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Time for a little sermon of good cheer.
Wrestling is a great sport and prior to the start of the season, I wanted to go out of my way to recognize the individuals that see the sport as an opportunity to not just develop fine young men and women, but also see the sport as an opportunity to develop the wrestling family.
Now I realize that there are many who still only see the sport for something that you can get out of it. For those just skip over this post and don’t read anything else. Truth is I personally believe there is a lot for those individuals to learn and am concerned as to whether they in actuality help the sport or hurt it. Some of those are obvious, others not quite so much because they are what is known of as instigators, they work behind the scenes and never in reality have much positive to say about anyone or anything. Often times those individuals are what we call two-faced, nice to a persons face but breading negativity behind the scenes. They think that the populace don’t know them, but truth is the secrets they attempt to share often come back to bite them and truth is that far more people than they realize share the truth of what they say in secret. However, for those concerned with making the sport better, read on.
Now to the good, this post is somewhat dedicated to Randy Hinderliter’s signature; “Are you making a POSITIVE difference in the life of kids?”
For our family, wrestling is a long season, from the middle of September until the end of July. I have to first thank our home club, Derby. Are they perfect? No, but they are our home club. I greatly appreciate our head coach, Jeff Herrington. Every club needs to recognize the contributions their coaches and volunteers make. It is a shame that I see some getting burned out and leaving the sport, maybe a little more polite mannerisms will help, or a sincere thank you here and there.
There are others though, the “Wrestling Family.” Truth is that those who care about, and love the sport, go out of their way to help those in the sport. Despite disagreement on issues, or competition amongst teams, they realize that the sport is more than just “their club” or “their team.” Those individuals understand the concept of family. I could mention many names but will mention a few.
Smokey Cabin or Coach McCarthy is an example of that. While he lives in North East Kansas, he has gone out of his way to get to know me and my family, yet at the same time help us out. I have seen that though in various other ways with him. Like so many others, he is genuine about helping the sport and those involved. He loves the sport and those who have the honor of working with him are blessed.
Then there is Husker Fan or Vince Nowak. What this man is doing to promote the sport of wrestling in Kansas and develop college opportunities for our wrestlers is unheralded. He is another that has shown me from his actions that he is willing to make some sacrifice to not just help his club, but his sport.
Coach Taylor (both of them), Coach Knox, and the rest of the Hard Knox Team. Truth is that this is a competitive club. But the other truth is that I have seen and experienced them all going out of their way to cheer for, help, and encourage kids from various other clubs. When needing a place to practice, as any good athlete will need at times, they have always opened up their room to my family, and I know others. It is one reason that I consider my son as much a TOHK wrestler as I do a Derby Wrestler.
Ed & Jennifer Edison, Coach Ed and Ms. Jenni. Same concept, as the others. From helping develop women’s wrestling in our state, to genuinely helping other wrestlers by helping prior to the start of the season, especially for High School Wrestlers. They obviously love the sport, it is one of the reasons that Ms. Jenni is mom away from home for so many young men and women, including my own son.
Mike & Kathy Juby. I manage a couple of web sites, it takes time and effort. These two obviously have gone out of their way to promote the sport in Kansas, I don’t know if we as a community have ever really thanked them like we should. If you love the sport, and you love the forums, when you see them again, just tell them thank you. I know I will.
Aaron Sweazy, the Swayz. Truth is that while some have talked about this man behind his back, I know because some have had the audacity to say things to me. If 1/10th of the wrestling community in Kansas promoted and loved the sport ½ as much as he has our state and our athletes would be so much better off. I have the honor of calling Swayz a friend, a friend who has befriended high school wrestlers and assisted many of them despite the difficulties he has had to face in his life and his own battle with cancer. Don’t get me wrong, that battle is not what has made him someone we should admire in my opinion, it is the fact that the has been willing to do so much for Kansas, despite that battle. While many make excuses, he has gone out of his way to develop relationships and give guidance that will last for some, a lifetime.
