20 February 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Wrestling is a contact sport that places as much emphasis on the physical as the mental.
Coach Charles Knox is teaching kids lessons in winning on the mat and in life.
“A longtime dream of mine was to offer wrestling to the youth in my community,” said Charles Knox, founder of Team of Hard Knox wrestling club.
His dream has come true, but it took time. Knox started the gym in 1985 and has dedicated nearly four decades to helping the youth.
“We want those kids that maybe have a little problem with controlling their anger or controlling their discipline, and we show them a different way to come out and say look, here is a place you can do and take this, this level of anger and utilize for your hard work in the wrestling room,” said Knox.
He is a coach in search of a spark, similar to what his former coach saw in him.
“The coach lifted me up, and he said, ‘hey, you got a heart like a lion.’ That was the first time I heard that, but I never forgot those words, and it inspired me when he said, ‘you’re going to be a great wrestler,’” Knox said.
Those words put him on a path to wrestle at the collegiate level and change his life.
“The wrestling thing was when I was sitting in college, it was the first time that I had my own bed,” said Knox. “I said I can’t wait to get home. I’m going to tell all my cousins, everybody in my neighborhood, that they can earn a scholarship, that they could eat free, get an education and have their own bed.”
After competing at Chadron State, he returned to Wichita and opened the gym.
“We actually started out as being Wichita West Wrestling Club,” said Knox. “One of the kids came up with the idea and says, hey, why don’t we call ourselves cause the big thing back then was Team USA, Team USA, and we said why don’t we call ourselves team or school of hard knocks, and it was a catchy phrase. I said mmm, so we decided to go with the Team of Hard Knox.”
He says the name fits perfectly.
“We are a team of Hard Knox; we have to jump hurdles that some other kids don’t. We are looking and dealing with things that some other suburbs might not be able to handle or see,” said Knox.
Knox says the key to wrestling is education.
“The key to wrestling is education. We have a guy who comes and talks about anger management, we are connected with the shock shop, and if you make good grades, we give you free haircut money,” said Knox.
He takes pride in his former students who come back to help the next generation of athletes.
“We want to continue the success, and one of the things about being a great facilitator is that when you leave, it’s handed over to someone else, and they continue, and we are trying to make sure this thing lasts another 50 years,” said Knox.