Every year upon returning from Fargo, I find myself reflecting on Team Kansas' performance. I have been blessed to make the trip for the 5th straight year. I wanted to give credit to some very special people who donate countless hours to the olympic styles and our young wrestlers.

I’ll begin with what I believe is the most important, the guys who work directly with our young wrestlers and run freestyle/greco workouts in their rooms. Thank you to Tyler Gonzales and David Nordhues in Colby, Danny Grater and Ross Taplin in Riley County/Abilene, Clint Syler and Adam Venegas with KCTC, Brett Fiene and Zac Poague in Andover/Wichita, Tim McCarthy in Manhattan, Jacob Beck in Bonner Springs, Travis Keal in Mill Valley, Cody Parks in Blue Valley, Bryce Bahe in Hays, Dennis Charbonneau in Emporia, Scott Reick in Pittsburg, and Charlie Knox in Wichita. I’m sure I missed many, and I apologize. These are the guys/clubs that put in the work and make our wrestlers successful.

A special thank you to Russ Hermreck, who oversees all of our Cadet and Junior teams. He does a ton of the behind the scenes work. It is a thankless job, and I appreciate you. Thank you to Tom Peterman, who I believe made his 11th straight Fargo trip, and really stepped up this year. Thank you to our dual team leaders, Tom Williams, Travis Keal, and Eric Johnson. Your organization of these events is critical to our success on the national level.

Thank you to Will Cokeley for heading up Southern Plains camp. He brought in a high profile Oklahoma State wrestler Alex Dieringer, who made a huge impact on our young wrestlers. Thank you to Eric Leudke for your organization and planning of the workouts. This camp is much improved from the last couple years, and should be an elite training prep for Southern Plains, Duals, and Fargo.

Thank you to the MAN, Mike Juby. Mike’s work for Kansas Wrestling is second to none. He does more for our state than most people realize, and I appreciate you. Thank you to Randy Hinderliter for your many years of educating our state’s coaches. Congratulations on your Educator of the Year award from USA Wrestling, well deserved.

A personal thank you to Dennis Charbonneau, our Fargo veteran. I am amazed by your wrestling and coaching knowledge, I learn something new every time I’m around you. I will never forget sitting in the corner with you when Brandon clinched his first AA status.

Finally, thank you to all the wrestlers who put in the spring/summer work and sacrifices you make. The guys who train year round are truly warriors. Congratulations to our 15 wrestlers who attained All-American status this year.

I feel truly blessed to know and interact with this great group of individuals. You are Team Kansas.

Brandon Jobe

Last edited by BJobe; 07/22/12 11:17 AM.