I would like to be the first to congratulate Brian Shelton (Valley Center), Mike Chruch (Wichita South), Rick Rivera (Andale) and Brock Hutchinson (Smith Center) on being Coach of the Year in their respective classes.
Having coached against three of these guys this year (we see Valley Center 6 times and Wichtia South 7 times a year) I have the deepest respect for them. Coach Shelton can break down an opponent and discover a way to exploit their weaknesses better than any coach I have ever been assoicated with. You may beat one of his guys the first time but after that it is going to be a dog fight every time.
Coach Chruch, following in the Nigg tradition, gets more out of guys who have never wrestled then almost anyone. This year at state was a perfect example of what he can do with athletes who have never wrestled before high school.
Coach Rivera developed a dominate team this year keeping them preforming at a high level week after week.
I have never met or coached against Brock Hutchinson but congrats to him. They did a great job at state rising to the challenge.
For a full list of KWCA award winners go to:
http://www.holton.k12.ks.us/tech/kwca0506.pdf Also congrats to my assistants Joaquin Zapata and Kevin Knapp (Bishop Carroll) on being 5A assistant coaches of the year. We would not be the same successful team without them and I would not survive a season without them.
