Bentley Steps Down as Avery High School Director of Athletics

Avery High School Athletic Director Matthew Bentley has announced that he will not be returning in that capacity for the 2010-11 academic year. A replacement for Bentley has not been named at this time.

Bentley, who with his wife Penny just recently celebrated the birth of their third child, hopes to continue to work in Avery County as a principal in one of the schools within the county system.

“The average life span for an athletic director in this state is two and a half years, so I’m well over my life expectancy,” Bentley joked from his office during an interview last week.

During last week’s athletic awards ceremony held at Avery High School, Bentley’s longtime friend and wrestling supporter B.J. Beuttell arranged for a special presentation to be made to the former Vikings head wrestling coach. Matthew’s former coach at Avery, Hank Hardin, as well as several wrestlers who were students while Matthew himself served as head coach of the program, returned to Viking Gym to take part in the ceremony and present a couple of gifts to Bentley and his family.

“There is no one I would rather have speak to me than Hank Hardin. He means the world to me and he is awesome. I hope that I was as good a coach as he was,” Bentley said of the gesture. “It came as a total surprise to me. I had really hoped that I would just fade off into the sunset.”

Although the job often demands long hours and many stressful facets, Bentley admits that there will be a number of things he will miss about the position.

“I will miss the relationships I’ve built. I miss the competition back from when I coached wrestling, but it’s the relationships with the coaches and the students that I find I miss more than anything else in the world,” Bentley said. “Those former wrestlers I worked with who still come back or call me and stay in touch. Eight of my former wrestlers wrestled in Division I and some of them are now coaching. I miss those relationships with the wrestlers as much or more than anything else.”

Bentley was also quick to thank those in the community who have been supportive to him during his tenure working in athletics for the Vikings.

“I want to say a special thank-you to Jim Greene. He is an awesome man, and what he means to me and Avery athletics, I can’t put into words. He’s just a good man and is an awesome guy to talk to,” Bentley stated.

Many thanks to Coach Bentley for his service to Avery High School athletics, and best wishes in the future.