Former Athletes Train The Next Generation

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - Some of North Platte’s Wrestling State Champions come back to help the next generation hit the summit of high school sports in Nebraska. In the first-ever State Champ Camp, kids all over the area got a chance to learn from some of the Bulldog’s greats in school history. The camp went down Friday and Saturday in two separate sessions per day.

Coach Dale Hall was in charge of bringing some of the school’s top talent back for this camp, and it proved to be a success. Roughly 30 kids joined the camp, led by the 2-time state champion Braiden Ruffin. The North Platte native talked about how important this opportunity was to help teach what he learned.

Ruffin stated, ”There weren’t many state champs before me. When I came to high school, we had three state champs before me. I was the first to have two, so it’s always great to give back to the community. Zach started a lot here and to be able to keep that going and with the kids looking up to me now is like how I looked up to Zach. Gavin and Darien are younger than me and they always looked up to me. Now, these kids look up to them. It’s awesome to see North Platte wrestling getting better and better.”

Next year, around this time, they will have the second annual State Champ Camp for another few days of prepping the next generation.