Richard,
Let's set the record straight and perhaps enlighten your trivia bank:
Eric Akin graduated from Iowa State University in 1994, the only post secondary institution he ever attended. He went there 5 years, redshirted the first year, and then competed 4. He is the only 118 lb 3x Big 8 Champion in NCAA history. He is Kansas' only 4x Division I All American and one of only a handful from Iowa State. He also added 2 University National freestyle titles to his 6 USA national titles he won before college, which included 3 OW's!! He got married at 19 and began raising his family, which now numbers 6.

The year he graduated, 1994, he was named Male Athlete of the Year at Iowa State. How many wrestlers have ever won this award at a Big 8 school?
After graduating, Eric stayed 1 year in Ames, helping his longtime backup Jason Nurre become an NCAA finalist in his only year as a starter. On to Iowa City for 3 years, where he shaped Mike Mena and Jesse Whitmer while knocking off Zeke Jones to become Olympic Alternate in 1996. He came back to Kansas after being injured at 97 WTT, and bingo, Zach Roberson wins OW at juniors, repeats against Zach Allen the next year, and both get full rides at D-1 schools. No coincidence that they were Eric's workout partners as he defeated defending World champion Henson to make the 1999 World Team. At 2000 Olympic Trials, he retired old rivals Lou Roselli and Mike Mena, defeated Abas for the 6th time and lost to Sammie in a hard fought battle. After 2000, Eric moved to Nebraska, where he stayed the 4 years that Jason Powell competed, culminating in St Louis where Eric got to coach Jason to a tech fall in the finals before watching Zach get his in the next match! His competitive career post 2000 includes a national open freestyle title, 4 WTT placings and wins over world medalist Jesus Wilson and NCAA champs Michael Lightner and Teague Moore, among others.
From a coaching standpoint, he has the Midas Touch. Has anyone he ever coached not made the NCAA finals??
Now, where did you hear that he didn't graduate?

Hopefully, since it is so close, Baker University will be able to get Eric to be the new Head Coach, and the parents of his new recruits can be as happy as Mr. Powell, Mr. Murray, Mr. Klein, etc are with their sons' outcomes at Nebraska.

Kevin,

Excellent post! Wrestling misses your presence in the Sunflower state. While I know Hays, KS is not Palo Alto, CA it would have been nice to have seen your name on the list of candidates as well! We need you back out here to cultivate a new era a championship caliber wrestlers!

I believe the "requisite degree" that Mr. Salyer may have been referring to was the "unwritten" requirement that the degree come from Ft. Hays State University! ;-)

Hope all is going well for you!

Will

mcarroll,

I grew up in the Hays area, and many of my good friends attend or have graduated from FHSU. That being said, Hays may be the single hardest sell to make to a college aged student. Hays is a great town to have kids and raise a family, but imagine if you were a recruit who came into town. Depending on the direction of the wind, the campus may or may not smell like a feedlot. The Mall has nearly as many closed stores as open ones. The college age nightlife consists of a few small bars. If there is a wrestling dual that evening, the student will see the meager crowd file into the lower level bleachers in Gross. The towns boasts two attractions, a museum and a fort. Not exactly leverage on a coach's side. Any student from a town bigger than Hays will probably be discouraged by its lack of size, and
the relative age of the town.
Regardless of how good of an education one can receive a FHSU, many people see it as a school in a podunk town, in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do. Probably not the best place to be
at when competing against other schools for the same athletes.

Mr. Klemm, I agree with Will that you made an excellent post. I also agree with Will that it would be great to have you back in Kansas someday.

I really agree with your last statement. My son has been working with Eric Akin this post high school season at St. James for freestyle practices and this past week at a wrestling camp at Baker. My son holds Eric in very high esteem and really enjoys working with him. My son thinks Eric would be an excellent college coach. As a parent I would feel very good about my son choosing to wrestle at a college that Eric Akin was head coach at. If Eric is interested in becoming a college head wrestling coach, I wish him the best of luck in securing such a position and Kansas would be very fortunate if it could be at a Kansas college or university.

