Angel Escobedo said it best Wednesday night when he talked about Columbus being a community that supports its student-athletes.
The new head wrestling coach at Indiana University, Escobedo was the keynote speaker at the second annual Republic Athlete of the Year Gala.
Twenty-four Bartholomew County Athletes of the Year in 20 sports were recognized at Wednesday’s banquet. The big winners were Male and Female Athletes of the Year Brigham Kleinhenz of Columbus North and Adi Minor of Columbus East, along with Josh Speidel Spirit Award winner Tessa Sims of Hauser.
They were among a crowd of about 175 athletes, parents, coaches, administrators and fans at The Commons. They heard the story of Escobedo, who marveled about the interest Columbus takes in high school athletics.
Escobedo grew up in the Gary area — better known for its high rate of crime than high school sports. But Escobedo, who started wrestling at age 5, became a four-time state champion at Griffith, a three-time All-American, 2008 national champion at IU and a fifth-place finisher at the 2013 World Championships.
As an IU assistant coach, Escobedo recruited three Columbus East wrestlers to Bloomington. Graham Rooks is headed there this fall, and his brother Cayden Rooks and Nick South will become Hoosiers the following year after finishing their senior years with the Olympians.
In coming to Columbus for a couple of wrestling meets to recruit the Rooks brothers and South, he noticed the size of the crowds was much bigger than just about anyplace else he went. He also heard about East and Columbus North drawing up to 5,000 fans for crosstown rivalry games.
Escobedo said the fan base that the student-athletes have in Columbus is something that some colleges around the country dream about.
“So I would say cherish that,” Escobedo said in his speech. “Don’t take it for granted. Take pride in it. Fight hard for those fans. Take them with you to that next level. Continue to make them proud because those people started with you in the beginning, and they will always be with you until the end.”
