Crousore '95 Leads LN to Two State Titles
by Aaron Hunckler
Drawing on the past is how Brett Crousore ’95 prepares for the future. The Lawrence North High School's former wrestling coach has maintained a tradition-rich program that has achieved a wealth of success. Coursore is now an assistant principal at the school. During the 2004-2005 season the top-ranked Wildcats garnered their second consecutive state title under Crousore, increasing the school’s total to four.  "There have only been four of us who have been head coaches here," he said. "Each one has taught me something about those traditions, just as I learned at Wabash. Now I use that, it’s my job to instill that on the people who come through."
En route to the championship crown, the Wildcats had to defeat perennial-wrestling power Evansville Mater Dei – a ten-time state champ – before cruising past Avon. "This year to beat Mater Dei was a goal for these kids for the past seven years and something we have talked about," Crousore said, who also teaches history. "It was very emotional for me to watch them as I saw the point that we were going to win and to watch them give each other the hugs and the emotions that come out, you know that is seven years, seeing these kids all the way back to sixth grade, of what they have done to prepare for that moment. "To see the kids celebrate together that is the joy of a coach. It’s not necessarily my team winning or my this or my that, we do this for the kids. And to see the kids be successful, that is what it is all about." Crousore teaches his kids techniques and skills, but the team’s companionship has been the driving force. As a result, Crousore has watched his two championship teams tally a combined record of 58-1. "These kids are the best of friends," Crousore said. "You will see them in the hallway and everywhere else together. And if one young man isn’t working hard, as a coach I generally don’t say that much, their friends will tell them about it because they are also their workout partners and if they are not working hard then the other guy is not getting any better. So it makes it real easy." A sense of family is evident in Crousore’s coaching philosophy but it was following a family tradition that drew him to Wabash. Crousore tracked his two older brothers’ footsteps, Andrew ’91 and Blake ’93. Crousore played tennis and wrestled while at Wabash. Due to a love of history, Crousore began his Wabash days as a political science major. Soon after his first year, though, he decided teaching was the rout for him, so he switched his major to history with a concentration in secondary education. "When I went into teaching, especially, because I am one of few who went through Wabash and went into education - when I got out it was pretty easy to get a job," he said. Crousore added it has paid off in terms of his continued success. In addition to his state titles, he was named Lawrence Township Teacher of the Year last year. Crousore was given the opportunity to mature into a man at Wabash, which he now expects from those he mentors. "The rules I have for my kids in the classroom and in the school (are) you act like a gentleman at all times and in all places," he said, speaking from beneath a Wabash banner that hangs in his classroom. "I always say you are under the watchful eye now that you have achieved success and you’re under this program or in this school you’re looked at in a different light. You’re in the newspaper and if you do something wrong everyone knows about it. At Wabash you’re given that freedom that you don’t have all these rules in front of you; however you know how to act." Crousore recently received his administrative license from Butler University, which has given him the opportunity to move on to other challenges. He resigned in April to become an assistant principal at the high school. "I like the make-up of this school, it’s a school made up of all kinds of different kids and it challenges you each day," Crousore said. "Being in the field of education whether I am coaching or teaching, that is what I like." Hunckler is a free-lance writer based in Bloomington, Ind.
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