I got to meet Coach Mike Church Jr. the other night and wanted to make a comment here. This young man has it together and the future for Wichita South High School is promising. I attended the JV meet at Derby with Goddard, South and Derby and was impressed with the number of wrestlers South had out. I heard a number of fans telling me that this was the most wrestlers they had seen in some time out for wrestling at South. Coach Church told me that helping coach football helped and I believe it to be true.
I live in and work in the community that South High serves. To have this many young men out for wrestling is one of the brightest things I have seen for our community in some time. You see the poverty level for individuals living in the South High community is above 70% and a very large number of young men and women do not graduate for high school. Wrestling will teach a discipline and an attitude that will give many of these individuals the chance to succeed.
Truth is, the JV squad is a little green this year. They have some work to do, but for those young men that stick it out they will win a lot more than a few wrestling matches, they will develop skills, and attitudes that will help carry them on in life. For those individuals, it can’t be mentioned enough at how important that is. The varsity program looks very tough and is highly underrated. They are a team to be reckoned with.
Coach Church, good luck this year, I personally look forward to seeing your long-term success to this program. Not only is it good for the sport, it is good for the community.
