Sig...there was decent on the board for just the reason you are laying out in your email and there is absolutely no reason that needs to be kept a secret. In full disclosure and with permission from these individuals I am going to tell you who Team Bandidos is...it does not need to be a surprise.

Club Director - Steven Cooksley, Mr. Cooksley is a former member of the Newman wrestling team. He is a resident of Wichita. Before moving to Wichita he was a member of the Seaman High School was the state runner up his senior year of High School. He was a USAWKS Tripple Crown Winner in the junior division.

Vice President - Mark Stanley, Mr. Stanley is the current tournament director for the USAWKS State Folkstyle Tournament and serves as the Executive Assistant State Director. Mr. Stanley is a member of the USAWKS Corporate Board. He served this past year on the LOC that planned the 2014 NAIA National Wresting Tournaments and served as Director of Tournament Operations. Mr. Stanley has been serving on the Kids Executive Council in one fashion or another since 2005. Mr. Stanley has been the club director of the Jr. Viking Wrestling Club for 13 years.

Secretary - Kyle Wright, Mr. Wright one of the District 4 representatives to the Kids Exec Council. He is the North Assistant Director.

Treasurer – Danny Grater, Coach Grater is a 3x high school state champion, a Cadet Greco national champion, a 2x college wrestling all-American, a 4x college academic all-American, he is the head coach at Riley county high school and junior high, Coach Grater is the current head coach for clay county wrestling club, Kansas freestyle/Greco junior staff member and serves on the Kids Executive Council.

Other – Pat Kelly, Coach Kelly has been coaching high school since 1998. He began his head coaching career at Newton High School from 1998 – 2001. After a brief stint in IA teaching and coaching at Holmes Junior High, Coach Kelly returned to Kansas to coach Seaman High School in 2007 where he remains today. Since coming to Seaman he has coached numerous state placers, had two top 10 teams, and coached 2X State Champion Bryant Guillen. Coach Kelly has been named 5A Regional Coach of the Year each of the last two seasons. In 2013 he was named the KWOA 5A Coach of the year. Coach Kelly competed for Britt High School in IA where he compiled a 132 – 6 record and was a 2X IA State Champion. He wrestled for Coach Dan Gable of Iowa from 1988-92 and as a part time starter and was a member of the Big Ten and NCAA D1 Championship Teams. He finished his wrestling career at UNO in 1992-93 compiling a record of 94 – 34; was a 2X NCAA D2 All-American, placing 3rd in his junior and senior seasons. UNO was the NCAA D2 National Runner-up during Coach Kelly’s senior season. Coach Kelly has served in various capacities in the USAW organization both in KS and in IA. He is a Silver Certified Coach and is currently the Vice President of the KWCA.

Other – Robert M. Gonzales, Coach Gonzales just completed his 37th year of coaching wrestling. From 1985-2005 he coached at Shawnee Heights High School and he is currently the head coach for Manhattan High School. Coach Gonzales assembled an impressive 261 – 116 record in his tenure at those two institutions winning two team titles. Coach Gonzales was a member of the KSHSAA Executive Board from 2005 – 2011. He has served on various boards for USAW dating back to 1982 and is a former corporate board member of USAWKS. He has been the NWCA Kansas Rep since 1982. He has served two terms as the President of the KWCA. Coach Gonzales served on the LOC for the 2014 NAIA National Tournament.

I gave you a brief bio of each of these men because there is bound to be questions of why? I do not want any of their characters to be impeached. Their resumes speak for themselves. They are all fine men who care about kids both on the mat and off. As a group, all of these men have done a tremendous job providing opportunities for wrestlers in Kansas. We feel empathy for the young men who are going to CO and their families. We wish that tough choices like this were not required in life...but they are. We wish that the district boundaries in District 4 were not such of a challenge...but they are. However, as a whole we did NOT believe that it was right or allowable by the bylaws, which many of us helped draft, to do what was done on this short notice. Many loop holes were created by a decision that we believe was at best short-sighted.

When bad decisions are made some lose and some win. The decisions made last week were structured so that a few would win but not enough thought was given to who would loose. The men who made the decisions were not bad men. And I will contend that they would have equally impressive resumes as those listed here. However, we feel strongly that the best way to prevent such short-sightedness by future boards (regardless of the good intentions) is to expose every loop hole for what it is...thus the formation of Team Bandidos.

Team Bandidos is for real. Email us bandidos.usawks@gmail.com for registration information.