Dear Columbia Basin wrestling coaches...

MOSES LAKE - I can finally look back at this year's Mat Classic and reflect on my second experience at one of the state's marquee events.

I have never wrestled and never entertained a desire to wrestle. But since my days in high school playing basketball, I always respect wrestlers and their sport.

In fact, I think my team and our wrestling program were one of the few friendly relationships I have ever seen between the two winter sports.

The wrestlers worked extremely hard and made many sacrifices for greatness, while we were just a nitty, gritty, hard nosed group of warriors. The wrestlers liked our gumption. We loved their determination.

After I graduated, my relationship with the sport has been limited. I enjoyed watching the Olympic wrestling tournaments and the occasional college match-ups on television.

That all changed once I moved to Moses Lake in the fall of 2009.

I had been immersed in one of wrestling's true hotbeds - the Columbia Basin. Not since my days living in the Midwest, and my knowledge of the Iowa state tournament and that state's zealous approach to the sport, had I seen anything as comparable.

Watching Moses Lake, Warden, Othello, Royal, Quincy, Ephrata and ACH programs and individuals, it is kind of hard not to get swept up in the enthusiasm and greatness of the sport.

Yet, much of it starts with the coaches I have gotten to know.

There is no doubt these are some of the finest men and women anywhere.

I can be a pain with my constant need for information and my 1,000 calls in five minutes just to get one answer. But, I pursue it with intensity because I want to be great at what I do.

What I respect more than anything about the wrestling coaches, is they also pursue greatness.

Recently, I had to pound out a Mat Classic XXIII tab and cover the event itself. It is a lot of work to be done in two weeks. When I went to the coaches and asked them for help before regionals, I requested ample amounts of information to get an early start and insure my ability to do the best job possible. Not only did they agree to do it, they did so tenfold.

All that with a tournament coming up within 24-48 hours.

I have learned that with a great program in any sport there is a large attention to detail. But, there is an extreme level of pride and a willingness to share with the world, anything and everything about their teams.

Sure. It's a coach's job to get information to the media, but these leaders do not just go through the motions, they go to the limit to make sure they get their programs out there and in turn help others do their jobs as well.

They just don't tell their athletes what the standards are, they execute those expectations themselves.

The Columbia Basin isn't an area just known for winning wrestling in my eyes any longer.

No.

It is now a wrestling area known for the winners who guide their programs.

I can confidently predict success will be long and the championships will continue aplenty.

Thanks for all your help coaches. I hope I represented you as well as you represented yourselves.