I think that colby CC did a great job this weekend at the nationals. Although Mat Gilliland, Kyle Patton, and Jason Shippers failed to place at the event, Eric luedke won National title no. 2, his brother Zach and Jason Shippers placed fifth, and Daniel Prater, broken hand and all, finished seventh to go into next season as an all american. As a proud alumnus of that institution, I want to express my appreciation to Coach Lampe for his loyalty to Kansas wrestlers, recruiting area in state competitors instead of taking in a bunch of out of state guys just to win a title. that speaks well for Colby, and also for Kansas wrestlers.
Thanks for putting together a great all Kansas season!!!!

Colby isn't just kansas wrestlers they had the 65lber last year. I'm sure they had more. Lampe is a good coach though. I don't see anything wrong with wanting to win a National Title.

Coach Lampe is a great coach and a first class guy. But you are an idiot. You are going to try and bad mouth Labette after winning a national title. How many russians and out state kids did colby have when they won. Was not much of a all kansas team that year. If you want to use coach Lampe name don't write stupid comments like this, because I know he would approve of it.

Is this the same Mike Fairleigh that was bad-mouthing Lampe on this same forum a couple of years ago for having four Uzbeki's on the team? And questioning why Lampe wasn't doing it like Pudge did?

Guess having a Pratt wrestler on the team changes your perspective a bit?

Lampe always has and always will recruit Kansas kids. He has to. 1/2 of his scholarship allotment has to go toward Kansas high school graduates-he either uses it or loses it, no exceptions. But you can bet he'll also do everything he possibly can to supplement his line-up with the best hired guns he can convince to come to Colby - which is what was lacking this year. A key out-of-state recruit at 197 and/or 285 would have made the difference between a 4th place team finish and being in the mix for title contention.

Also, you should know that Renfro has many Kansas kids on his roster. Only problem is that many of those Kansas kids were not talented enough to make the team this year. No shame in that - it was the best team in the nation this year.

Collegiate wrestling is a business. It's not about protecting someone's feelings or saving a roster spot for someone. It's about the coach recruiting every stud his budget will allow (1. so he has team depth & 2. so another team doesn't get them) and then letting the wrestlers settle who wrestles on the mat.

Renfro is doing amazing things. As much respect as I have for Jody Thompson and the years of service he provided, it is hard not to notice that Joe has already produced more national champions and more national championships than Jody did - in 1/10th of the time. Granted Joe is doing so under the watchful eye and supporing hand of Jody - but still an incredible feat, because Jody was top notch.

Congrats Labette for bringing home the national title, the OW award and Coach of the Year honors. What a wonderful season!

And good luck to Kansas' teams - Labette, Colby and Neosho - next year. We know you'll do all you can to keep Kansas collegiate wrestling on the map.

Mike, Coach Lampe is a great man and a great coach and Joey would never take anything away from him, his program and would feel blessed to be mentioned in the same sentence as Coach Lampe. But your little shot at LCC was very pathetic to say the least. Lets take a look.

125 ks kid coached by LCC alum.
133 ks kid 30 miles away
141 OK kid 1 hour away
149 ok kid 2 hours awy
157 ok kid 2 hours away
165 ok kid 2 hours away
174 mo kid 1 hour away coached by alum
184 ok kid 1 hour away coaced by alum
197 ok kid 1 hour away
275 mo kid 1.5 hours away

Every kid on this roster is closer to Parsons than Parsons is to Colby by a long shot. Actually the 125 kid lives farther from Parsons than any of the other out of state kids on the above roster.

Labette County borders Mo and Ok and with no Jucos in either state that have wrestling the choice is pretty easy. Last I checked, Joey was not given the same directive Coach lampe got to only recruit KANSAS kids. He must have gotten it after the Louisiana and the other fella from over seas got out.

Labette only had 7 of 10 kids that had even won a state championship in high school, let alone being a 4Xer. Why would a 4Xer have a DNP by his name after the national tournament? Would not have happened at Labette.

Joey will take any Ks kid that wants to wrestle on his team. The enviorment at Labette is not real friendly to kids not willing to work hard and stay out of trouble. Thus, its hard to recruit folks not truely willing to do it the way it takes to be on top.

Also Mike, you seem to know so much about recruiting and wrestling, I hear there will be an opening down here in southeast Kansas, go apply and show nation how to get the job done. They are already on the Cardinal schedule and you wonthave to look real hard for the guy you are talking smack on, he will be right across the mat.

jaRenfro -

there is no directive for Lampe to recruit only Kansas kids. never has been. but there has been a long standing rule implemented by the Colby board of trustees that states scholarships are to be split evenly in number between in-state and out-of-state. this has nothing to do with the presence of Lousiana kids or international students in past years as you imply. it was in place well before their arrival.

by the way, Gilliland's early departure from the tournament has more to do with bracket placement than coaching. Pearch in the first match and a poor draw from a style standpoint in first round consolation (plus likely still thinking about what could have been after a close match with Pearch). disappointing to see, because Gilliland could have placed.

your remark -IMO was inappropriate and - would be similar to me mocking Mikel Delk for his early departure two years ago, despite being one of the best in the weight class. but i'd never imply that Mikel's result was poor coaching or mock him because of it. i've followed the sport enough to know that it was nothing Coach Renfro or Mikel did. it was just a non-seeded tournament with a blind computer draw that paired him against the national runner-up in the first round. and, as we all know, a 32 man national tournament bracket can be a female-dog if you enter the consolation side too early. too Mikel's credit, he showed that it could be done last year after an early loss though.

hopefully Gilliland will come back and perform equally as well next year.

agree with everything else in your post, except that I had not heard about the anticipated coaching opening. was it Merrick's choice or otherwise?

CONGRATS on Labette's title! it was well deserved.

Okay-- I will take the barrage of abuse that I have recieved and accept the fact that my words were extremely ill chosen. I apologize to the fans of neosho, Labette and anyone else that recruits more successfully than Mr. Lampe. I still support the choices that he made of who to put on his team, and back them completely. I did not support the origin of the team two years ago, and said so. I do support the origin of the team this year, and said so. I respect the fact that labette was able to recruit well and had a Great Coach that was able to give them the title. My hat is still off to the Colby Trojans, on their effort.

Jon Doe,

I have had the pleasure of wrestling for Both Coach Thompson & Renfro. To tell you the truth Coach Renfro was the assistant my freshmen year. Then my soph year Coach T. retired. Not to mention that Coach T. coached Renfro and is the only other coach in LCC wrestling history.

I believe that in the era between the two is the biggest factor. At the end of Thompson's career the internet was a great recruiting tool. Coach Renfro did have this advantage.

I am not mad but there should not be a comparison made between the two considered they both are the two strongest pillars in its construction.

Thanks Coach T. and Renfro

Aaron -

No doubt about that and I was not intending it as a slight to Coach Thompson - more as a way to illustrate Coach Renfro's incredible and immediate success.

Joe is building upon the success Jody established. But the speed at which he has achieved it is remarkable.