Wrestlers, parents and fans --

I just wanted to take a second and tell you all about a new venture I am undertaking. This fall I will begin producing a weekly magazine dedicated to high school sports in the state of Kansas called Kansas Preps Weekly.

For the past 12 years I have worked in the newspaper buisness covering wrestling and prep sports for papers in Dodge City, Joplin, Mo. and most recently Salina.

Over the years I have developed a deep passion for high school athletics and hope to bring that out each week in my new magazine.

Each issue will be broken into six different sections with three pages devoted to each of the six regions (Northwest, Southwest, North Central, South Central, Northeast and Southeast) with game stories, precedes, features and statistics.

For those of you who know me, you also know I have a deep passion for the sport of wrestling. Over the years I have been restrained by editors when it came to full-blown wrestling coverage. Obviously, now I will no longer be restrained. Thus there will be a lot of coverage devoted to the sport wrestling. I won't lie, there will be a lot of basketball coverage, I have to sell subscriptions, but wrestling certainly will not take a backseat in my magazine.

The magazine begins production the first week of September and will be published each week (with one week off at Christmas time) through Mid-June.

Anyone with any questions, comments or in need of subscription information please feel free to contact me via e-mail at chris@kpwonline.com

I am in the process of building my website, which is http://www.kpwonline.com but it is not yet completed or uploaded yet.

Sincerely,

Christian D Orr
Kansas Preps Weekly

This is great news. Best of luck with this endeavor! And please let the wrestling community know what we can do to help.

Regards,
Kit Harris, Baldwin HS

sweet...so does this mean no more salina journal write ups to read from you chris?

Yep Sweazy ... that is what this means. I'm no longer employed by the Salina Journal ...

The bad news Sweayz is that the Salina Journal could very possibly (and most probably) decline in it's coverage of wrestling. Chris did a fine job with wrestling for the north central part of the state. Cross your fingers I guess. I really look forward to the Kansas Preps Weekly publication.

Chris did an excellent job covering wrestling (and other sports also). With Chris at the Salina Journal, you knew the wrestlers would get the coverage they deserved. He will be missed in our area!!

Maybe we need to let the Salina Journal know the coverage needs to continue if they want our subscriptions and $$?

Best of luck Chris and we look forward to reading more about your publication when you are ready to go.

Leanna & Greg Grater

All I ever read about wrestling wise when I got the Sal Journal was about Salina South and Clay Center...lol! Just kidding.

Kansas Preps Weekly,

This is exciting news. Best of luck with this new endeavor.

Time,

Thought I would let everyone now that the website has been updated somewhat. Many of the links are still not active, but there is now a couple of stories posted which describes more about the magazine as well a link which allows people to subscribe online.

Thanks again for all of your help. Anyone with questions can e-mail me at chris@kpwonline.com

Hey Chris,
I don't know who u r but u might know my dad possibly (dale sharpe) well i have grown up aroudn wrestling and i now cheer for it in high school so if u need n e info from back south u can let me knwo and i'll try and help u out as much as i can.....keep up the good work i look forward to seeing the KS Prep Weekly
Deena Sharpe, SCHS Cheerleader

I think Sean Purcell will do a fine job if he is the guy covering wrestling for the journal.

Chris Orr needs our prayers!

Fan bus crashes on way to K-State game
Saturday, November 18, 2006 09:00 pm

Salinan injured in wreck

LAWRENCE -- A one-vehicle collision involving a Kansas State University fan bus resulted in one death and left a Salina man in critical condition.

According to the Lawrence Police Department, the "Cat Tracker," a converted school bus that takes Wildcat fans to games, was involved in a wreck about 11:35 a.m. at the intersection of 15th and Iowa.

Injured in the wreck was Salinan Chris Orr, a former sports writer at the Salina Journal; he was taken by helicopter to a Kansas City hospital, where he was suffering from head injuries.

Lawrence police Saturday night were not yet releasing the name of the person killed in the wreck, and said the cause was still under investigation.

Updated 04:35 PM

Accident victim still critical
By Ron Knox

Sunday, November 19, 2006

A Salina man remains in a Kansas City hospital with critical injuries a day after being involved in an accident while riding atop the Cat Tracker bus.

University of Kansas Hospital spokesman Dennis McCulloch said Sunday that a man identified by the Salinal Journal as former sports reporter Chris Orr remained in critical condition at the hospital Sunday afternoon.

The family was not prepared to comment on the accident near a bridge above the 1700 block of Iowa Street that killed another person Saturday afternoon before the Kansas University-Kansas State football game at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.

Orr was flown by air ambulance to the hospital shortly after the accident Saturday.

I have never met Chris but I did subscribe to his newspaper the year that he published it. I also had some communication with him during that year. I was impressed and pleased by both the newspaper and the attention he gave to my communications with him. He will definitely be in my prayers as well as the person who was killed in the accident. God bless both of them and their families.

One killed, one injured riding atop bus
Sunday, November 19, 2006 10:51 pm

One person killed and a Salinan receiving a critical head injury both struck a concrete bridge as they were riding atop a Kansas State University fan bus passing underneath the bridge on its way to the University of Kansas-Kansas State University football game in Lawrence Saturday, according to sources and media reports concerning the crash.

One of the people aboard the bus who witnessed the incident was Brian Gates, Beloit.

Gates was with former Salina Journal sports reporter Chris Orr on the "The Cat Tracker" bus, used for years by Kansas State football fans to travel to and from road games. The bus has an outdoor porch attached to the back, with a ladder leading to a metal deck on top, where the injured fans were seated.

Gates said Sunday that he and others have been told not to publicly discuss details of what they saw because of possible liabilities arising from the incident. There was a group, he estimated at fewer than a dozen, seated with him and Orr atop the bus.

The incident happened just after 11:30 a.m., as the bus, traveling northbound, passed under a bridge above the 1700 block of Iowa Street. The bridge connects KU residence halls with the west campus and the Lied Center performing arts center.

The bus stopped just north of 15th and Iowa streets and didn't appear to be damaged, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. Fans later saw emergency medical personnel working on the top deck of the bus.

Lawrence Police representatives Sunday had not released the name of victim killed. Orr was taken by helicopter to the University of Kansas Hospital suffering from a head injury.

Hospital spokesman Dennis McCulloch said Sunday that Orr remained in critical but stable condition at the hospital's neuro-intensive care unit in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday afternoon.

Orr left the Journal about 21/2 years ago to found a high school sports publication. He was managing a store at Salina's Central Mall, The Jacket Shack, and doing some color commentary for KSAL Radio sports broadcasts.

Orr and his wife, Stacey, have two young sons.

State records show the Cat Tracker bus is owned by Manhattan attorney and developer Robert Pottroff. The Journal-World reported Sunday that Pottroff incorporated a business, Kat Tracker Promos LLC, but the business's last annual report was filed in 1993.

Pottroff also is associated with Skyscapes of Lawrence LLC, which is working on a project at the intersection near 12th and Indiana streets in Lawrence, the Journal-World reported.

Pottroff could not be reached Sunday night for comment.