Jerril Grover has been Bradford high school's wrestling coach since 1994. Now, because of a comment taken out of context at a recent parent's meeting, he has been dismissed from his role as coach at Bradford.

Other than my parents, Coach Grover has, of all the people in my life, had the biggest role in sculpting who I am as a person. I first met Coach Grover when I was 8 years old, when my elementary school was preparing us for the city-wide elementary wrestling tournament, which Coach Grover organizes every single year. He was my coach through the years for the Kenosha Girls Wrestling club. And when I got to high school, he was my coach all four years that I wrestled for Bradford. He was the coach that made me a Bradford Wrestling captain. He was the coach that handed me money from HIS OWN POCKET to help fund my trip to Europe for an Olympic development camp. He was the coach who told me that I could do anything if I believed in my own abilities.

Guess what- I don’t wrestle anymore. But what I have built every single day since meeting Coach Grover is CHARACTER. Hard work. Dedication. Respect. Those are words that are synonymous with “wrestling” for Coach Grover. It doesn’t matter if you never lost a match, won state all four years- without character you’re just a scrub to Coach. Character is the foundation upon which Coach Grover has built both his program and legacy. Whoever decided to fire him has done Bradford wrestling a great disservice, to say the very least.