Newton High School's 44-year-old assistant coach J.J. Thaw was found dead on his sofa Wednesday morning when he did not report for work, just as eight of his wrestlers were preparing for this weekend's state tournament.
Despite losing their beloved assistant coach, Grant Treasler, 113-pound sophomore, and Wyatt Hendrickson, junior at 195, both won individual Kansas state titles in Class 5A competition by pinning their finals opponents. The overall team performance helped Newton High place sixth in the final team standings, with 97.5 team points.
Prior to the finals, the state wrestling championships took a minute of silence to honor Thaw, who had been the Railers assistant coach for 15 years.
Jermaine J. Thaw had deep roots within Newton, with a family heritage connected to sport.
His father Jack Thaw served as head wrestling coach at Newton High from 1974-1996; his mother, JoAnne, is the long-time gymnastics coach at Newton.
J.J. Thaw wrestled at Newton, making it to the Kansas state finals three straight years, wining a title in 1991.
In addition to serving as an assistant wrestling coach at his high school alma mater, Thaw was a paraprofessional with Newton's adaptive physical education program, working with special needs students.
"J.J. was extremely passionate about wrestling his enthusiasm and love for the sport had a major positive impact on many, many people," said former Newton High wrestler and current Hutchinson coach Mike Garcia.
Thaw's cause of death has yet to be determined but foul play is not suspected. He had struggled with flu symptoms and a toe infection for the majority of the wrestling season. An autopsy is scheduled for early next week.
Services for J.J. Thaw have been announced. Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church following Rosary. Memorial Mass will be 2:00 p.m. Thursday, March 1 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery in Newton.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now