Baker University has hired Jimmy May as the first head coach for its new wrestling program. (7/24/08)

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Coach May is an absolute Legend in Nevada sports history and West Coast wrestling. He had the nation's fourth-winningest program (317-20-2, .941) during his tenure, and they were a well travel program.

Baker Wrestling will no doubt be coming up the ranks very soon.

I am excited!

I for one think this is a real bad deal. There can't be more than twenty or thirty qualified Kansas guys that would have been great choices for this position, but gosh we they had to go all the way to Nevada to find a guy. Hey good luck recruiting those Nevada kids to Baker. Nevada has long been known for their phenominal wrestling. I have my tongue planted firmly in my cheek.

The search was national and conducted thoroughly over several months. There were several qualified candidates from Kansas, and the surrounding states. Baker went after and got a proven winner…

As for your disdain, are you implying that Coach May will not be able to recruit Kansas wrestlers, or those wrestlers who come from the West Coast (Oregon, California, Arizona, etc.), or the greater United States for that matter? He has been imbedded in the sport for over thirty years, and has deep roots in many of the wrestling states. Moreover, does the name Matt Azevedo ring a bell? Let me remind you that he won the US Nationals this past year. He is a product of the Eldorado Wrestling (Las Vegas) program that was headed by Coach May.

With all of that said, you are right. Kansas is hot bed for wrestling. The passion on the forum is a testimony to it. If Coach May was successful in the desert lets see what he can do in the fields of Kansas.

I think Eric Akin would of been the best choice for the job. A Kansan that would have built a powerhouse program. I just hate to see these jobs go to out of staters when we have great coaches here that wanted the job.

New blood is never a bad thing to mix in. I don't follow high school wrestling that closely and I know of Eldorado in Nevada. I think based on his resume he looks like a solid hire. Let's see what he can do. Best of luck to Coach May and the new Baker Wrestling team.

Captain you really don't have to remind me of anything. I coached in this state for 30 years and saw Azevedo when he was a kid wrestler so I don't really need a history lesson from you. I also don't need you to tell me whether or not we are a hotbed of wrestling. I know we have a boat load of NCAA wrestlers from Kansas over the years and a bunch of NCAA champs from this state and aside from your man Azevedo, the Nevada list is running very short. I have watched so many "national" searches conducted by college administrators that I can't see straight. All those boys are down the road right now and all those programs are gone. If I need a history lesson, I will ask someone who has been around longer than I have to give me one if it is all the same to you. By the way that is my real name on there I don't need an alias.

I didn't imply anything. I just think if colleges are going to go a continent away to get there coaches then maybe they ought to go there to get their athletes. Evidently the quality here isn't up to their standards. We have three NCAA All-Americans who have just retired from wrestling. They will all land assistant jobs at major universities. Might have been one of those kids. Heck one of them even has a win over Azevedo. Go figure. His high school coach would have been a good choice too by the way and he's from South Dakota, but at least he has done his job here. Don't know about all that legend crap though, we don't elect many to that legendary status.

Sorry, to rattle your cage. My only point was that Coach May is a great coach who brings to Baker the ‘coaching’ experience necessary to build a winning program from scratch, literally. There are a multitude of hats that one must wear, besides the one from Kansas. Ok, he is not from Kansas, granted. But since you have been coaching in the sport for over 30 years, I don’t think that you can disagree, he has won, and won a lot while at the same time changing young people’s lives. As you already know, Azevedo was not even in the top 25 of kids to come out of Eldorado, he just had the fortitude to get out of Vegas, unlike most, to see his wrestling dreams to fruition! Respect

OPPORTUNITY - I am just glad the young wrestlers have another opportunity in the Kansas City area. Just as I felt with Newman (Now NCAA DII status) was a great addition near Wichita and for the State of Kansas. Don't get me going on the administration at KU, K-State, and Wichita State.

Captain,

Your points are well taken. Most of us had hoped for one of our local legends to land that job, but as smokey stated, we are glad to have another opportunity in the Metro area. I know that I'm not alone in welcoming Coach May to Kansas. He has built a wealth of respect nationally and we are thankful to land a quality coach. I look forward to meeting him and will support his efforts!

I have to admit I had a Kansas favorite for the position. I was very disappointed when I found out last week that he wasn't going to get the position. I believe he would have been a solid pick too. I also agree that there were other quality Kansas wrestling people who would have been good choices. The disappointment that many of us feel is understandable. That being said, Dan Harris had an obligation to make a national search for the position. The Baker University wrestling program will be competing nationally and it was necessary for Mr. Harris to look nationally for its coach.

I am sure that Mr. Harris gave serious consideration to Kansas candidates for the position. In the final analysis though, he had to pick the candidate who he felt would be best for the position. Jimmy May has an incredible high school coaching resume. It reminds me of the success that Mr. Van Rose the SM Northwest cross country coach has achieved over a long period of time. Obviously Jimmy May knows how to build a successful long term program. Baker University is very fortunate to hire a coach of Mr. May's caliber. I am sure Mr. May will understand some of our initial disappointment that a local favorite was not picked. But I believe he will become a welcomed new member of the Kansas wrestling community. I also think he will be driven to make Baker annually one of the top programs nationally in the NAIA just like he did with his high school in Nevada. Mr. May, I welcome you to the Kansas wrestling community and you will have my support.

I agree with Sean and Eric that this is a great opportunity for the Kansas wrestling community and especially for the Northeast Kansas wrestling community. I am personally excited that we will have the opportunity to have college wrestling nearby. A lot of Kansas wrestlers will one day wrestle for Baker University. I want to thank Dan Harris for all his hard work and support in bringing wrestling to Baker University and another college program to Kansas.

