Bonded by wrestling
By Rick Peterson
The Capital-Journal
Published Monday, February 12, 2007
A variety of circumstances led five Washburn Rural students to the same house.

Wrestling has turned that house into a home.






Junior Blues wrestlers Gage Deere, Jose Duenas, Darius Jefferson, John Moser and Brandon Villa all live in the home of Klint and Karis Deere, house parents for The Villages, an organization whose mission is to provide emotionally supportive families and homes for children and youth in need.

The Villages, founded in 1964 by Dr. Karl Menniger, operates five group homes in Topeka and two in Lawrence.

Gage Deere is Klint and Karis' natural son, while the other four were placed in the Deere house. The common thread between all of them is high school wrestling.

"These guys get along really well,'' Washburn Rural coach Bobby Bovaird said. "I've never had any problem with dissent between them. They're in a house where they're being set up for success beyond their time at The Villages.

"These guys come to a good school like Washburn Rural, they get good academics and, if they get involved with wrestling, they have all the advantages of athletics. I'll always preach that wrestling is a sport that goes beyond the mat. It's beyond competition, it's beyond sweat and blood. It teaches a lot of good life lessons.''

Klint Deere agrees.

"My wife and I are very happy and proud to have our son and our other boys connected to the team,'' Deere said. "It gives them a positive peer group and positive school engagement. It is amazing to see what happens when they have that. We often were warned that the kids we work with cannot successfully compete or participate in high school athletics. We are more than glad to prove that wrong.

"The life lessons of sacrifice and hard work that are gleaned from the sport of wrestling are the true payoff for the boys. We could care less if they win a single match as long as they are putting forth the effort and hard work. It can be a real emotional roller coaster for us having five guys wrestling, but it is fun and great to see them come together and truly support one another.''

Gage Deere said that support has been a constant.

"We get along great,'' he said. "We're all friends and we all have a common interest in wrestling, which we love to do. It's great support. We all look after each other and it's great having all the same goals and we all know how to push each other to reach those goals.

"We know how to help each other and pump each other up and keep each other going. It's great to have kids with the same interest and be able to build friendships.''

Moser said the teammates can be disciplinarians, mentors or cheerleaders, depending on what the situation dictates.

"Like when we all have to make weight on a Saturday morning, we're all together to watch each other on Friday night and say, 'I know you want to eat and sneak something, but don't eat,'" Moser said. "We kind of look out for each other like that.

"Not only that, but if someone's having a problem with their technique, we all live in same house so we can trade off information. And if someone's down because they didn't do so good over the weekend we say, 'It's all right man, you'll get it next weekend.' We just try to provide each other with a positive influence. We can connect on that level because it's a similar interest between us.''

Jefferson said that being surrounded by boys with the same interests is anything but boring.

"I think it's kind of fun having guys around because if you want to play a game or something you know who to go ask because they're so active,'' Jefferson said. "I think it's great.

"We do a lot. We're an all boys house and most of the guys are about me and Gage's age, so we like to play around a lot.''

There are 10 boys who live in the house and all of them are tied to wrestling in one way or another.

"The other boys in the house that don't wrestle have been involved in helping run tournaments, film matches, keeping score," Klint Deere said "and one, Brad Humphrey, a (Rural) wrestler last year, now is a referee for kids events.

"We spent a week last summer helping run the Southern Plains tournament in New Mexico and made it a really nice family vacation.''

The Deere house has enjoyed a considerable amount of success this season, led by Jefferson and Gage Deere. Jefferson was the Shawnee County champion at 152 pounds and Deere was the County 171-pound runner-up, helping Rural finish second in the team standings.

Jefferson, Deere, Moser (189 pounds) and Duenas (heavyweight) all posted varsity wins last week in a 52-15 dual victory against Shawnee Mission Northwest.

Moser said support in the Deere house is not dependent on wrestling wins, but they are a nice bonus.

"(Duenas) kind of got off to a rough start because he had no experience whatsoever, but just a couple of weeks ago he got his first win,'' Moser said. "He had been losing and got real down, but when he got his first win he was so happy.

"Everybody was running up and hugging him and stuff. Everybody was really happy for him.''

Added Jefferson:

"We're like all brothers, one big family.''

Rick Peterson can be reached at (785) 295-1129 or rick.peterson@cjonline.com

Klint and Karis Deere,

Wonderful article about good people. Wouldn't the world be a better place if there were more adults helping shape kids lives and give them encouragement, guidance and love. All I can say is that you truely are blessed and amazing.

Way to go Klint, I would go so far as to say that each of us should write letters to the agency Klint works for thanking them for their willingness to help with this, even fund it. What better way can one provide for the future of a young person going through tough times than to provide them this type of opportunity. Klint, if you have an email or address here where we could send our letters or emails, please post it. The agency needs a pat on the back for their willingness to support this.

I want to second both smokeycabin and Mike Furches. Good posts by both of you. Like the McCarthys and the Furches, the Deere family is a wonderful group of people and a great Kansas wrestling family. As busy as Klint is, he still found time to help coach the University of Kansas wrestling club last year and was prepared to do that again this year. Klint loves wrestling and especially Kansas wrestling. His enthusiam for it is contagious with everyone he meets and it runs thru the entire Deere family. I am proud to be one of his many friends. If you get a chance get on the Topeka newspaper's website to view the article in today's paper. There is a good picture of the wrestlers in the Deere household included with the article.

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/021207/pre_147303879.shtml

Three cheers for the Deere's... Hip Hip Hurray, Hip Hip Hurray, Hip Hurray!

We appreciate the kind words. I am posting a hyperlink below with contact information for our agency. Sylvia Crawford is our exec. director and Michael Bradley is our house supervisor. They both are key people in keeping our kids involved,,thanks


http://www.thevillagesinc.org/contactus.html

Has there ever been a foster kid who has won a state championship in Kansas?

What a great story! You guys are doing a great service, truly making a difference. Way to go!

Kudos to the Deere family, as well as to all five of the boys, for a job well done. What a great example of what family and brotherhood are all about. Keep up the good work!

Yeah, Steve Foster and Dustin Foster.

Ricky,,that was funny

The Deere family is incredible! Keep up the great work. What a positive message for the world to see. How wrestling impacts the lives of young men in many ways cannot be overstated. Thanks for your efforts and wonderful example.

Much thanks for the kind words, with regionals and the state series coming, sometimes the biggest impact our favorite sport can have is overlooked. Also kudos to Rick Peterson for giving us great coverage.
thanks again

Klint & Karis Deere

Klint

Who are some of th ewrestlers to watch in the two regionals in the Topeka Area? 6A at Topeka high and 5A at Topeka West

Just a few off the top of my head--I know i will miss some really good kids
5a--at T-West
103-Wood-Lansing
119 Singleton-SH
140 Buehler-Lansing
145 Flynn-Lansing
152 Kehler from Seaman, Grape from Lansing
160 Brown SH,
171 Lorson-Seaman, Roach-TW,
189 Cox-Sumner, Burns HP
215 Terron-Lansing
275 Holly-Shawnee Heights

6a
112-Furches-Derby
119 Maple-WH
125-Kozlowski-JC, Campbell TH
130-Wagner Man Reeb-TH
140-Miller-Manhattan/Hogan WR-(Could be best match in state)
145 RJ Johnson, fun to watch
152-Petty-Manhattan, Rinehart-Derby, Alexander SE
171-Long-Derby, Deere WR-Williams-Manhattan (will be fun rematch)
189-Landry-TH
275 Big Steve Andrus-Manhattan, Trent Hutton SE, Derby Hwy

Very Funny!