Coaches

Coach Tom Arlis has returned to the Head Coach position for the 2024-25 Season after serving on the staff as an assistant since the end of his previous stint in this position in 2010. Tom is a legend among Illinois wrestling coaches. A graduate of Montini High School, and state qualifier, he wrestled collegiately at Western Illinois qualifying for the NCAA championships. He coached for over a decade at Naperville North High School during which time he trained multiple individual State champions. He co-founded the Batavia Wrestling Club when his sons entered the sport, and returned to Batavia in 2003 as Head Coach of Batavia High School.  During his tenure, he recorded over 100 dual meet wins and a final eight finish in the team State tournament. Tom has been recognized for his contributions to Illinois wrestling with induction into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame.  He is a retired teacher and lives in Batavia with his wife Jamie.

Coach Scott Bayer is in his third year as head coach of the girls wrestling team after serving a very successful nine years as head coach of the boys team and seven years as an assistant coach. Prior to joining the Bulldogs, he had coaching stints at Lane Tech and collegiately at North Central College in Naperville.  Competitively, Coach Bayer wrestled for Coach Mike Olson at Monmouth College (NCAA, Division III).  While at Monmouth, he was a 2-year team captain and Most-Valuable-Wrestler, an NCAA All-American in 1998, a two-time NCAA Qualifier (1997 & 1998) and a Midwest Conference Champion (1997), all in the 275-pound weight class.  He currently holds the Monmouth College single-season win record (40).  In high school, he was a IHSA state-qualifier at Hoffman Estates High School.  He currently teaches History at Batavia High School and lives in Batavia with his wife Julie.

  Coach Rick Miller returns to Batavia Wrestling for his ninth year having served in numerous capacities during his tenure.  Previously, Coach Miller had been the head coach at Oswego (2001-2005), Loyola Academy (1992-1999) and Gordon Tech (1986-87).  During his four-year coaching tenure, Coach Miller took his Oswego team from 2-20 to 15-7, led his Loyola program to produce an IHSA Regional Championship with a record 11 IHSA Sectional qualifiers in a season, and  coaching his team to a Chicago Catholic League Championship at Gordon Tech, he was named Outstanding Coach in the CCL.  Competitively, Coach Miller was 3x NCAA Division III national qualifier for Cornell College, a 2x team captain and Most-Valuable-Wrestler, and in his final year he was the recipient of Cornell College’s “Outstanding Senior Athlete” award.  Rick currently works as a Permanent Substitute teacher at Batavia High School and lives in Batavia with his wife Heather.

  Coach Alvarado has coached at Batavia  since 2016 and serves on the Board of the Batavia Wrestling Club.  He was a state qualifier at East Leyden High School and a member of the wrestling program, at Illinois State University until the school cut the sport. He proceeded to join the United States Marine Corps where he served two of his four years in the Middle East.  After an honorable discharge, Coach Alvarado returned to Illinois State and earned a B.A. in Criminal Justice and minor in Spanish. To date, Coach Alvarado continues his career in public service with the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) where he is a Senior Operations Officer within the Disaster Response Division. He enjoys to golf and spending time with his wife, Cindy, and three boys: Daniel, Adrian, and Julian.

Coach Arlis is in his sixth year as a coach at Batavia, but as one of  the most decorated wrestlers in program history, is a very familiar face in the wrestling room,  A product of the Batavia Pinners and Rotolo Middle School, he was a four year Varsity letterman, three time state qualifier and two time state placer.  He went on to wrestle at the University of Illinois where he earned a degree in business

Coach Posledni is in his third year coaching at Batavia, but is well known to the program and community.  He was a four year varsity starter at Batavia and team captain his senior year and holds the single season record for pins.  He also represented Illinois at Fargo Nationals in Greco-Roman.  He enjoyed continued success collegiately at Grand Valley State, and was a three-time NCWA National Qualifier and an All-American in 2022.  He has coached previously at Myrmidon Training Systems and Batavia Wrestling Club.  He has a degree in Social Sciences and Secondary Education and is a Special Education teacher at Batavia High School.

Coach Winkle is in his third year coaching at Batavia, but is well known to the program and community.  He was a four year varsity starter at Batavia and team captain his junior and senior years.  He had 107 career wins and was a 3X All-Conference selection.  He also represented Illinois at Fargo Nationals in freestyle.  He enjoyed continued success collegiately at John Carroll University, winning two-thirds of his matches and was named a team captain and Academic All-Conference.  He has a degree in Adolescent/Young Adult Education and History and is a Business Education teacher at Batavia High School.