Fort Leonard Wood Panthers Wrestling
History
The Fort Leonard Wood Panthers Kid's Wrestling Team was a product of the vision of CPT Ernest Urquieta and his wife, SFC Yvonne Urquieta. Although, at the time, other kid's teams existed in Waynesville and Rolla, Ernest and Yvonne recognized the need for a team dedicated to supporting military families and the unique challenges facing military kids (frequent moves, parental deployments, etc). Thus, in the fall of 2002, the Fort Leonard Wood Panthers were born. LTC Jeff McClure replaced Coach Ernest the following year due to CPT Urquieta deploying overseas in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. The team practiced at the 1st Engineer Brigade's Sapper Leader Course off of Indiana Ave on Fort Leonard Wood, MO until the 2005-2006 season when practice began being held at Specker Gym. In October 2005, Coach McClure received notification that he would deploy to Iraq for a year. LTC McClure deployed to Baghdad, Iraq in November 2005 in support of our nation's efforts of restoring peace there. Brian Cyr stepped up as head coach, assisted by Luanne McClure, COL Daniel Choike, SGT Mike Contreras and a host of others. In April 2006, Coach Ernest Urquieta resumed his duties as Head Coach after returning to FT Leonard Wood from two years of deployments. |