Golf tournament organized to keep legendary coach's memory alive

  Other than the chirping of those darned birds, Sunday was a perfect day for the inaugural Salem Wrestling Ron Krueger Memorial Golf Outing at Fox Hills Golf Course.
  The sun was shining, the camaraderie was flowing and the stories about the former legendary Salem wrestling and basketball coach were being shared as often as five-foot putts were being missed.
  Krueger passed away last Novermber at the age of 66 -- but not before leaving an everlasting imprint on the hundreds of athletes he coached from 1971-2000.
  As the plaque states that will hung above the door of the Salem wrestling room, Krueger "pushed his athletes and believed in his athletes."
  The plaque also bears one of his favorite adages: "You are always stronger than you think."
  "The event went really well," said Greg Woochuk, the current Salem wrestling coach. "We didn't know how many golfers would turn out, but we got 120, which is a good number in these economic times. It just shows you how much Ron meant to a lot of these guys."
  On Saturday evening, Woochuk expected about 20 to 30 people to show up for the unveling of the plaque in the Rocks' wrestling room.
  "But there must have been 80 guys there," he said. "We had guys come in from out of state, we had referees come in. Ron was a highly respected and much-loved man."
  Proceeds raised from this year's tournament -- and the future one that Woochuk said will be held every summer -- will go toward a program to help Salem wrestlers further their education in college.
  The team of Oliver Dillard, Greg Messer, Ken Metcalf and Jim Archibald won the four-man scramble outing with an 18-hold score of 15-under par.
  The teams of Doug Ward, Tom Willette, Bill Ward and Dan Ross tied with the foursome of Ronnie Thompson, Brady Dwyer, Trevor Stewart and Dennis Richardson for second place.
  Both runner-up teams were 13-under par.

Ed Wright can be reached at info@plymouthcantonsports.com or (734) 453-1980.