Mike & Linda Hill, Lincoln
It is a privilege and honor to be recognized for something you love doing.
Our 20-year involvement with the sport of wrestling has been a true labor of
love. We started when our son, Trevor, was in Kindergarten, wrestling with
the Arapahoe Warriors Wrestling Club in Arapahoe, Nebraska. When we moved to
Lincoln, the Lincoln Warriors Wrestling Club became our new wrestling
family, and we served as club directors for seven of our eight years in the
club. Our first year there, we met Craig Hellwege and all the other
Huskerland leaders, and they graciously allowed us the opportunity to be
Huskerland volunteers for over 15 years--as they infected us with the spirit
of this organization. Many of these years included serving on the Huskerland
Board, as well as Linda’s work on the Program Book. It was during these
years, we added the Cornhusker States Games to the mix, and that meant every
summer was highlighted by this reunion of friends of all ages from across
the state, working and playing side-by-side.
When Trevor entered high school, we expanded our involvement to Lincoln High
booster activities, and backed our team and coaches. We were proud parents,
when Trevor was a 4-time HS state medallist, including runner-up and State
Champ. Next were college and the University of Nebraska Husker Wrestling
Club, where we continue to contribute our time and efforts.
Each time we left one wrestling level and moved to another, we were replaced
by people who are just as passionate about the sport as we are. The
leadership of today’s Huskerland Tournament exemplifies this. We
congratulate the hardworking volunteers for their devoted efforts.
We have enjoyed countless Huskerland activities, as well as USA & AAU
tournaments, with local, state, regional and national events, plus numerous
high school and college competitions. Our travels have taken our family from
Detroit to Dallas, and Laramie, WY, to Fargo, ND, and hundreds of places in
between. By our calculations, we have purchased a truckload of Gatorade!
In closing, we want to say thanks for the wonderful memories, of working
with us to provide an arena for a sport that we believe helps develop young
men of strong character and a work ethic second to none. We hope to see you
at wrestling events for many years to come.
Barney Morava, Deuel County “Attack Club”
Barney started the Deuel County Attack Club in 1995. His introduction of
wrestling to the community and his continuation to building the sport is the
reason the sport is where it is today around the Chappell community.
Although the Deuel County Attack is relatively new to Huskerland, its origin
was with the USA Wrestling Program.
Barney started his wrestling career at Crawford High School and he became
Crawford’s 1st State Champion in 1967. Barney was offered numerous wrestling
scholarships including Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Arizona. After
choosing Arizona, Barney staked his name in the sport and made the 1968
National Academic Wresting Team. Shortly after, tragedy struck as a
devastating car accident ended his career, but not his passion for the
sport. Now, no longer able to compete, Barney took his desire to expanding
the sport and focused on coaching and officiating.
Barney has been involved with wrestling nearly everywhere he has been
stationed, including Crawford, Scottsbluff, O’Neill, Norfolk, Garden County
and now Chappell. In 1969, he gladly accepted the request of the Crawford
Jaycee’s and started a youth program. He has been an Official / Referee for
the Nebraska School Activities Association as well as the USAWO Assoc.
Barney has been an inspiration to the countless youth he has worked with for
over 40 years of dedication to the sport of wresting! He has been recognized
with the “Inspirational Award” in 1995, “Volunteer of the Month” in March of
2000 by the City of Chappell and the prestigious, “Coach of the Year Award”,
District III in 2001.
When asked to comment about his life and career in wrestling, the man with
few words keeps it simple, “It has been very rewarding”.
Thank You Barney for not only giving your life to the sport of wrestling,
but also your heart!
Marissa Schievelbein & Brenda LaVante
Larry Schmidt, Wymore
Larry Schmidt started his wrestling career in 1972 as a high school
sophomore at Wymore Southern High. Anyone that was associated with wrestling
in the 60s and 70s will remember Wymore Southern as one of the front runners
of Class C for many years. In 1974, as a senior, Larry was the State Runner
up at 155 lbs with Wymore winning the Class C State Championship. Larry
competed in many AAU tournaments at that time and in 1974, Larry was a
member of a Nebraska Allstar team that toured the Midwest and competed in
the AAU National tournament in St Paul, Minnesota. Wrestling was somewhat of
a family tradition for Larry. He had 2 younger brothers who were also
wrestlers. Brother Ron was a State Champion in 1975 and Randy was a state
qualifier in 1979. At one time during his high school career, there were 6
varsity wrestlers that were related to him.
In November 1986, when Larry’s oldest son Nate was 5 years old, he decided
to get him started in wrestling. The closest wrestling club at the time was
in Beatrice, so Larry signed hime up offered his services as a coach. After
coaching with the Beatrice Club for 3 years, Larry decided to start his own
club in Wymore. With Coach Larry Anderson’s help and support, the Southern
Wrestling Club was started in Wymore in 1989. That first year, there were
only about 12 wrestlers but the word spread and in the ensuing years, the
club grew to 30 wrestlers from grades 1-8, some years having as many as 55
wrestlers. Over the years, Larry has attended all but the very first
Huskerland State Tournament. His team brought home the State Championship in
1996, the State Runner-up in 1995 and finished in the top 5 several years.
Southern Wrestling Club has produced several State champions over the years
and many, many other State medal winners. The club has also had several
wrestlers compete in national tournaments and duals teams over the years.
Larry also served as an Assistant coach with the high school team for 3
years until his job forced him to give that up. His passion for sports and
desire to promote young athletes has led him to coaching many of his son’s
baseball teams and elementary football teams. Even though Larry has not had
any of his own children involved in wrestling for several years, he still
stays very much involved with the sport. He is currently serving in his 20th
year as a wrestling coach and has been the director of the Southern
Wrestling Club for 17 years. The club has 38 wrestlers participating this
year and recently hosted the 16th Annual Southern Wrestling Club Tournament
on March 2.
Over the years, Larry has made many friendships and acquired memories too
numerous to count. He especially enjoys watching young wrestlers as they
develop and progress through their clubs and on into high school and college
wrestling. As far as Larry is concerned, there is nothing more gratifying
than seeing the look on a young wrestler’s face coming off the mat after
winning that first match. Larry is also the first to say he could not have
accomplished any of this without the continued support of his family and the
many volunteer coaches and parents who have helped him over the years. With
that in mind, I am certain that we will see Larry around promoting the sport
of wrestling and contributing to Huskerland Wrestling for many years to
come.
Rod Wietjes, Gibbon
I began my wrestling coaching career at Gibbon in 1976 as a junior high
wrestling coach and as an assistant varsity coach. In 1978 I started our
youth wrestling club at Gibbon and served as its director until 1993. In the
early 80’s I was very involved in club wrestling and eventually became one
of the original members of the Huskerland Wrestling Advisory Board and
remained a member of this board for about ten years. I remember the first
Huskerland Tournament that Craig put on at Lincoln East High many years ago,
the first of many success stories for Huskerland Wrestling.
In 1982, I became the head wrestling coach at Gibbon while keeping my duties
as junior high coach and director of the youth wrestling club. In 1993, I
stepped down as head wrestling coach and youth director, but continue to
this day as assistant varsity coach and junior high coach. During my
coaching career at Gibbon, sixty eight of our wrestlers have placed at the
Nebraska State High School Wrestling Tournament. The success of our
wrestling program would not have been possible without the existence of
other great programs like Huskerland Wrestling.
I am honored to be inducted as a member of the Huskerland Wrestling Hall of
Fame and I thank those involved for their consideration concerning my
nomination.
Rod Wietjes
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