WE ARE ADAPTIVE WRESTLING-SPECIFIC MEDIA

Comes the time when I have to cease my service to Louisiana high school wrestling and spend a little more time on myself.  Trying to thank everyone who has helped me since I started the LHSWA in 2006 or the LWN in 2012 would be a ridiculous endeavor, so I will try another tack.

As an LAHOF induction was the last thing to happen to me, I guess I could end by explaining a little bit about the Louisiana Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and how it works.

High school sports do not grow on their own.  They require care and cultivation.  And they require dedication by those who live in the area to keep what had started growing to continue to do so.

Let’s go way back.  The first high school football game was held in Connecticut in 1875.  How was one to show a Rhode Island school how much fun they were having in Connecticut and entice them into the adventure?  My guess is letters followed by a horse-driven wagon of players and coaches.

The same is true of any high school sport.  People are needed to keep the sport growing in particular regions of a state, and eventually people will do things that will influence the sport statewide. 

Nobody does this with any kind of reward in mind.  Yet in most places, over time, recognition for the actions of individuals that help a sport grow in a state are deemed worthy of honors.  Most states do that via Hall of Fames.  And many of those come under the auspices of a National Hall of Fame, which is how it is done for wrestling.  Ours is called the Louisiana Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (NWHOF is in Stillwater, Oklahoma).

On April 12^th, 2025, for the first time since 2008, a Louisiana Wrestling Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held in Harahan, Louisiana.  Seven individuals were lauded for their decades of work re making the sport better for the entire Louisiana wrestling community.

A common misconception is that being a great wrestler or a great coach makes one eligible for the Hall of Fame.  It does not.  Halls of Fame for such individuals are called the State Wrestling Championships.  One does not even have to don a pair of wrestling shoes to be eligible for induction.  One member from 2008 and another in 2025 never walked onto a wrestling mat in anger while wearing the required shoes.

Eligibility comes from a lifetime of service to Louisiana high school wrestling, usually at least 20 years above and beyond what one might do to earn a living.  It comes from not only having an effect at one local school, but over a state region that includes dozens of schools.  It demands attention that often supersedes the regular schedule of one’s “real” job. 

I was amazed when I was told I was to be inducted into the LAHOF on April 12^th for building two archaic websites.  Yet in the late 2000s I do recall people pulling me aside at state tournaments to tell me how much they liked the Archives, and I was dumbfounded when it appeared my name was known across the state after only five articles in the first year of the LWN. 

Once this article is published I will work with Chad Ravannack on turning over the Archives website to him and archiving the LWN website, complete with articles and photos.  The Archives may be different, but it will still serve its primary purpose.

Hence, after publishing this article, the LWN is done.  As for the Archives, I will try to continue documenting the results of the Louisiana Classic, Ken Cole and State Wrestling Championships as I have in the past.

I have said “goodbye” several times before, but this one is going to last.  Physical needs have rather overwhelmed me of late, so I have to concentrate on my health a bit more than I used to do.

Aside from Chad I did not mention anyone else by name.  This was on purpose.  Over 20 years I have met probably a couple of thousand people, of whom, granted, I remember the names of maybe 2%, but I could thank about 95% of them for supporting my efforts and for just being an impressive group of people for whom to work. 

Thus, only one way exists for me to say what I need to say to the Louisiana wrestling community as a whole.  Only one phrase will adequately thank the vast majority of people and chastise only a very few: 

No phrases I know can fully express my gratitude to so many people for so many different reasons.  Save one:

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