Ladies and Gentlemen,

Yutan High School needs a head wrestling coach for the upcoming season. They will have two returning state qualifiers and about 15 wrestlers on the team. There are about 9 juniors that are going to be pretty successful. This group will bring home many trophies and awards, but they need a good leader! So if you are interested, or know someone that is, please contact Dustin Neilsen, Yutan AD, at 402 625 2241 or you can call me 402 628 5725. There is also a high school science position open as well....... This is going to be a special group and I want to make sure that they get the best coach possible on such short notice.

For those of you that know me, I have accepted a teaching position at the University of Montana-Helena and am moving out there in the next couple of weeks. It was a very difficult decision because of this group of wrestlers, along with a promising group of junior high prospects. But this move is what is best for my family. I will miss all of you!

Rick,

Congrats on the new job! Sorry to hear you will be leaving. Good luck with the new job!

Coach McDuffee

Thanks Coach McDuffee.....

I am excited about the new challenge, but sad that I am going to miss seeing a lot of great results on the mat by some individuals that have improved dramatically over the last two or three years. I just hope the program keeps growing. Good luck to you and your program! You have a lot of young talent in your room, and a lot to look forward to yourself.

Rick - best of luck on the new gig. I'd offer to help drive the U-Haul to Helena, but I just drove back from Minneapolis the other day and the drive through I.O.W.A. about drove me insane. I'm not a safe bet behind the wheel right now...

Rick,
I'm happy for your opportunity but it will be a great loss for Yutan wrestling. You're a great guy, a great coach and an outstanding ambassador for the sport.I know you didn't yet accomplish all the things you would like to have accomplished at Yutan but know that you leave big shoes to fill. We've only met briefly at duals and youth tourney's but I've used your enthusiasm and persistance as an inspiration to perservere when I get frustaed and lazy with my effort in our youth program. Good luck out there. You'll have a big cheer leader in Oakland. If my son decides to try to wrestle at the next level I'd be proud to have you coach him.

Best of Luck and sad to see you go!

Congratulations on the new job, Rick. Wish you the best of luck. The wrestling community will miss you. Take care!!!

You could always dust off Dennis Pogue. I would guess that he would not want to join our ranks again. He is use to getting compensated a lot more for his time than coaching pays.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Leaving the wrestling community here is about the toughest part of moving on........ Does anyone have any connections to wrestling in Montana?

Dusting off Coach Pogue would be dangerous for the rest of class c and d wrestling! It would be an unfair advantage for Yutan and would surely involve an investigation by the NSAA...... You are right about the compensation package not being equal, unfortunately.

Does anyone have a semi that I could borrow for a week?

This is really a great opportunity for someone in west omaha, elkhorn, gretna, fremont, wahoo........ I would really like to give the administration some names for them to contact/interview.

we wrestle forsythe, mt and sydney, mt at the pat weede in gillette wyoming. i know the cobra usa team up there that rausers are with is really tough. tough group of year-round kids that hit all the big usa and rmn tournaments.

Thanks Cornfed....... At least I know it exists! Big Sky, Trout Streams, and Wrestling Mats..... What a slice of heaven!

Cheifstorm, It's kinda of a longshot but EJ Hancock, in Wahoo, used to be the head coach in Ansley. He's now a financial advisor with a insurence company so he might have the flexible schedule that might work. I have no idea if he has any interest but like I said it's a longshot...

Wow...have not been on for some time. Best of Luck Rick!!!! Maybe you can get a summer retreat and come back to Wilber anyway!

Phil,

Since you have about 7 guys on staff there with a wrestling background, could you lease one out for a couple of years?

Its been a pleasure working with you Phil! Good luck down the road...... If you are ever on a road in Montana, swing by Helena and I'll buy you a beer and get you off the beaten path!

Hi Rick,
Congratulations on the new gig. I hope you will enjoy it. You are going to a beautiful part of the country. If you are going to be talking wrestling with the natives you must know the name Jug Beck. My college roommate coached wrestling at Billings west for 2 or 3 years after we graduated in 1962. We had lots of phone calls and I went out to see him on Christmas vacation. That's how I learned about Jug Beck. Cornell College at Mt. Vernon, IA won the NCAA nationals in about 1948. (There was no DII, DIII, or NAIA) Jug wrestled on that team and then went to Missoula Sentinel. I believe he may have started their program and probably was instrumental in starting the state tournament. I think they won the first 9 or 10 state tournaments held. You will hear lots of Jug Beck stories. I doubt if he is still alive today. He's even older than me. (It's possible.) Please send your new email address so I can continue to harass you.

Best of Luck to you and your family.

Frank

Go Grizzlies

Any luck on finding a replacement?

I think so....... but they haven't officially announced yet. There were actually 4 or 5 people who put their name in the hat.

Brian Sass has been named my replacement in the science classroom.

Thanks for all who contacted me and expressed interest, or gave me names of people to call and harrass!

Congratulations, Rick! Glad to hear you will still be involved in wrestling in MT. Your contributions here will be missed. Come back once in a while and check in and update us how things are going!

Godspeed...

I'm addicted to huskermat! More than three or four days away and I get the shakes!