Clint Gard Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Wanted to give a little shout out to one of my former wrestlers, Rocky Burkett. Rocky was one of the first kids I coached and graduated in 2000. He was a regional qualifier for Rochester and went on to wrestle at Manchester College, where he was a NCAA Div. III Qualifier. He later helped me coach and then went on to Northern States University (Div. II) and was a coach there for a few years and was responsible for coaching a few All-Americans and one National Champ. Rocky was never one of the well known Indiana wrestlers and doesn't have all of the accolades but he sure is doing it now... Rocky is now the head coach at Aberdeen Central HS in Aberdeen, SD. In his second year of coaching he led them to their first state title in 53 years. All 14 of his kids qualified for state and he had 1 state champ. During his first year at AC, they placed 4th and had numerous place winners and 1 state champ. A few days ago he was named South Dakota Wrestling Coach of the Year. Just goes to show you that you don't have to be a stud to make a difference and do good things in the sport. Seems like this board does a lot of talking about the studs but we forget to talk about the guys out there doing big things that weren't the "great ones". http://rapidcityjournal.com/sports/local/class-a-state-wrestling-tournament-central-stevens-pine-ridge-crown/article_f95ac17b-4477-5c4c-a6f7-638961b75d74.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts