Wrestlers Give Back To Community
Related Links
More from Cyclones.tv
The triathlon has been a great event for both the city of Des Moines and the state of Iowa since its start in June of 2007. The event, which has served as a final U.S. Olympic qualifier and now serves as the World Triathlon Corporation’s 5150 Series U.S. Championship, takes a lot of helping hands to make it the world class event that it is.
Many of the helping hands behind the scenes that make the event possible include volunteers who help set-up and tear down the event. Hy-Vee tries their best every year to coordinate with local teams to help assist, and this year they contacted the Iowa State wrestling coaches to see if they would be interested in helping out. The coaching staff did not hesitate to say yes when approached.
“We’re very active in the community and we want to try to maintain that,” Cyclone head coach Kevin Jackson said. “We want to be an intricate part of both the Ames community and the state of Iowa. Our team went down there to be seen as Cyclones that aren’t just wrestlers, but Cyclones who want to be positive role models in the community.”
Two crews made up of coaches and wrestlers alike were sent to help with the clean-up of the event. The crews put in a total of eight hours of work. Their duties included rolling up the blue carpet which served as the finish line for the triathlon and loading the steel barricades which served as course barriers for the event onto trailers.
“Approximately 1,300 steel barricades in all were loaded on trailers to be sent off to their next destination,” Jon Scanlan of Hy-Vee, Inc. said. “Wrestlers and coaches alike pitched in to get everything loaded, doing a great job to represent Iowa State.”
Student-athletes at Iowa State always enjoy the chance to give back to the community when they can. Not only are opportunities like this very rewarding for the individuals who help, but it gives the student-athletes a chance to bond with their teammates as well.
“It was pretty long, but it felt great to give back and work with all my teammates,” redshirt sophomore Kyven Gadson said. “It’s important to give back to the community whenever you can. They are the people that support us, and if you can’t give back to them, they have no reason to support you.”
