Inductees

In 1999, with the Farmington High School wrestling program having been led most of the decade by the Krause coaching brothers, there was a sense of optimism.

“I personally remember telling a former college teammate that coached for a rival team in January 1999, ‘We are a year away,’” then-assistant coach John Krause said. “He looked at me like I was crazy.”

It wasn’t crazy at all. Farmington won state championships in the next three seasons, punctuating quite an era. In fact, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted that string of seasons – the 1996-2004 Era of Farmington High School Wrestling – with the Class of 2024.

In that time, the Knights earned seven top four finishes under coach Mark Krause, who led the program from 1991 to 2014. John took over from there, having assisted since 1995.

The team won Class 2 state titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The 1996 team placed third, and Farmington was fourth in 1998 and 2004. The 2000 team edged tradition-rich Helias Catholic by eight points and scored 43-point and 32-point margins over runner-up Ste. Genevieve in 2001 and 2002.

The 2003 team was only 1.5 points away from making it a four-peat, having battled Helias Catholic to the end.

Overall, the era produced 48 individual state placers (top six finishers), including 13 state champions and 13 runners-up.

State champions were T.J. Hill (1996, 1997, 1998), Josh Buchanan (119 pounds in 2003), Doug Wiles (189 in 2000), Corey Husher (112 in 2001), Dustin Wiles (160 in 2001 & 2002), Jared Bonnell (heavyweight in 2001 and 2002), Michael Hahn (171 in 2002), Travis Krause (112 in 2003) and Marcus Hoehn (130 in 2003). Hill was a four-time state champion, winning it at 103 in 1995 and then at 112, 112 and 119 pounds.

Said Buchanan, “I didn’t know what to expect (early on) but I soon dedicated my life to the sport. There were a lot of ups and downs along the way, but it has been one of the toughest things I’ve done in my life and shaped me into the man I am today.”

Said James Faulkner, a 2002 graduate who said he had run with the wrong crowd, “Frankly, wrestling put me around better people. … Needless to say, I was on the wrong path. So, to be a part of something successful, positive, and so impactful was life changing!”

The program started in the fall of 1973, and Ron Jack coached 11 seasons, with four guys earning state medals. Under Howard Hoehn from the fall of 1985 to 1991, the 1990 team earned the program’s first top-10 finish (sixth). Twelve state placers in his tenure, including Farmington’s first state champions in 1990 and 1992.

In came Mark Krause, who had wrestled collegiately. His teams won eight SEMO conference championships, 15 district titles and had 21 top 10 state finishes, including 11 top four state placements.

Remarkably, wrestlers practiced in a cafeteria until 1990, followed by several years in a dedicated area. Then, in 2007, a remodel of a building gave the Knights their own facility, which now holds three mats, a coaches’ office and rooms for lockers, equipment/laundry and cardio.

Years earlier, Jim Krause – Mark and John’s father –started a youth wrestling club.

All of which set up the 1996-2004 era.

“Mark had been in the district long enough to build the right relationships and was fueled by a strong kids’ club at the time,” John Krause said, noting the 1995 team finished sixth and had two state champs in one tournament, a program first. “We got several strong wrestlers back and added a couple pieces. The 1996 team was mentally and physically tough and competed with determination.”

“The 2000, 2001 and 2002 group had all the right pieces,” John Krause added. “We had to compete but, watching us compete throughout those seasons, I would have been completely shocked had we not won state championships.”

The 2003 team gained respect, too, and not just within the community.

“There was something that happened during that tournament where both teams’ ‘hatred’ of one another turned into mutual respect,” John Krause said. “We lost by 1.5 points and did not score a bonus point after the first round of the tournament. To get to that position in 2003 was still special after losing such a strong group of leaders from 2002.”

“We became family on the journey to the top. So many memories were made,” said Seth Robison, a 2004 graduate.

Overall, what an era it was.