WWC Wrestling is another, it is not so much an individual, although there are individuals within the club like Lindon Bontz, Dan Gentzler, Darrin Young and others that have gone out of their way to befriend us and help us. As I spent some time last year on the history of wrestling in Kansas I saw for a fact that Lindon is a man that truly loves the sport. He is a coach that I would let work with my son any day of the week. Despite the fact that our sons have competed, he has taught both of our boys that competition may begin on the mat, but it also ends on the mat. The integrity that a wrestler displays after the competition has ended is in many ways more important whether that wrestler has won or lost. I’ll never forget when we at Derby had a young man who was injured in a match that ended his season. The first ones to come show concern for that young man was WWC, led by the men mentioned here. There are others like Mr. Young, who despite a perceived disagreement, at least had the integrity to come to ask me directly. Then there are others like Dan Gentzler, who has befriended and helped so many in wrestling by doing little things. Since the end of last season we practiced 1X with those from WWC, everyone made us feel welcome and all of those in the room were there because they loved the sport. Last year we practiced with the team several times, and again, everyone made us feel welcome, it is one of the things that allowed me to yell for their kids when not wrestling against them. That welcome attitude is one reason I have been willing in the past to recommend WWC to various individuals. From giving rides, to opening their room to those who needed a place to practice, this club has given the appearance of caring for the wrestler.
There are so many more that I could mention, Jess Keith who really cares about the sport, Randy Hinderliter, who inspired this post who has gone out of his way to see and support our Kansas wrestlers, Coach Stovall who took a chance at getting college wrestling in the Wichita area, and I cold go on and on. To all of those I mentioned here, and those who are the revolutionaries of changing the perspective of competition, and developing the integrity of the athlete by your actions, I say thank you. You have inspired me, and I believe many others.
As the season starts may we all remember that signature of USAWKS1:
Are you making a POSITIVE difference in the life of kids?
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Joined: Jan 2002
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I think there are so many others too that have been overlooked which is easy to do.
I think Coach Petermen is great. The way he is energized and pumped up and really makes everyone on a team feel like a champion was evident at Cadets this year.
Gonzo is another....I think Coach Gonzales got his nickname Gonzo from everyone in the wrestling community being Gonzo about him. He give so much of his time and heart to the sport. To heard him on the P.A. System at state talk about Lost Parents always makes me smile. He supports Kansas wrestling, and I'm sure if he were to bleed he'd have Sunflower blood gushing out.
Yours in wrestling,
The Swayz swayz.wrestling@gmail.com recruiting help, promoting the sport& more!
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Joined: Mar 2002
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Two great additions Swayz, others feel free to add more. Peterman and I roomed at Cadet Duals, next time he brings his ear plugs, and Gonzo is a man among boys in the field of coaching. I know personally how much he cares for his boys and girls, (all of those who have wrestled for him.)
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Great post Mike, I know you already mentioned them in your post but I will do it again. The Edison’s, I can’t say enough about the way they welcomed a little girl from Oklahoma on to the Krusaders team and in to their wrestling room. This is just another example of their desire to promote the sport and the love of the sport of wrestling. Tony and Karissa
Dad of Karissa 119lb and Brantley 103lb High School
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I see so many people in Kansas who have done so much for wrestling in our state. I hesitate to mention anyone individually because I know when I do so I will leave out so many who should be mentioned including many who I do not even know. I am not sure anyone has mentioned Mike Furches yet. He has done a very good thing in setting up the Tyler Graebner Foundation along with other things like serving as a moderator on this forum and being such an advocate for Kansas youth wrestling. Ned Price is another person who I know who has done a great deal of work in coaching a club, serving as State tournament director and working very hard this past year by interviewing people across the State to come up with out of the box thinking and solutions to help promote the growth of youth wrestling in our state. I commend all the people mentioned above and many others that have not been mentioned individually yet in this topic but hopefully will be as the topic develops further.
Mike, I am very flattered you mentioned me but I am very much a newcomer to this extra effort beyond being a wrestling parent and rather frequent forum poster. I truly am not in the same league with other people who have been contributing so much more and longer to our sport. It makes me feel very good to know you see the things I have been doing over the last few months involving the promotion of Kansas college wrestling in this manner. Thank you.
