photo by: Kim North

Wheeling Nailers forward Matt Koopman has teammate Jaxon Castor on his shoulders during a firemen’s drill while running 1,200 meters Monday morning as the team worked out with the U.S. Air Force Special Warfare Unit at Sonneborn Shelter atop Wheeling Park. Also pictured are Air Force Master Sgt. John Neidrick, left, and the Nailers’ Matthew Quercia.

The 26 members of the Wheeling Nailers training camp roster got quite a workout Monday morning.

Instead of hitting the ice, the team traveled to Wheeling Park’s Sonneborn Shelter and met with U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. John Neidrick, who put them through a John Chapman Memorial workout.

According to Neidrick, Chapman was an Air Force combat controller who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on Aug. 22 for his actions in the Battle of Takur Ghar during the war in Afghanistan. He was the first airman to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. His actions saved the lives of 23 comrades.

“The Nailers have been great in reaching out to our local Air Force recruiters, and I am an Air Force Special Warfare scout,” Neidrick said. “I think this is the fourth straight year the team has come to work out with us. My job is a combat controller, and I’m also a talent scout in charge of finding our next generation of Special Warfare fighters.

“The Nailers wanted us to put on a team building workout. Our local recruiting office called me and asked if I’d be interested in sharing a workout with the team,” he continued.

The team was broken down into four groups of five players, with a fifth group having six including Nailers head coach Derek Army.

Prior to the workout, the players did some stretching drills and then took off on a 1,200-meter run around the soccer field at the shelter. They followed that with 100 pushups, 25 broad jumps or squats and 100 situps.

They repeated this twice before engaging in a fireman’s carry drill for the 1,200 meters.

The Nailers will hit the ice today at 10 a.m. as training camp continues.