Coach Burke enters the NSWCA Hall of Fame

Those of you who know Coach Stacey Burke will appreciate this. Stacey was inducted into the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame last night (June 14). Mom and I were among the about 30 people with ties to Franklin High wrestling who attended to support Stacey and Claudia. Doug Walton, a former wrestler and assistant coach, introduced Stacey and talked about how important my dad, Tom Croston, was to the program, as well.

Dad was Stacey's assistant for a long time at Franklin. Even though he had never wrestled, he learned the sport and was Stacey's right-hand man, from what Doug and Mom said. Dad did the record keeping, wrote the newspaper articles and helped shuttle the wrestlers from one place to another at state wrestling.

I wish Dad could have been there last night. He would have had a blast! I think the most poignant moment for me was when Stacey leaned over to Mom and said he missed Dad. Evidently Dad was always the one to do the speaking at awards presentations and banquets, and Stacey would have loved to hand over his induction speech to him.

So, here are a few pictures I took at the banquet. You'll see my mom with Franklin friends Mel and Sue Falk and Craig and Chris Gilpin, as well as with Stacey and Claudia. Enjoy! And congratulations to Stacey. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.