I really like Randy's motto too: "Are you making a POSITIVE difference in the life of kids?" That is a wonderful motto for all of us to live by. In the eight years that my son has been involved in wrestling, I have seen and met so many dedicated men and women who all do exactly that. This is a tough sport. It takes tough dedicated kids, families and volunteers to make it such a great sport. I just want to thank all of you that give of yourself to make that happen. All of you, the wrestlers, the coaches, the club administrators, the parents, the board of directors, the referees, the tournament directors and workers, the table workers, the tournament setup and cleanup crews, the moderators on these forums, the people who post results, the people who contribute their ideas on this forum thank you all. I know I have no doubt forgot many other groups of contributors so to anyone who contributes their time in any way to this great sport and our kids I say thank you because in my mind you are all definitely "making a POSITIVE difference in the life of our kids". Great job to all of you. A special personal thanks to all the coaches and club officers of the STA wrestling club, the KC Rebels and the Kansas City wrestling club who have worked with my son and family over the last eight years.
To all you new parents and kids who are just beginning this sport this year, get ready for the time of your life. This sport will challenge you but it will also positively change your life if you give it the opportunity. It will especially change your daughter or son wrestler's life and believe me you will love the change you see as they grow into young adults. This sport builds character in our kids and there are a lot of great people who are part of this character building process. None greater than that kid of yours who straps that headgear on, steps on that mat, shakes their opponent's hand and gets ready to battle.
Vince Nowak Kansas College Wrestling Fund Supporter Please join the fight with your contributions
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Vince actually Bronco Wrestler said something and I, like you, and I am willing to bet, every other person mentioned feels somewhat uncomfortable with the mention. I believe that is because none of these do anything for self-recognition, instead it is because of the love of the sport, and the desire to do something positive for it, and those a part of it. I also see Ned as a gentle, but firm voice with the ability to reason and approach things sensibly.
Two others could include, Cindy Page, the one who went out of her way to do the Taking it to the Mat for Tyler T-Shirts last year and Tyler Buttons.
Then my favorite high school wrestlers – those tag team wonders, all of them. When those guys went out of their way to get excited and give something back it was because they really cared, they just happened to find a fun way to give back to something they believed in and that was okay.
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Two guys that I have to mention who have in my mind give an excellent example of stepping up to do great things and making a positive difference in the life of our Kansas wrestling youth are Klint Deere and Shane Miller. Last summer in the college forum I started a topic in the college forum asking if anyone would have an interest in helping to coach the University of Kansas NCWA Club team this season. These two guys came forward to explore the idea and followed thru by volunteering to do it. http://www.usawks.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000450 In doing so these two former high school wrestling coaches are giving their time to help student coach Nathan Hartshorne coach a group of young mostly former Kansas youth and high school wrestlers with whom they have no connection other than they are part of the Kansas wrestling community. What makes this even more impressive is that every time Shane comes to a practice he is traveling approximately 140 miles round trip and Klint is traveling 70 miles round trip. They chose to do this because they love to coach wrestling and they want to give our Kansas youth a good solid opportunity to extend their wrestling careers beyond the high school level. Klint has also given of his time in our State as a youth club coach and now Shane is also at the same time coaching a middle school team. I did not know what to expect when I started that topic seeking coaching help but I have been overwhelmed with the response of these two men of the Kansas wrestling community. I also do not want to give special thanks and recognition to Nathan Hartshorne who as a KU student has given so much time and effort over the last two years in running the club as President, for being open to coaching assistance this year from Shane and Klint and finally for getting the KU administration to approve the meet this weekend in Lawrence at Robinson Gym across the street east from Allen Fieldhouse at 5 PM Saturday 11/5. I also want to add to Mike Furches' list of accomplishments for Coach Sean McCarthy. He and his wife Jill are another one of the great wrestling couples in our community. They do so much for the wrestling program in the Aquinas community besides Sean serving as head coach of the Aquinas Kids Club team. Sean is also always willing to give extra help both of himself and his club's parents at other teams' tournaments. He is a leader who is not hesitant to seek help from his wrestling community to get things done. To be honest he inspired me to get involved in the promotion of Kansas college wrestling on the forum and he took the leadership role in action to get the effort of the ground. He organized and held the first meeting at his house. He has taken time to help Gonz Medina coach the Kansas City wrestling club in the summer freestyle practices and the fall pre-season folkstyle workouts. These people and stories are just a few examples of probably thousands more in our Kansas wrestling community who give extra time and effort in the promotion of our sport in Kansas and do on a regular basis make a positive difference in the lives of kids across the state. To all of them today I say thank you.
