Duane Day has come out of retirement to work with his son.

Day retired from coaching after the 1997-98 season. His career included six seasons at Fort Cherry High School, where he led the Rangers to a WPIAL title in 1986. He also won five Virginia state titles while coaching at Poquoson High School.

"I never dreamed I would be coaching again, especially with my son," Day said. "I've learned not to take anything for granted in life and I certainly wasn't going to turn down this offer."

When Day's son, Chris, was hired as interim head coach at Burgettstown High School, the first person he asked to join his coaching staff was his father.

"It's an honor for me to be coaching with my son," Duane Day said. "It's even more of an honor to have him want to coach with me. My wife has been itching to get me back into coaching. She thinks I'm too good to stay out."

Burgettstown is off to a 3-5 start with the Day coaching combo, but three of the losses were to WPIAL Class AAA playoff teams, while the other two were to PIAA Class AA playoff qualifiers.

"We have a very young team with a lot of sophomores in the lineup," Duane Day said. "And we're kind of banged up."

Burgettstown opened its season with a pair of victories against West Greene, 47-19, and South Side Beaver, 36-30. Next on the Blue Devils schedule was an appearance at the Derry Duals, a team tournament featuring five teams that qualified for the WPIAL team tournament last year and one of the top teams from District 10.

Burgettstown was defeated by all five opponents -- Derry Area, 71-9, Latrobe, 64-12, North Allegeny, 48-25, Fort LeBoeuf, 46-27, and Shady Side Academy, 57-24.

"This is the second year of the Derry Duals," Chris Day said. "We also participated last year and had one win. I wasn't familiar with some of the teams, but I knew [the Derry Duals] would be tough."

Day isn't bothered by the five early-season losses.

"I like wrestling good competition," Day said. "I don't see how we would benefit by going to a weaker tournament. You have to wrestle the best to beat the best."

Burgettstown registered its third victory on Wednesday with a 40-30 win against Freedom Area. The Blue Devils are now 2-0 in Section 1A.

"We still have Avella, Center and Fort Cherry in section matches, so we have a good chance of qualifying for the WPIAL team tournament," said Chris Day, who has taken over for 15-year coaching veteran Terry Havelka.

Burgettstown has one wrestler who has survived the stiff openening schedule without a loss. Ryan Watson, a 215-pound senior, is off to an 8-0 start, with seven pins.

"Ryan is a 215-pounder who likes to shoot for takedowns," Chris Day said. "You don't see that very often from a big guy. I'm eager to see how he does at the Powerade Tournament."

Burgettstown is one of 43 teams entered in the Powerade Christmas Tournament, which will take place Dec. 29-30 at Canon-McMillan.

"The Powerade Tournament is one of the top five tournaments in the country," Chris Day said. "We had one place-winner last year. We're hoping to have at least one again this year. Ryan came within one win of placing last year, so he should be seeded."

Other Blue Devils who have posted a .500-or-better record are: Tyler Rommes (4-3 at 103), Erich Openbrier (5-2 at 119), Mike Fleming (3-3 at 130), and Chris Bendrick (4-4 at 189).

Bryan Vallina, a 140-pound senior who has 51 career victories, is recovering from knee surgery.