See parts 1 Rick Shaner and 2 Dennis Lee

By Bill Herr

In my opinion one of the greatest ever coaches in any sport at Bluffton High School is Mr. Steve Bruskotter. His parents were Charles and Marilyn Bruskotter. His father worked at Phillips Factory (made television tubes) in Ottawa. His mother was a homemaker, raising seven children. Steve and his wife Mary have four children, Matthew, Emily (James) Keaney, Kathryn, and Christopher. Steve was a graduate of Ottawa-Glandorf High School, Bowling Green State University, and the University of Dayton.

Sadly, Steve passed of an illness at age 73 on April 20, 2024. I asked his wife, Mary, some questions on Steve's background. In high school Steve worked regularly at a meat market after school and only went out for one sport, track, for one year. After college, Steve coached track and field and cross-country and taught social studies, and for a time freshmen science and history, for 35 years at Bluffton High School.

After retiring from teaching, he continued coaching track and field for Pandora-Gilboa High School and Ottawa-Glandorf High School. He also coached the pole vault team for the University of Findlay. In 2015 he was inducted into the Ohio Association of Track and Cross-Country (OATCC) Hall of Fame.

Mary said none of Steve's siblings coached and he didn't go out for any sport in college. I asked why he became interested in coaching. Mary said, "to make money." I said to Mary, "He obviously loved coaching to be committed to it for that many years. All his athletes I contacted said he was very knowledgeable. How did he learn to coach?" She said, "He used to spend hours on hours watching videos. He also went to a bunch of clinics at Columbus." Then I asked her if she was involved in any of his coaching. She said, "No, I was home with four kids and I taught elementary school for 35 years (11 at Fort Jennings and 24 at Ottawa-Glandorf."

Coach Bruskotter's teams were very successful. His girls' track and field teams were Northwest Conference Champions in 86, 87, 94, and 97. The 1997 team was runner-up at state. Two of the athletes, Ann Stechschulte and Caity Matter, were future Big 10 athletes, Stechschulte in track at Purdue and Matter in basketball at Ohio State. In the 97 state meet, Ann won the high jump at 5 feet 6 inches. She also placed first in the 800 meter race and was nipped at the finish in the 1600 meter. The year before she won all three events at state. In 1997 Matter, a freshman, placed fourth in the shot put event at state. In 1998 she placed second in both the shot and discus. The next year she won both events. In 2000, her senior year, she repeated as shot and discus state champions.

During Bruskotter's years of coaching at Bluffton, he had outstanding assistant coaches. The two that were with him most were Rick Shaner and Don Leader. Others at various times were Denny Phillips, Dan Staley, Jerry Suter, Jon Parkins, and Brandon Herr.

Coach Bruskotter's boys' teams were Northwest Conference champions in the years 1977, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996. The teams of 1978, 1985, and 1994 were runner-up in the state meet. The 1978 team didn't win NWC because in high school track, some teams load up in certain events to gain more points. For instance, if an athlete on one team takes first place, but another team takes 3rd and 5th in the same event, their points in the event may be greater.

The highlight of Coach Bruskotter's career at Bluffton was his last year before retiring as a Pirate coach. The 2008 team was Ohio State Champion.

The headlines in the June 12, 2008, Bluffton News read as follows:

Bruskotters' Boys Reign as Division III Track
STATE CHAMPS

At state the team scored 54 points, the highest total ever for a Pirate team at state. In second place with 40 points was Gates Mills Gilmour Academy. That same year the Pirate girls' track team earned 5*h place with 28 points. Under Coach Bruskotter, three previous boys' squads were runner-up at state, 1978 (28 points), 1985 (34 points), 1994 (28 points). The 2008 team won only the second-ever team title in any sport for the Pirates. The 1981 wrestling team was the first to win a state championship. Ironically, the 2008 state champions did not win the NWC, district, or regional titles (how that could happen was explained earlier). Columbus Grove won NWC that year.

Following are how the points were scored in the 2008 state meet: 

4X200m relay, Rico Pena, Zach Guagenti, John Guagenti, Jesse Herr. The team won first place, and set a state meet record of 1:28.44 (10 points). 

4X100m relay, Levi Fredritz, Zach Guagenti, Rica Pena, Jesse Herr. The team won third place (6 points). 

400m dash, John Guagenti won first place and set a state meet record of 47.46 (10 points).

200m dash, John Guagenti won first place, 22.17 (10 points), Jesse Herr finished in 6" place in his preliminary heat, 24.14.

4X400m relay, Pena, Z. Guagenti, Herr, and J. Guagenti won first place in 3:21.44 (10 points).

