but he will not keep the dean position or the boys golf job.

“We have great kids here at St. Cloud. I was told before I got here about the St. Cloud kids, the way they are, and you really see it once you have a chance to work with them,” Milton said. “The athletes here as a whole are willing to give everything they have to the program. I feel fortunate to be at St. Cloud High. I’m very happy to be here. I have no plans to go anywhere else.”

Milton was appointed by the school’s new principal, Virginia Costa.

Ansbaugh, a former Bulldog athlete, was the athletic director for two years and oversaw the opening of the school’s new gymnasium.

He also guided the program through a tumultuous period where the Bulldogs went through three football coaches over the span of seven months. The school was fined and forced to forfeit two football games last season when former Coach Bill Buldini provided housing to one of his football players.

Ansbaugh, who took a position at St. Cloud Middle School as a reading instructor, will remain as the Bulldogs’ girls basketball coach. He also is coaching freshman football.

“I told my (basketball players) that the only difference will be that I won’t be able to bother them at lunch,” Ansbaugh said. “The great thing is that I’m only 200 yards away, just across Michigan Avenue. I can walk over in no time.”

Ansbaugh said the relentless pressure of being an athletic director was taking a toll on his family life.

“There’s always something that happens, like a bus doesn’t show, or a coach is having a problem with something, or the lights won’t go on at one of the fields,” Ansbaugh said. “Now, I actually have a planning period. At 2:45, I can leave and go straight to practice and work with the kids. Teaching and coaching is what I love to do.”

Milton now inherits those problems.

“Yeah, longer days,” he said. “It was kind of bad timing when Chad left because it is so near when the school year begins, and I was concerned because we’ve had some things going on, getting things done the way we wanted them done, and Chad was the glue holding it all together. I’ve worked closely with Chad on a lot of things, we have a lot of the same ideas, so I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring.”

Milton said he doesn’t plan on many changes.

“Not really because, like I said, Chad and I think alike on most things,” Milton said. “About the only thing right now that I’ll work on is a program for our freshman athletes. We lose a lot of them to grades, so I’m going to put in some type of study program for them. For a lot of them, the problem is learning life skills, organizational skills, so maybe we can help them with that. The coaches might not have them for the first 45 minutes of practice, but they are the future of the program and we have to take care of them.”

Ansbaugh said he will assist the new AD whenever he can.

“I like the coaching staff we’ve put together here; they are my friends,” Ansbaugh said.

Celebration High recently named Chris Lavoie as its athletic director.

Lavoie replaces John Bangley, who stepped down this summer.