You're right bub --- we were average by the time I left, and far below it when I got there. My last year there we beat Pleasant Ridge and Perry-Lecompton in duals and tied Mill Valley (although by the tie-breaker criteria we have today we would have won). In addition, we finished in the upper division of every tournament we competed in that year, including finishing third at Wamego. We also competed in the KVL with the likes of Lansing, SFT, Basehor-Linwood and Tonganoxie.

My better kids did participate in the club at the Fort and two straight years we took around 10 kids to participate in the University of Northern Iowa' s team camp. We were in the process of getting a better feeder program going in 2002, when I foolishly decided to move on. After I left, that never materialized.

Were we world beaters by the end of the 2002 season? No, but we were better than we were when I got there. Could we have continued to get better with me there? I'd like to think so.

I have never said that we were of the Hoxie class, nor have I ever claimed to be Dan Gable or John Smith. I was just a guy with a wrestling background who was asked to make a bad situation better. I think I did that, and frankly I wish I had stayed around a couple of years longer; perhaps I'd have been able to shore up the foundation and keep the program afloat. Perhaps not, but I'm betting we could have done it.