Tag: Danny Struck

Wrestling coach trains Red Devils athletes to be physically,mentally stronger

by Isabella Stewart and May Smith 

For Coach Daniel Struck, coaching is about more than sports.  Struck has said, ¨It is about helping students become stronger, more confident, and better versions of themselves.”

Struck has spent many years working with athletes and coaching different sports. He spent 28 years as a teacher and 30 years as a coach. During his time as a coach, he has worked with wrestling and football. His experience has allowed him to work with many students and help them reach their goals.

Sophomore sports performance athlete Braylen Martin said, “Coach has helped me reach my goals in track and field, allowing me to become such a stronger version of myself, and I thank him for taking that time with me.¨

Head wrestling coach Danny Struck. Photo by Isabella Stewart.

One of the main reasons Struck coaches is that he wants to see kids become stronger and healthier. He said that training can help athletes both physically and mentally. His goal is not simply to make students better at their sport, but to teach them lessons they can use outside of athletics as well.

Junior wrestler John Steele said, “Struck is serious but very caring and is determined to help. Struck has helped redirect me when I’ve needed it and always reminds me to focus on myself.¨

Student athletes who have worked with Struck describe him as someone who cares about the people around him. Martin, for example, sees him as someone who is encouraging.

¨Struck’s humor helps make training more enjoyable and motivates me to be more active. His willingness to help students learn their rhythm shows that he focuses on individual athletes instead of treating everyone the same,” he said.

Other athletes have noticed the same qualities. Sophomore swimmer Charlie Frakes described the coach as someone who cares about his students. He added that working with him through sports has helped him become stronger and overcome challenges.

Sophomore sports performance athlete Rylan Humphreys described Struck as welcoming, understanding, and supportive. According to Humphreys, “Struck’s guidance has helped me become faster and stronger while also showing me I can accomplish difficult things when I put my mind to them.”

For Struck, the relationships he builds with his athletes appear to be just as important as the training itself. His years of coaching have given him the opportunity to influence athletes and help them develop confidence, discipline, and perseverance.

by jhshyphen

Red Devil Writers: Jeff High teachers write, publish their own books

by Sophia Waldridge

Everyone has a past that’s different, but English 10 teacher and wrestling coach Evan Myers, sports performance wrestling coach Daniel Struck, and English 9 teacher David Kummer all have similar backgrounds.

All three Red Devil teachers are published authors.

English teacher Evan Myers holds two of his two books, Dusk on the Western Range and The Cottage at Prince Lake. Photo by Raven Baker.

Myers said he has been writing for six years. He began writing in 2011. He went to Purdue University and got his bachelor’s degree, and when he was in the Army he did three years of military journalism from 2015 to 2018.

During his years he went to Fort Meade Defense Information School and latre worked at Greenfield Daily Reporter in Greenfield, Indiana. Myers says he started writing and got interested in it because of  the Superman comics he read during his teen years.

I started loving writing because of the way Clark Kent wasn’t only helping people by being a hero, but also by telling them stories and the hard truths.”

English Teacher and Author Evan Myers

“I started loving writing because of the way Clark Kent wasn’t only helping people by being a hero, but also by telling them stories and the hard truths.”

Myers has some pieces of wisdom for journalists about interviewing and writing.

“When writing make sure you know spelling, punctuation and titles, because if not it could turn disrespectful. As for interviewing, making conversation, and connecting with your source makes it feel less like an interrogation and more like a conversation; it establishes trust.” 

 Myers has written three books: Dusk on the Western Range, The Oldest Sport, and The Cottage at Prince Lake.

Wrestling coach and weight room supervisor Danny Struck holds his book Climbing for Gold. Photo by Raven Baker.

Struck started writing his book in 2023 and it took him two years to complete. He described the process of writing his book as “a good decision” because he thought of it while attending the Olympics and felt as if a travel book for coaches would be a good read.

He read Myers’s first book and really enjoyed it because it was fantasy and loved the second book because it was about a wrestling program like theirs. Struck said Myers pushed him to be a good writer and publish his book, Climbing for Gold: See the World Through Wrestling, so he did.

He has really good advice for upcoming writers: “Start with journaling. It helps with practice and seeing how you do with first drafts, and also write one liners. I spent 30 years working with one liners because they help spark my memory for when I’m ready to write a full book.”

English teacher David Kummer holds his book The Misery House. Photo by Raven Baker.

Kummer wrote as a kid but took writing more seriously in high school and has been writing ever since. “I’ve been writing so long that I feel old, but not as old as Myers,” he joked.

After he graduated he made local connections so he could be able to publish. Kummer believes that people who want to write should read as much as they are able, and writing the first draft matters.

“Once you start writing the first draft you can go from there.” 

Kummer has published three books: The Silent Forest, The Band, and The Misery House. The final book in the Silent Forest trilogy, The Empty Room, will be published later this fall.

by jhshyphen