Danny Struck is headed to the Hall of Fame. The Jeffersonville coach has been elected to the Indiana Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt feels kinda weird, as I feel I have a long way to go and a lot more I want to do with kids. I love \u2018my kids\u2019 and really just try and do acts of love for them,\u201d the 43-year-old Struck said Thursday. \u201cSo it was a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m still watching, reading and learning daily to try and be better. I still try and read a book or two a month and go to four-to-six clinics a year. In my mind I am still doing what my kids are doing \u2014 learning, trying to be the best version of myself I can be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Struck is entering his 19th year as head coach of the Red Devils. During that time he has guided them to eight of the program\u2019s 10 all-time sectional titles (including the last three years in a row) and three Hoosier Hills Conference championships. Struck, who has 482 dual-meet wins as a head coach, is the vice president of the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 1995 graduate of Jennings County High School and \u201899 grad of the University of Indianapolis, Struck began coaching even before finishing college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noblesville coach Dan Mikesell has known Struck since 1999, when both were assistant coaches (Mikesell at Terre Haute North and Struck at Greencastle).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have watched his career and was surprised to know that he had yet to be nominated to be in the Indiana Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame,\u201d said Mikesell, who nominated Struck for the honor last spring. \u201cWords don\u2019t do justice to the type of influence that Danny has on his students and athletes. I have been lucky enough to serve on Indiana national teams with him and witnessed first-hand his unique ability to both motivate and inspire young athletes. In the past 20-plus years, I have also competed against his teams and find his athletes well-trained, knowledgeable and hard to beat, as well as exhibiting the best sportsmanship possible. His work with all aspects of the Jeffersonville wrestling program has been amazing. He has built a dynasty in the southeast portion of our state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Said Struck: \u201cI do feel good that my mentors and peers on the Hall of Fame committee thought enough of me to vote me in. I follow their careers and learn from them, so I feel validated those quality individuals think I\u2019m on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Struck credits several of his mentors with helping him get to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foremost among those are his father, Dan, who was a long-time football coach at Jennings County; as well as his JCHS wrestling coach, T. Howard Jones, who is a member of the IWCHF as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope I\u2019m doing for kids what these two coaches taught me,\u201d Struck said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also gives acclaim to his college coach, Terry Wetherald, who is an IWCHF member as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Struck will be the first Jeffersonville coach to be inducted into the IWCHF, he won\u2019t be the first associated with the Red Devils\u2019 program. He\u2019ll join former Jeff wrestlers Robert Rosbottom and Adam Doherty. Additionally, the Rosbottom (including Louis and Sharon, who founded the Team Jeff Wrestling Club in 1991) and Doherty families are also in the IWCHF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Struck will also join one of his former Greencastle wrestlers, the late Charlie Pingleton (Struck gave his induction speech), as well as his high school principal, Chuck Hurley in the IWCHF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to join the club with all these people who have meant so much to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n