Knights honor their own: ‘We are family’

Published 11:36 pm Friday, January 16, 2009

MUKILTEO — This was supposed to be the year Doug Baer rose to the next level in the sport he loves.

After serving last season as an assistant coach for the Kamiak High School wrestling team, Baer was hired to be the Knights head coach. It would have been a dream job for Baer, who wrestled in high school. He said that while participating in the grueling sport “I truly learned to compete, challenge myself — the internal gut check, and face adversity.”

That ability has been crucial for Baer, who certainly is facing adversity.

Baer, who last month turned 38, is a member of the National Guard currently serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq. At the end of September 2008, he received deployment orders. He reported to Camp Murray in late October and arrived in Iraq by mid-November.

Since then Baer has worked in Ramadi as a contracting officer’s representative for the 81st Heavy Brigade Combat Team. Here’s what that means, according to an e-mail from Baer: “The focus of my job is to ensure that contractors perform work in accordance with agreed-to contracts, and to monitor and report the progress.”

Baer isn’t sure when he’ll return from his second Iraq deployment (he also was sent there in 2004). But he knows the Kamiak wrestling team won’t forget him.

On Friday, Kamiak dedicated to Baer its meet against league foe Jackson. Sparked by a pre-contest ceremony in which the public-address announcer played an inspirational voice message from Baer, Kamiak defeated Jackson 48-27 in a Western Conference South Division clash in Mukilteo.

In the voice message, Baer spoke of the sacrifice and intensity wrestlers make. He encouraged the Knights to “Get out there and get after it” against Jackson.

Kamiak varsity wrestlers, coaches and dozens of Knights fans wore special purple-tinged camouflage shirts in Baer’s honor. Asked earlier this week via e-mail what the gesture of appreciation meant to him, Baer replied: “I truly feel a part of the Fightin’ Knight family, and privileged to know and work with such an extraordinary team of coaches, wrestlers, and families…we are family.”

Tracy Regan, who became Kamiak’s head wrestling coach when Baer left, praised Baer for making “unbelievable sacrifices” in the military. Baer, who this school year was set to teach U.S. and World History at Kamiak, is a popular, respected coach and educator, Regan said.

“You’re not going to find a better person than Doug Baer. You’re really not,” Regan said. “The way he teaches the kids on the team is unparalleled to any wrestling move you’re going to learn.”

Jane Baer, Doug Baer’s wife, lives in Snohomish with her and Doug’s three children — a 13-year-old son and 9-year-old twin girls. The Kamiak wrestling team’s support comforts the family, Jane Baer said earlier this week.

“It means a lot to all of us and it means a lot to Doug to know that people think of him and remember what he’s doing,” she said.

Conor Baer, Doug Baer’s son, was invited to the gym floor before the match and served as Kamiak’s honorary captain. He sat alongside Knights athletes and coaches.

Asked how he felt about the way Kamiak honored his dad, Conor said: “I thought it was really cool and special.”

Despite his geographical separation from the Kamiak wrestlers, Doug Baer stays in touch. He corresponds daily with coach Regan by e-mail. And Kamiak coaches send Baer care packages that include DVDs of the squad’s matches.

Baer can’t coach the way he would like, but after watching the DVDs he e-mails critiques to Regan, who passes messages on to wrestlers. For now that’s fine with team co-captain John Linari, a 140-pound junior. But Linari, who rallied in the final minute to win a 5-3 decision against Jackson, hopes to get Baer back soon.

“He’s always been in our hearts,” Linari said, “because he’s doing a huge thing for our country and for our school, and he’s just a wonderful guy, helping us out. We repay him back (with Friday’s dedication) for serving the ultimate debt to our country.”

Baer, who coached several years at Olympic View Middle School before moving to Kamiak, said he hopes to coach the Knights again and teach sometime next school year. He misses “the thrill and excitement of a packed house” for a meet at the Kamiak gym and the skull-rattling thump of AC/DC’s song “Hells Bells” blasting from the sound system.

When Baer returns, the head coaching job will be waiting for him, said coach Regan.

“The way he works with the kids, you know that everybody respects him,” Regan said. “You know that what he is trying to teach the kids is more than what wrestling is. It’s what life is.”

“It makes you feel good being a member of the community, knowing they have someone like him working with young people.”

Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.