Faces of the Front Range: Columbine coaches, local firefighters John Alley and Luke Barron build community via ladder trucks and takedowns

2 years ago 431

For John Alley and Luke Barron, being firefighters and varsity wrestling coaches isn’t simply a substance of balancing 2 jobs. It’s much similar a double-dip successful intertwined vocations.

Alley is an technologist for the Westminster Fire Department, portion Barron is simply a firefighter for the Denver Fire Department. They’ve coached astatine Columbine High School unneurotic for six years, the past 2 arsenic co-head coaches.

The sum of some jobs requires aboriginal mornings and precocious nights, traded shifts astatine the presumption and aching muscles from drilling with the Rebels successful the wrestling room. But the payoff — gathering assemblage via occurrence trucks and takedowns — makes it each worthwhile.

“On the job, astir times we spot radical astatine their atrocious moments — they’re going done their worst clip close now, and that’s wherefore we’re there,” Barron explained. “I similar knowing erstwhile we amusement up astatine the atrocious stuff, we’re giving idiosyncratic a accidental to get things backmost to however they should be… And it’s benignant of (a akin outlook) successful the room. It’s each astir helping a kid fig retired however to grind done thing hard. Think astir however galore doors that opens for young men successful the future.”

Alley got his vocation commencement with Vail Fire and Emergency Services, and Barron with the Breckenridge Fire Department. But the Heritage High School graduates some yet returned to the metro area, wherever Barron’s been with Denver since 2006 and Alley with Westminster since 2015.

Both men embody the traits 1 mightiness expect from a quality sketch of a coach/firefighter — speaking softly but carrying a large axe, and accordant humility contrasting the can-do strength that’s required by being astir the mat, oregon arriving connected country astatine an emergency.

The 5-foot-8 Alley, 34, has an diversion physique and wears rectangular glasses that underscore the intelligence attack helium has to some jobs. How Alley does 1 thing, helium does everything. He takes arsenic overmuch pridefulness successful driving the rig connected precise routes arsenic helium does successful toughening up his wrestlers. He’s a subordinate of the Wildland Team, which is deployed regionally and nationally to assistance successful wood fires, and a fewer years agone received an grant for helping prevention a man’s beingness connected a aesculapian call.

He takes a studious attack to engineering, noting he’s got country for maturation successful “knowing the (best routes successful the) city, knowing the rigs, knowing however to troubleshoot mechanical tools and parts of the apparatus.” And he, similar Barron, embraces his relation arsenic a mentor successful the room.

“My motivation, coaching-wise, is showing these kids that they’re susceptible of truthful overmuch much than they deliberation they’re susceptible of,” Alley said. “Every erstwhile successful a portion you spot them person these ‘a-ha’ moments, and that’s what you’re astir arrogant of arsenic a coach. You spot their struggles connected the mat and erstwhile they succeed, you cognize the hard enactment they enactment successful to get there.”

The 6-foot-1 Barron, 42, carries a heavyweight framework and has rocked a Fu Manchu mustache for decades. He’s verbally understated; everything you request to cognize astir him comes not from his mouth, but from the mundane details of his job, and the moments erstwhile nary 1 is looking.

Barron is the 1 to prime his wrestlers up aft a pugnacious nighttime connected the mat. He relishes the clip spent with his 6-year-old son, a budding wrestler himself, and his babe girl — they are his archetypal post-dual chit-chats. And you’ll ne'er drawback Barron bragging connected his 16 years of work with Denver Fire, wherever helium says each time is the fulfillment of a puerility dream.

“As a kid, you look and you spot the occurrence trucks going down the street, and you think, ‘They’re astir apt going to assistance someone, and, man, that motortruck is conscionable cool,'” Barron said. “Now erstwhile a kid lights up seeing my truck, I airy up… (What’s important to me) is I conscionable enactment my cogwheel connected the rig and spell bash enactment erstwhile the doorbell sounds.”

While Alley and Barron stay reserved astir their assemblage impact, they are speedy to admit the power of their wrestling Sherpa. Ray Barron, Luke’s father, was a longtime Colorado prep wrestling manager and subordinate of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He was Columbine’s manager from 2017 to 2020, and passed distant successful October 2020 from encephalon crab astatine property 70.

Both Alley and Barron wrestled for Ray astatine Heritage, and coached nether him arsenic assistants astatine Columbine. Ray’s decease presented idiosyncratic and nonrecreational adversity for some men. How could and should they spell on, with their guiding airy successful the athletics extinguished?

But spell connected they did.

Over the past 2 years, Alley and Barron guided 2 Columbine wrestlers (Jack Forbes and Zach Schraeder) to consecutive Class 5A authorities titles, portion besides carrying connected the beyond-the-mat bequest Ray near behind. To stress that bequest and the scholarship money present down it, the Columbine wrestling country got a facelift up of this season, with Ray’s mantra — “strength and honor” — emblazoned connected the partition pads.

“They took (Ray’s passing) arsenic a challenge, that Coach near the full programme to them, and it’s awesome to spot what they’ve done with it,” said inferior Will Schraeder, 1 of Columbine’s standouts and the younger member of Zach. “Last year, with my member and Jack winning authorities again, (Alley and Barron) were determination each the way, they were the ones sitting successful those corners. They took the work of the programme and are determined to turn it.

“There’s nary uncertainty they’ve done that. And there’s nary uncertainty wherefore they bash it. They emotion everyone successful the (Columbine) room, they springiness everything they person to america and this schoolhouse and community. Coach (Ray) Barron would beryllium proud. I cognize I am, and I’m grateful, too.”

This communicative is portion of The Denver Post’s Faces of the Front Range project, highlighting Coloradans with a unsocial communicative to share. Read much from this bid here.