Group is pride of Valley

Published 1:11 am Friday, October 3, 2008

As anyone who knows me understands, youth sports have always been a passion. Soccer, football, baseball, basketball, wrestling, softball, etc.; all are a blast to

watch. And this past weekend, I was fortunate enough to see a great group

of kids, many of whom I have watched for four years, reach the peak

in a sport that the Wildcats are now becoming famous for: wrestling.

Once again, Mount Si took the Sea-King regional wrestling

title, and this time, our team had six kids in the finals: Kyle

Cunningham, Jeff Stone, Hiram Tame, Brad Davis, Dylan Seubert and Brad

Connor. In addition to those in the finals, there were many on the team

that are of champion caliber and could have easily been right there,

as well. Chad Mills, David Crotts, Jed McDaniels and Bobby

Taylor all come to mind when thinking of other champions.

On a special note, there is a person who I do not know as well

as some of the others, but it became even more obvious that he has

the heart of a champion. Kyle Cunningham, despite the great loss in

his family recently, put his whole heart into his wrestling, and it

showed with a great second-place finish in regional competition.

Besides the obvious fantastic finish of the Wildcat wrestlers

was a special recognition of the Wildcat coaching staff. Bruce

Caldwell, the head coach, was recognized by his peers as KingCo Coach of

the Year and Sea-King Coach of the Year. Bruce has been a

tremendous influence on the wrestling program at the high school for more

than 20 years.

In addition to being a great group of athletes, the current

group of seniors is a great group of young adults. Intense in

competition, yes, but they always take the time to say hi, are respectful and are

an asset to the school.

Congratulations to the Wildcats for their success, and good

luck at state.

Jim McKiernan