Gina Elliott Fremont High School State Journalism Contest Sports News Writing 2013-2014 School Year

8 THE RUSTLER November 2013

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As Ted Husar prepares to embark upon his final season as the head wrestling coach at Fre-mont High School, the two-time state wrestling champion (in the 145-pound weight class in 1976 and 1977), said he will leave the sport with many fond memories.

“Coaching allowed me to work closely with many student-athletes,” said Husar, who will retire at the conclusion of the 2013-2014 season. “The most fulfilling part was watching people improve as a student-athlete as they reached their full potential.”

Husar was first introduced to wrestling when he was in the sixth grade in Binghamton, New York. He moved to Fremont when he was 13-years-old. He stayed in Fremont until he graduated from FHS in 1977 and then attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

In addition to attending classes at UNO, Husar was also a member of the Maverick wres-tling team. He won All-American honors in 1980 and 1981 in the 150-pound weight class.

Wrestling

Although he enjoyed the college life, Husar said he had no idea what he wanted to do after graduation. All that started to change during his junior year, when Husar took a psychology test and received a 46 out of 50. Scoring so well on the test made Husar realize that he wanted to make a career out of teaching psychology and coaching wrestling.

For the last 32 years, Husar has done exactly that. Husar started his teaching career at Omaha Ryan High School for two years from 1981 to 1983 He then went to Clay Center High School for two years (from 1983 to 1985), where he was part of a state runner-up wrestling team in 1984.

After that he came back home to Fremont. Husar started at FHS in the fall of 1985. He began with teaching history and sociology, until he introduced the AP program in 1994. Ever since then, he has taught Psychology along with AP Psychology. He became the head wres-tling coach at FHS in 1986.

“I wanted to come back and give to a school and community that helped me clearly as a student and as an athlete,” Husar said.

During those years, Husar said he coached hundreds of wrestlers who have qualified for the state tournament. He said he’s coached 58 medal winners, including eight individual state champions. Two of those state champs were from FHS. In 1992 Drew Harrison won a state championship in the 112-pound weight class and Aaron Dalton won a state title at 160 (pounds) in 2000. Husar said he would have had 12 state champions, if four had not lost in overtime.

“I have had many successes and many disappointments along the way,” said Husar. “I got to be a part of many championship teams in all of the sports that I have coached. The part I re-member the most is the opportunity to work with many talented coaches and athletes. Overall, my coaching career was an emotional roller coaster, but I’m glad I got to experience it.”

Ben Wilcox, an assistant wrestling coach at FHS, has worked with Husar the last four years. Husar also coached Wilcox in wrestling at FHS from 1995-1998 and helped him to a state runner-up finish.

“It will feel strange not to have him [Husar] next to me on the mat,” Wilcox said. “In fact, it will be strange for a lot of people, considering Coach Husar has been a part of Fremont wrestling for so many years.”

Michael Lambert, a senior at FHS, has been a wrestling for Husar for four years. Lambert has always looked up to Husar and considers him to be like a father-figure.

“I have a lot of respect for coach Husar,” said Lambert. “He has shaped me to a better wres-tler with his wisdom and encouragement. As a retierment present, Husar told me and Sean that he wants us to be the first brothers he has coached to medal at state in the same year. This is our mission and we won’t let him down.”

Over the years Husar said he coached a variety of different sports (football, track and soc-cer), but that wrestling was always his favorite. He said he has mixed feelings about this being his 32nd and final year of coaching.

“I have been involved with athletics since a very young age,” Husar said, “so I will prob-ably miss it for awhile. But coaching wrestling was a ton of fun and very fulfilling, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. At the same time, I’m excited to do something different and look at some new opportunities.” Story by Gina Elliott

Ted Husar has been the head wrestling coach at Fremont High School for the past 29 years and has been involved in wrestling since he was in the sixth grade. This 2013-2014 wrestling season will be Husar’s last season coaching wrestling at Fremont High School and also his last year teaching.

Husar embarks upon final season