Colt Rogers was a four-time state wrestling champion |
It takes only one quote to sum up just how much three-sport star Colt Rogers was used to winning in his time at Smith Center.
"Track is really just something I did in the spring," Rogers said of his least favorite sport.
That spring hobby netted him 10 trips to the state-meet podium, with one of those trips to the top for a gold medal. His 400-meter relay team was the Class 2A champion in his sophomore season.
Getting on the podium at the state track meet 10 times would make a high school athletic career for most athletes, but Rogers is not most athletes.
Rogers' main sports were football and wrestling. Both sports are ingrained in Rogers as he has done both for most of his life, and done both very successfully for the Redmen of Smith Center.
Smith Center went 41-1 with three state championships in Rogers' four years on the football team. He was a standout running back for the team. He was there at the height of Smith Center football dominance.
It was a small program that gained national attention after winning 79 games in a row. That streak came to an end in Rogers' last game for the Redmen. Smith Center lost the 2-1A title 20-12 to Centralia in overtime in November.
Despite the loss, Rogers had a football career to remember. Aside from the one-loss record and three state titles, he was featured in the "The New York Times" best seller "Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen" by Joe Drape.
He also had the privilege to learn football from one of the state's best coaches in Roger Barta.
"He gives you life talks pretty much every day before and after every practice," Rogers said of Barta. "He's a great guy."
Smith Center's football tradition gets all the local, state and national headlines, but his abilities as a wrestler are just as noteworthy.
Rogers started wrestling early at age 4, and the hard work paid off in the form of four individual state championships.
"It's been a long time and it's been a good passion of mine for a long time," Rogers said.
That passion helped Rogers plaster his name all over the state record book. When the dust settled on his high school wrestling career, Rogers had a record of 149-3 without ever losing to a wrestler from the state of Kansas.
His 149 wins are 19th all-time, and that winning percentage of 98 percent is ninth all-time. He also holds the state record for most takedowns in a career with 588. He ranks in the top 20 of three other single-season and career marks in wrestling.
Rogers had a tough choice to make after graduation between his two passions, football and wrestling.
"It was a real tough decision," Rogers said. "I really didn't know what I wanted to do."
In the end, he settled on going to Pittsburg State be a wide receiver and running back for the Gorilla football team.
Rogers said he is done wrestling, but he sent his career off in style this summer at Senior Nationals in Virginia Beach. He won several matches and finished just one spot outside of the All-American honors.
Despite the wins, Rogers was a little disappointed with falling short of the All-American status.
"I was a little disappointed, but there were a lot of great wrestlers. The styles of wrestling were so different," Rogers said. "It is something I will remember for a long time."
Rogers' high school career is not over quite yet. He will play in the Shrine Bowl on Saturday, July 31, at his future home stadium in Pittsburg.
