Wrestling fans packed the WHS gym Saturday as Warsaw High School hosted the annual Warsaw Wrestling Tournament. During the event, David Lemon, Class of ’98, and John Dunham, first WHS wrestling coach, were inducted into the newly established WHS Wrestling Hall of Honor.
Wrestling became a sport at WHS in the fall of 1994 when Lemon was a freshman and Dunham was a newly hired science teacher.
“My mother was the superintendent at Versailles and she talked to Dr. Boise about getting wrestling at Warsaw,” said Dunham. “I got a call from Boise and then the rest is history.”
Starting a new sport is difficult but the students embraced it and 16 students participated.
“Only 4 of the team had ever wrestled before,” said Dunham. “Nathan and Seth Steenburgen and Michael and David Lemon had wrestled in the youth program at Clinton but the rest had no idea what wrestling was all about.”
Dunham recalled that the wrestling mats did not arrive in time for the first practice so Coach Loren Burke and Dunham took down the mats on the walls of the gym and put them in the hallway for the first few practices.
“When the mats finally arrived and we put them in the gym, one of the fans asked me where the ropes were. I guess he thought it would be like what he would see on TV,” said Dunham.
That first year; Jeremy Barker, Ian Cobb, Michael Henderson and Nathan Steenburgen were all sectional qualifiers and Steenburgen represented WHS at the state tournament where he placed fourth.
The next year, Jeremy Barker, Beau Breshears and Michael Henderson qualified for the state tournament and Henderson placed sixth.
The third year of the program, 10 wrestlers qualified for sectionals and 5 for state. Seth Steenburgen won the 3rd place medal at the state competition. Other state participants included: Jesse Wallut, David Lemon, Beau Breshears and John Boley.
The fourth year of the program, David Lemon made WHS wrestling history by becoming the first Warsaw wrestler to win a state championship. Lathan Cobb and Daniel Yoder both placed 6th at state. Beau Breshears and John Boley also advanced to the state tournament.
“It was the highlight of my high school athletic career to stand on top of the podium as the first place winner for my weight class,” said Lemon.
Lemon wrestled all 4 years in high school as well as playing as a starter on the WHS football team.
Lemon graduated from WHS in 1998 as the Class Valedictorian and went on to graduate from the University of Missouri at Columbia with a degree in engineering with a minor in business and math. He is currently the President of Flashpoint, a cybersecurity company in Kansas City.
Lemon, the son of former Warsaw teachers Bob and Linda Lemon, is married to Hilary and they are the parents of three children: Avery, 16; William, 13; and Jackson, 9. The Lemon's live in Kansas City.
“My dad influenced my wrestling career since he drove Michael and I to youth wrestling in Clinton and then he was my first coach,” said Lemon. “Dad wrestled in high school and junior college and was a big supporter of the beginning WHS program.”
Lemon recalled that his dad wouldn’t let him try to cut weight.
“Dad said that I should try to eat healthy, but he said if I needed to cut weight, then I probably wasn’t good enough,” said Lemon.
Another WHS wrestler, Charlie Daleske, was also a state wrestler who placed 6th his sophomore year, 5th his junior year and 3rd in his senior season.
“I started wrestling in 3rd grade because someone saw me sitting there watching my big brother at practice,” recalled Daleske. “He asked me if I wanted to work out with the group so I did and that was it; I was hooked.”
Daleske watched his 4-year old son, Axen, on Sunday take on his first opponent in the Warsaw Youth Wrestling Tournament.
“I was very proud of Axen and it was fun to coach him,” said Daleske.
Daleske said that Coach Dunham was an influence on his life as he demanded perfection and it made him a better wrestler as well as a better person.
“John Dunham taught me that the only thing I deserve is what I earn. I still, to this day, live my life by those words,” said Daleske.
Daleske is married to Warsaw teacher Megan Palmer-Daleske and they are the parents of two; Axen, 4 and Palmer, 1. They are also expecting another family member very soon.
Some of the highlights that Dunham recalled during his tenure at Warsaw was taking 4th in the state tournament as a team in 2002.
“Placing at state as a team is tough and we were up against some top teams in Platte County, Oak Grove and Lawson, so that was a proud moment,” said Dunham.
“Another proud moment was watching John Steenburgen take two state titles back-to-back,” said Dunham.
Dunham said that coming back to the Warsaw Tournament and visiting with his former students was the best part of the Hall of Honor celebration.
“I was happy to see so many of my former wrestlers continuing as coaches,” said Dunham.
After leaving Warsaw, Dunham continued his career in education then retired in northern Missouri three years ago. He and his wife are the parents of five and the grandparents of 8.
“I got bored after retiring so I started looking for a part-time job and ended up as the manager of security and transportation for a marijuana facility in northern Missouri near Marcelline,” said Dunham.
The present WHS wrestling head coach Justin Wisdom is coming off a big victory at the Warsaw Wrestling Tournament as his team took 1st place in the tourney.
Wisdom, who is in his seventeenth year in education, has been the head coach at WHS for 3 years and was instrumental in establishing the Wrestling Hall of Honor.
“This is the 30th anniversary of the WHS wrestling program and I wanted to honor those who started the program and helped it to grow,” said Wisdom.
Season results for the 6th state ranked boy's wrestling 'Cats include: 3rd place at the Bolivar Tourney, 9 individual medalists; 9th out of 48 teams at the Battle of Katy Trail Tourney, 4 individual medalists; 1st place at the Warsaw Tourney, 9 individual medalists; 1-0 in duals.
Season results for the girls’ wrestling team: 20th out of 48 Battle of Katy Trail Tourney, 2 individual medalists; 2nd place at Warsaw Tourney, 8 individual medalists; 1-0 duals.
Wisdom and his wife, Nicole are the parents of 2 daughters; Evelyn, a first grader at North, and Cora, a pre-schooler at South. Nicole is also a secretary at WHS and the Communications Director for the district.
The wrestling 'Cats will compete at girls’ district February 14-15 and boy's district February 21-22 and then the qualifiers will go on to the state tournament for both girls and boys February 26-27.