Will and Vince,
Thanks for the kind words. Everytime I meet someone, I work in "I'm from Kansas..." whether they care or not!
My wife and kids are entrenched in school, etc. and if I tried to move back, I'm afraid it would be alone and little Kevin (3yo July 7)wouldn't have me riding his tail.

I do follow Kansas wrestling fervently, and miss everyone involved. I enjoy reading the boards, and although I came at Richard, I really enjoy his efforts to market our Kansas boys. Keep up the good work!

This thread is about FHSU, and I want to congratulate Chas and give my 2 cents:

Coach Thompson is a young, high energy coach who knows the administration well and vice versa, he has head coaching experience in Kansas, loyalty to Fort Hays, inroads to and a commitment to Kansas recruiting and and a great guy.
Also, the economic reality is that wrestling is never flush with cash, and a younger coach can also be comfortable with what they can pay until we raise more.
We want to make sure we welcome the opinions of tigers like Eric Luedke, and though it may seem he came on strong, wrestling is an aggressive sport, and if a Hawkeye can't get in your face, who can today? Not just any hawkeye, pretty much the epitomy of the stubborn overachiever nobody wanted that went on to become the 2nd 2x All American Iowa Hawkeye from Kansas in a row and then stepped right in and knocked off all time great Casey Cunningham at the Open his first year out.
Great things are happening in Kansas Wrestling at the college level, with options and opportunities increasing every day with pipelines to all the key D-1 programs, the strongest Jucos around and now new programs slated all over the state. Let's learn from the guys at that level and bring them in. We can greatly benefit from their contacts and technique and they need the support from the Kansas wrestling community to pursue their goals.
Good luck at National Duals everyone,
Kevin Klemm

Kevin,

We will keep hoping for your return someday. I am probably crazy but I have not given up on NCAA Division I wrestling at KSU, Wichita State or KU. We need to open up one of these potential opportunities for you. It would also be nice to have your son as one of Kansas young wrestlers in the future. Until we can get you back please keep posting. Perhaps if you have time maybe you could start a topic or two for a young wrestler like Gutwrench1 did about how to become a state champion, a Fargo All-American or a successful college wrestler. You sure were successful in helping a lot of young wrestlers achieve those accomplishments. It would be worth it to Kansas if we could somehow create a position like a Director of Youth Wrestler Development that would pay well enough to get you and your family back to Kansas.

I would also like to offer my congratulations to Chas Thompson. I wish him the best of luck and success at Fort Hays State University. I hope the program will reach a high level of success under his leadership. My guess is that Coach Thompson goals for success at Fort Hays State are even higher than anyone else's expectations for him and the program.

Believe it or not, there are some kids who are drawned to FHSU BECAUSE of the city of Hays. I personally see the advantage of having my children attend school at FHSU due to the small, family-friendly atmosphere. (and how many shoe stores do you really need in a mall anyway?, if you only pick the college because of the shopping, you probably need to look at your priorities).

I would much rather have my college-age children live in a place where they don't have to worry about locking their doors versus a place where they feel the need to carry mace with them everywhere they go. And as for statement about the college nightlife consisting of a few small bars----if that was indeed true, why does FHSU carry the stigma of being a "party school"? Could it be the ratio of bars versus population? Pretty high last time I looked.

But, in my opinion, the main draws to FHSU is the campus, the low student-teacher ratio and the COST!!!!!. I have a son who is going to be a senior. We are currently looking at schools. With the raising cost of gas, food, and general living expenses - the ultimate decision will be based on: What university will give us the best education for the lowest price. Right now, FHSU is leading the pack.

I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way as the enrollment at FHSU has gone up significantly in the past 15 years.

or ever heard of oktoberfest, one of the craziest things you will ever see!

I've been a part of Oktoberfest many times.