Hmmmm, Hey Prant when was it that we wrestled?
I don't remember wrestling anyone from the Hat town except Lee. As for my reason why I stated that Chad Parks is a better choice is that I have a personal experience of him coaching me, and I was informed that Coach Sawnders, is not a favorite from some T-bird Alumni and he is not the best choice for the spot.

Hey Coach Church, are you saying 10-4 as in okay,or that's the score?

You figure it out!

Bordon-

We wrestled at a 9/10 meet my sophomore year (which I believe was your freshman year) in the Hat. I think it was at 160. You may or may not have wrestled the infamous Man Dilligan at that same meet.

As for the new Shawnee Heights coach, I recommend Jhris Cennings.

District 1 will greatly miss Gonzo, and all he has done through out the years. There is none I have met through out the years that works harder or gives more of his time to help make wrestling better in this state or more enjoyable for the kids. At tournaments I have helped him at in the past he was always the first man there and it seemed he was always the last one to leave making sure evrything was finished being done. I would like to wish Gonzo good luck, and say he will be missed. Myself, Ryan, and evryone at the Hiawatha club say thanks Gonzo for all you have helped our club and our kids through out the years. We want Gonzo to know we will still see you many times in the future!!!!!!!!!! Good luck, Toby S. :p

Gonzo taugh driver ed in Hiawatha a few years ago and my son don and three others that wrestled for Hiawatha and i still remember donnie comming home one day and told me Gonzo wanted these four boys who were freshman to move to Topeka so they could wrestle for him. I laughed and said he was just kidding but after Hiawatha won the regionals the next year mabe he was not. on the good side i hope Gonzo does well and if he stays 19 years there he could still move to Hiawatha and coach.Dist. one is going to miss Gonzo and I know I will. Dist1 has lost two great men in the last two years standhope and now Gonzo, between these two men they put sports on the map in Topeka and they did so much for the kids in dist 1 that i am not sure dist 1 or topeka can replace either one of them. I have coached the kids wrestling program in hiawatha for years and those two men along with Rod Spellman of Hiawatha have been the three men I wish my kids could wrestle for again and I hope that Rod stays in wrestling a few more years to help the kids that are still in Hiawatha to have a person to look up to like Standhope and Gonzo. thanks for all the great years and good luck Gonzo.

My first question has to do with the changes involved. What changes? The program has placed in the top three for four years in a row, so I highly doubt that someone with no state title could make changes for the better. Second, the schedule is pretty tough as it is, so why change that? The stretch of Salina South, Newton, and Beliot is extremely tough, not to mention a very good Junction City tournament with annual contenders for a state title. I obviously have a personal connection to Manhattan, and I have a problem with someone coming in to make changes to the most successful program in 6A, if not the state, for the last four years. That, and 5A 189 in 2004 was a weak weight class.

Nothing last's forever. And why do you say it can't be improved?

Change is good for any program. When Mark Stovall came to Bishop Carroll, Carroll had been a top 5 finisher for a couple of years. Stovall came in changed some things and the winning tradition continued including the schools first state Championship. Stovall left and Finkeldei came in changed things a little and we won a state title. I am sure when Finkeldei leaves and the next coach comes in he will make some changes and try to continue the schools competitive traditon. The assisstants will adapt, the kids will adapt, and the fans should adapt to the new changes if they really support their school and wrestling program. Good Luck in 6A Coach Gonzalez , we will miss you at the Derby seating meeting. If you ever need a J.V. Hwt. to fill in give us a call.
Joaquin Zapata
BCCHS Wrestling

The only changes I have seen happen since his hiring have been that almost every single assisstant coach resigned. I guess you gotta start from the ground up, eh?

