Coach: Ray Barron

High school: Heritage

Sport: wrestling

What made you decide you wanted to become a coach in your present sport?

I wrestled in junior high, high school and college and wanted to give something back to the sport that had given me so much.

Describe one of the best moments you can remember from your coaching career?

After 38 years as a head coach, it is hard to pick one but probably at Heritage. It was the first time we beat the powerhouse of the time, Cherry Creek, coached by Steve Foster.

What was one of the most heartbreaking moments of your coaching career?

In 1989, going into the last Saturday of state, we were in first place with four wrestlers still alive and all we had to do was win one match and we would have been state champions as a team, and we lost all four.

If a young athlete came to you and said he or she was interested in a career as a coach, what advice would you give him/her?

To be ready to give the time that is needed to do the job and hope that your family is willing to buy into what you have the passion to do.

What do you do for fun that isn’t related to the sport you presently coach?

I play golf in the summer and enjoy my family, especially by 18-month-old grandson.

What is the toughest decision a coach in your sport has to make on a fairly consistent basis?

If a kid deserves a chance to wrestle-off for a spot on the varsity [team] or not.

If you could coach for any professional sports team for one year, which would it be and what changes would you make?

I would not. I enjoy coaching people who love the sport for the sport, and that it is not a job to them.

Your present team just won the state championship. What do you (and/or the team) do to celebrate the achievement?

Revel in all of what it took to get there, because only we truly know what it took to accomplish this task.