Shot put, Kory Place won second place, 56.02.75 feet (8 points). Bo Ziegler was in seventh place, 49-10 feet.

I asked several athletes and assistant coaches to share their thoughts on Coach Bruskotter:

Assistant coach Don Leader - "He knew so much about every event. I learned a lot from him, coaching under him. He could walk a person through each step in throwing the shot or discus. He could see what was wrong, could slow everything down and teach the athlete what was right. It was like he had a video of the event in his head. He didn't baby the kids. He pushed them. They worked hard. He told his kids to treat kids on the other teams with respect, to compliment them so that if they didn't already compete on their own teams, they would want to compete for Bluffton.

Assistant coach Rick Shaner - "Brus' was the best. His knowledge, the way he interacted with kids. He got a lot out of kids - they wanted to compete for him. He would do research on every event. He was willing to do anything to give kids the best opportunity to do their best. He wanted our kids to make friends from other schools. We were friends with other coaches. It was because of the friendships between our kids and theirs. He let us assistant coaches take responsibility for the events we coached on. Steve, Don and I had a comradery outside the track. We respected each other. It was a true joy to be a part of that."

Athlete Caity (Matter) Henniger - "Track is a team sport, but some of those events are individual. A coach has to be able to manage each athlete as an individual. For me, basketball was my main sport, but I loved being coached by Brus. We spent a lot of time on one-on-one techniques on shot and discus. He helped me learn a lot about myself. He made a joke or made it fun so the pressure of the sport didn't get to you as much. He had a large impact on the Bluffton community. I went to his funeral. I would have done anything for him."

Athlete Jesse Herr - "He was dedicated, always there for his athletes, putting in the extra time. He was a great leader, always had inspirational words. He made it fun. On the ride to Columbus in his truck, if one of us would complain about the heat, he would turn the heat on high. He had great knowledge of the sport."

Athlete John Guagenti - "He was one of my favorite coaches. He was always around, but never in our face. He let other coaches coach. He was knowledgeable and knew how to motivate us. I'll give you two examples. He told us in 2007 (our junior year) that he was thinking of retiring at the end of the season. We talked to him and pleaded for him to stay one more year. He said, 'Well, if you think you can get better and do well, I might come back.' He did.

In 2008 our 4X200m relay team kept breaking records. When it came time for coach to make a list of team events near the end of the 2008 season, he left the 4X200 off the list. We said, 'We want to run it again.' He said, 'But at state maybe we can get more points if we use a different event.' Then he said, "Well, if you think you can still run it faster, I'll put it in.' He did, and at state we set a new state meet record."

Mr. Steve Bruskotter, Coach Bruskotter, was always establishing relationships with his kids, his athletes. He pushed them to work hard and do their best in competition. I asked him years ago what the secret to his success in coaching strong teams was. This was his reply: "If you and I have teams with the same talent, we will win because we will work harder."

Though he worked at a job after school and didn't participate much in sports in high school, when he graduated from college and decided he wanted to coach, he spent many hours doing research on the sports he chose to coach. He became very knowledgeable in the sports of track and field and cross-country, and was adept at transferring that knowledge to his athletes.

He and his assistant coaches were very organized and they treated kids in the right way. Besides the hard work at practice, they wanted the kids to have fun. There was mutual respect among the coaches and athletes, and, because Coach Bruskotter encouraged his kids to be friendly with opposing athletes, friendships were established and made for great sportsmanship. His legacy as a coach is a model for all coaches to follow. He will never be forgotten.

That is why I choose Steve Bruskotter as one of the greatest ever coaches of any sport at Bluffton High School. 

This concludes my three columns on the three coaches I chose as the greatest in history of Bluffton High School, Rick Shaner in boys' basketball and assistant track, Dennis Lee in girls' basketball and football, and Steve Bruskotter in track and field and cross- country. Caity (Matter) Henniger knew Coach Shaner well and was coached by Lee and Bruskotter. She said she would do anything for them, and that they contributed a lot to the Bluffton community.

I close with a personal comment. Having taught with them at Bluffton High School, I believe that the quality of humility is one of their greatest attributes. When I called Steve Bruskotter's wife Mary and told her I chose Steve as one of the greatest ever coaches ät Bluffton High School, she said, "Steve would have smiled and appreciated the acknowledgement." Coach Shaner gave credit to his assistant coaches. When I asked Coach Lee if he had received any awards for coaching, he smiled and said, "No, I wasn't good enough." These were great coaches, but also great people.

Bill Herr taught high school mathematics and science for 32 years. After retiring from teaching, he began a nursing home ministry. He served as chaplain at a nursing home for 24 years. He has since written columns relating to sports memories from high school experiences and columns relating to experiences at the nursing home.