You guys are better politicians than I am. One of these days people in this state have got to start standing up for some of their favorite sons. Iowa does, Pennsylvania does, Oklahoma does. They do those "national" searches too and then they hire a guy from their state and then they keep their talent at home. There are about nine thousand guys with this guys resume in this country. I for one don't care a lick about any of them. I am a Kansas guy and I am done appologizing for Kansas wrestling. It's good and we can keep our good people from having to get into other professions. It is about time we quit giving the benefit of the doubt to people who know nothing about wrestling for hiring "legends" from 1100 miles away. I will tell you what we know for sure about any of those coaches in Nevada or wherever...... nothing.

Welcoming a newly hired coach to our state is not standing up for our favorite sons? There are 9000 guys that have a 317-20-2 record as a coach? That's 180 per state. Does that mean that we won't see you at any of the Baker duals?

Coach Westfahl,

I understand where you are coming from. I think it would have been great for a Kansas favorite son to have got the job. Like I said I had a favorite and he is a Kansas native. I think he would have been very good too. I had a few others in mind and they were all from Kansas too.

I had never heard of Coach Jimmy May and that is because I really do not follow that closely high school wrestling outside of Kansas and maybe the Kansas City Missouri area. But you know I had never heard of Coach Bob Devaney who was hired as the football coach of my beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers for the 1962 season. He had coached the Wyoming football team the previous five years and had compiled a 35-10-5 record, a .750 winning percentage. I was only 11 years old but I had been raised on Nebraska football and I did not know who this Devaney character was or how you could jump from Wyoming's coach to Nebraska's coach. He was an unknown but he coached Nebraska football for the next 11 years and compiled an incredible 101-20-2 record a .829 winning percentage. He took Nebraska to nine bowls, 7 Big championships plus one year as co-champion. Nebraska was also national champion in two of those years. He also groomed a native Nebraska assistant coach Tom Osborne who followed him and compiled an even better record. Believe me at the end of Devaney's tour, the good fans of Nebraska football did not care that Devaney came from the Wyoming football program. And they won't be at all upset if Bo Pellini ends up resurrecting Nebraska football to the level that Devaney did.

Now I am not saying that Jimmy May is going to do exactly what Devaney did but he might end up having college coaching success similar to what he has achieved at the high school level in Nevada. Just think how important that would be to the long term success of the Baker University wrestling program, if he could achieve that. Maybe at the end of that successful run Coach May will hand off a well established NAIA powerhouse wrestling program to a native Kansas assistant like Devaney did to Osborne back in 1973.

I would bet it was the goal of Dan Harris to build an annual NAIA national wrestling power at Baker University. I think he hired Jimmy May with that thought in mind. It will be a wonderful thing for Kansas wrestling if it happens.

This is an excellent hire. One of the best coaches in America. I first learned who he was my senior year in hs when one of his students became Nevada’s first Jr. National champion ever. . Alcarez ‘89.

His program, referred to as “The Dynasty in the Desert,” won 8 straight state titles, and one year boasted 10 champs. Dual record: 317-20!!

As an assistant at Nebraska I had the opportunity to recruit and coach one of his athletes. In Real Pro and USA team trials I competed against another of his life-long students (Azevedo). Everyone I’ve ever met who wrestled for him or coached with him thinks he walks on water.

Another great opportunity for Kansas wrestlers. I’m very excited for Baker and all the Kansas boys this will be awesome for.

I also appreciate all the confidence my Kansas loyal fans have in me, but Baker made a great choice and hired the best applicant for the job. No doubt Coach May is for real.

After Akin's endorsement, I wonder if Westfahl will respond?

LOLLL Next time you see Eric (and I know you are reading this) ask him if you think anything he or anyone else ever said to me changed my mind. I know he is laughing at the thought of that. No it does nothing to change my mind in any way. I am 100% loyal to Kansas Kids and Kansas coaches. Akin and I have been friends for a long time. He would be dissapointed with me if I backtracked just because he had a post. It is funny to even think about. I am not making any reference to whatever the guys name is. I am speaking in total support of the many Kansas wrestling and football coaches who have been totally overlooked by Kansas colleges for many many years. No! I stand behind each and every word I wrote and I don't care if Dan Gable didn't like it. Heck especially Dan Gable when I think about it.

By the way did they give Wayne Jackson's ten year run in Kansas some cute name. If they did, I didn't hear about it. See, we just don't crown legends around here. Maybe we should. We can beat anybody and we can coach with anybody. Akin knows that and I know that. We don't have to prove that to anyone now. For crying out loud don't equate some high school coach who is now coaching at Baker in Baldwin with Bob Devaney. I don't think I can wrap myself around that one.

Heck while I am on this rant I might as well go all in. Not many of those Kansas Kids are going to be able to afford to go to Baker anyway. What this is going to do is put a few kids in the seats at Baldwin and pour some big money into their coffers. (In the 20 grand a year area) I will get really excited when one of our state schools, maybe Emporia or Pittsburg get smart and add wrestling. Then maybe some of our kids can afford to go there. Those books and tuition deals at Baker won't go to far for some of these kids around here. Well maybe the rich ones will profit but that is ok I guess. I think it is basically irrelevant. When an affordable school gets it I will be really excited unless they hire another out of state "legend". Then I will be (and no one will care) perturbed again.

Now coach..... You've "never" changed your mind?

Wayne Jackson was also given a "legend" status...

http://www.arkcity.net/stories/120105/spo_0001.shtml