Vince Nowak Kansas College Wrestling Fund Supporter Please join the fight with your contributions
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I urge you all to read the topic introduction by Coach Travius Stokes in the below topic and see if you agree with me that Travius is one who deserves recognition in this topic as one doing great positive things for the young wrestlers in his Wyandotte County vicinity. Focus on his Experience section of his post. It doesn't matter what you think about the 6&U issue. I think we can all agree it is great to see a young man like Travius making such a difference for the youth of his community not to mention the sport of wrestling. I want to thank those who introduced and led Travius thru his own wrestling career. http://www.usawks.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003614
Vince Nowak Kansas College Wrestling Fund Supporter Please join the fight with your contributions
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Mike your post is why I will start with you. You put such a postitive spin on everything when it comes to Kids Wrestling. It is always a pleasure to read your posts.
The work that Coach McCarthy and Vince Nowak are doing to promote D1 wrestling is amazing. Yes there are many working on this effort, but these two are the engine pulling the train. Plus I know they are in it for the long haul.
In my 15 plus years in this wonderful sport, there are a few teams that I really enjoy coaching against. One of them is the Team of Hard Knox. Coach Knox & Coach Taylor go the extra mile anytime they need to for there kids. Job well done gentleman!
Randy Hinderliter is the most unselfish man I know. The miles he has traveled for Kansas Wrestling could not be match by many in this state. This is a man is it only here for the Kids!
The Juby's were willing to step in and fill some big shoes when the state needed them to. The mountain of paper work that she does, no one in there right mind would want that job. After making my first trip to Fargo this past summer, Mike is the right person for his postition. He is well repsected in this state and through out USA Wrestling. We are lucky to have him.
As for the Graters it is more personal. When I first got into this sport it was them and the Clay Center bunch that I look up to. There love and dedication to Kansas Wrestling is second to no one. I am still in involve in wrestling today because of them! Thank You!
Now for a few new folks. How about all of the folks that are coaching or running a club that no longer have kids wrestling. There are many.
How about all of those wonderful people who you see every year at the state tournament. They are helping with set-up, weigh-ins, handing out coaching bands, working at the head table, or doing what ever is needed. Many times they do not even have a child wrestling at the tournament. But I keep seeing the same faces working with a smile year after year, THANK YOU.
Last week sitting up front at the state meeting I look around the room and saw many of the same faces that have been coming to that meeting for as long as I have. There is a handful that have not missed a meeting for as long as I have been going. These folks know how important this meeting is to the state. Thanks for making the effort.
Bottom line, all of these people listed in all of these posts, are the reason Kansas Wrestling is head and tales above the rest.
Ned Price Atchison Wrestling Club
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Ned we miss you in District III.
Yours in wrestling,
The Swayz swayz.wrestling@gmail.com recruiting help, promoting the sport& more!
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First, my thanks goes to Brother Furches and his efforts and kind words.
Last night, I was the pleasure of attending the Hall of Fame banquet in Topeka. There were several of the inductees and presenters who said, "(insert name) has been a positive influence in the lifes of kids."
I'm a firm believer that it does take a village to raise good kids. Left to their own devices, kids will "raise" themselves. However, I feel, that having adults making "positive" course changes along the way, makes all the difference in the world!
Are you making a POSITIVE difference in the life of kids?
Randy Hinderliter USAW Kansas KWCA Rep/Coaches Liaison Ottawa University Volunteer Assistant
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