bharmon01

I received word that my High School coach Keith Farrand passed away last Thursday April 20th at the age of 92. He had a major impact on my life and choosing to pursue a career in teaching and coaching wrestling. Mr. Farrand graduated from Purdue University where he also wrestled. He was a Physical education teacher and Head Wrestling coach at Indianapolis North Central for 27 years retiring in 1988. He had a record of 263 - 66 - 1. His North Central Panther teams won 3 Marion County Championships, 10 IHSAA Sectional Championships, 6 IHSAA Regional Championships and 2 IHSAA State Runner-Up teams. He coached 10 individual IHSAA State Champions. He served as an assisstant wrestling coach at Hamilton Heights High School after retiring from North Central. Mr. Farrand taught at Crawfordsville High School after graduating from Purdue and founded the Wabash College Wrestling Team. His first team at Wabash went 3-0 beating Notre Dame and Indiana Central twice. He was inducted into the IHSWCA Hall of Fame in 1976 and National Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 1984. Mr. Farrand helped found the IHSWCA and served as one of the early IHSWCA Presidents. He was also a IHSWCA Billy Thom Award winner. Mr. Farrand attend 50 NCAA D1 Wrestling Championships and got my started attending the NCAAA Tournament which I continue today. I always looked forward to catching up at the NCAAs. Mr. Farrand's obituary can be found in the Indianapolis Star. I will miss him greatly. I'm proud to say I was one of Keith's Panther Wrestlers.