When I finished listening to former Buckeye footballers Matt Finkes and William White at the Jan. 16 presentation “Becoming a Character Champion for Life” in Lima, I felt a bit sorry for the keynote speaker, Ohio State head wrestling coach Tom Ryan. Given the excellent presentations by the Piqua native Finkes, a two-time All-American on Buckeye teams of the mid-1990’s, and Lima’s own former Spartan, Buckeye and NFL great, how was Ryan going to follow that? Ryan, a nationally renowned two-time NCAA Coach of the Year, made the mid-week drive to Lima despite being an in-season coach of a nationally ranked Buckeye squad with an upcoming rivalry match with the Michigan Wolverines just days away. He almost seemed to acknowledge the power of White’s presentation to the several hundred in attendance, many of whom were young people, the targeted demographic for the evening’s program when he took the mic and…
Continue Reading: John Grindrod: For Buckeye Tom Ryan, a mentor redefines his priceless
