Here is a listing of the Aquinas wrestlers going to State that I know of that wrestled their youth wrestling with the Saint Thomas Aquinas wrestling club before they entered high school.

112: Joe Rausch
119: Connor McCarthy
125: Jake Walker
135: Phillip Henes
140: Skyler Scott
152: Scott Markey
160: Paul Markey
215: Mike Hammer
285: Jacob Nowak

That is nine out of the 14. Whenever this recruiting allegation comes up like it did two years ago, it does not give the deserved credit to the kids club and coaches like Sean McCarthy, Mark Roos, Barry Sullivan, Barry Anstine, Rob Tannebaum, Tim Markey, Bob Henes, Bob Golubski and many others over the years. It especially does not give credit to Joe Cisper who started this club many years ago and has worked hard to make it the success it has been. It also does not give the proper credit to Coach Lorne Parks and the incredible coaching staff that he has enjoyed over the last several years. Coach Parks and his staff run a great high school wrestling program. A program like this is naturally going to attract a lot of high quality wrestlers and their families. It happens at other schools too like Bishop Carroll, Goddard, and others.

How does Shawnee Mission Northwest manage to win the State Cross Country championships for both boys and girls year in and year out? Do you think it has anything to do with their coach and the program he runs? How about Shawnee Mission East with their swimming teams? Do you think their coach has anything to do with it? Are these public schools recruiting to make those programs so successful over such a long period of time? Most fair people know a good coach and program will produce long term success at the high school level. Good coaching will attract athletes in public or private schools in about any sport.

Those of us with kids that wrestle at Aquinas know it has to do with the kids program and the good high school coaching at Aquinas. You can blame it on recruiting if you want but the Aquinas wrestling family knows it is just good old fashion work by both the coaches and the kids. There is also great support from the parents too.