Billy Mc:
Just to stick up for the Gonzales'. I don't think Bob wants to change what ain't broke. He knows the tournaments you mentioned are good ones. I believe he would like to make some minor changes possibly to the pre-christmas schedule. By possibly adding a dual tournament and maybe going to 1 tough 2 day tourney before Christmas with pool wrestling like they do at Baldwin or Lee's Summit, those 2 changes could add 5-6 matches for each wrestler. Instead of 9-10 matches in 3 small one day tournaments they could get up to 15 or 16 matches, only using 1 more competition pt., which I believe Manhattan can spare. I think he would also like to see more matches for the JV kids.
Also I don't know what the toughness of 189 in 2004 has to do with Bob's ability to run a program, but to retort: Pietrzyk from Salina S. is now a 2 time champ, he was 3rd in that bracket. Willy Cochran (2nd) from GE was a returning state placer, Sheldon Pipkin from Liberal only had 2 losses, none to a Kansas kid before state and Brad Page from Paola was tough too(I believe he may have beat out Jimmy Stewart for that spot). Jordan Best was 6th and is now wrestling for Labette, pretty tough kid,(even though he doesn't like my coaching). Tyler Gonzales won in 04 he is a 2x finalist and posted a win over 3 timer Pursel. Maybe that's weak to you but I beg to differ.

I understand what he wants to do, I just don't know how well he's going about it. Talking to the wrestlers who will be there next year, a few have expressed that his "must win" attitude might take away from what the program has tried to teach. Wrestling isn't always about winning at all costs, it's about doing your best and giving your best effort, win or lose. I know that he will do the best job that he can, I just don't think that tearing up a fine program will help anyone in this situation. I do think he will be successful and I know that he knows how to coach better than me. I wish him good luck as well, I just had a problem with his comments on a program greater than any program he has been involved with.

And as far as the 189 thing, it was a joke. I know that Pietrzyk was a very good wrestler. I can't say that anyone else in that weight class was near him in talent, but it was probably equal to my weight class as a senior. Seriously, joking.

But wasn't 6A - 215 even weaker? :p

No, because I was in it....come on now you know that.

I've been around Bob for 7 years and I can tell you he has a let's find a way to get better, kids first attitude. I have never know him to want to tear anything up or win at all cost. I have know him to spend countless hours dedicated to helping kids. I also know Bob was very dissapointed that some of the assistance decided to resign. Will he have success? I hope so, as he will be greatly missed at Shawnee Heights. You will not find anyone who spends more of their own free time helping young people in all aspects of there lives. I think Woodford is a great guy and will be hard for anyone to follow.

The only reason I say this is because it has been expressed to me by some of the wrestlers. I do not know Bob personally but I know that he does a lot for the sport and I wish him the best of luck.

Bob will do a great job, he will find good assistants to help him lead this team. I think that he would do anything for anyone, and is one of the nicest and well respected men that I know. As far as changes are concerned what new coach would come into a program and not make changes? Changes will occur, whether they will be positive or not is a question that time will only answer. I'm sure that he is going to have to adapt to "The Hat Town" way, and they are going to have to adapt to "Gonzo's" style.

Manhattan is a very conservative place. Most of the adaptations will not be by Hat Town.

I had the opportunity to speak with Coach Gonzales last night… After our conversation I have concluded that he has no intentions of reinventing the wheel. His comments reported in the Manhattan Misprint were taken out of context. His desire to change tournaments only exists for the fact that it would be nice to bring home more varsity duals or even a home tournament. It was never in question the toughness of Manhattan’s scheduling. It’s a matter of letting the home crowd see their guys wrestle more often. He would also like to maximize the competition point system with the possibility of a pool-based tournament. Change is hard; I wasn’t in favor of any change either. Coach Woodford is one of the most respected coaches in the State and always will be. I consider him a friend and a mentor to my boys. He is a living legend in Manhattan wrestling community. Life goes on and you make the best out of the hand that is dealt you. I will support the new Coach and all the young men that wrestle for the Indians.

Manhattan Wrestling Forever!!!!!

Exactly ... Gonzo will do a great job and will not upset the apple cart! But that doesn't mean he won't try to re-arrange a few of them.