By Anvil Welch

awelch@joplinglobe.com

It’s a delight to see Grove High School’s Dusty Gehrke each day whether it’s in the classroom or on the practice field.

Jusk ask Ridgerunner football coach Dennis Millican.

“Dusty always has a smile on his face. He always is having fun,” Millican said on Friday. “He’s fun to be around. He’s a competitor, though.

“He doesn’t get moody. If he does, he doesn’t show it,” Millican said. “He has a great outlook on life, and his teammates like him.”

Said wrestling coach John Henry Ward: “Obviously, he’s gifted but he works his tail off. He takes everything he does seriously. When he’s practicing, he puts everything he has into it.”

The multi-talented Gehrke, who has a year to go for the Ridgerunners, is the Globe’s Male Athlete of the Year for 2007-08.

A star for all seasons

“Why shouldn’t Dusty (Gehrke) be smiling?” Colton Gehrke, his older brother, suggested with a laugh.

Consider the achievements of Dusty Gehrke during his junior year.

Last fall? The 6-foot, 175-pound Gehrke, a receiver-defensive back, helped Grove (10-2) to a quarterfinal finish in the Oklahoma Class 4A playoffs. That made Gehrke 3-for-3 in reaching the playoffs.

Last winter? Gehrke placed fourth at 160 pounds in Class 3A to help the wrestling Ridgerunners capture their first state title.

Last spring? Gehrke won the Class 4A pole vault — his third title in a row — by clearing 15 feet.

“I’ve done a lot better,” Gehrke said of his vaulting. “I’ve cleared 17-3 in practice and 16 in meets.”

His previous titles were 13-6 as a freshman and 14-6 as a sophomore.

Some numbers

Gehrke boosted his career interceptions to 17 with six last season on the heels of 10 as a sophomore. He piled up 110 tackles with 65 solo stops.

Gehrke scored 15 touchdowns for 90 points — trailing only Darius Hooper’s 94 — and crossed the goal line in four ways — rushing (2), receiving (9), returning punts (2) and returning interceptions (2).

Gehrke finished with 42 receptions for 592 yards and rushed 11 times for 67 yards. He returned 21 punts for 378 yards and seven kickoffs for 149.

The 2007-08 wrestling season for Gehrke — he believes he won 32 matches — was one of vindication considering he’d missed state by one win as a sophomore.

Gehrke anticipates head track coach Warren Brumley will continue penciling him in as a member of three relay teams. The 4x400 placed third at state.

Ward and Dan Davies are co-head coaches of the grappling team, which received a first place from unbeaten Damien Hopper at 103 and seconds from Zach Housley at 112 and R.J. Bartley at 285, in beating defending champion Cushing 90-84 for the title.

The track team finished seventh with 30 points. Just seven more points in the competition at Tulsa East Central would have secured fourth place.

Emphasize that vaulting

“It’s my favorite sport,” Gehrke said. He began vaulting as an eighth-grader.

This morning he’s scheduled to jump at Burke High School in Omaha in the young men division of the USATF National Junior Olympic Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

“He didn’t fall in love with any sport until pole-vaulting,” Colton Gehrke said.

Said Millican: “He (Dusty) used to be Colton’s little brother. But he really blossomed with confidence and sprouted up after winning that state championship (as a freshman).”

Dusty Gehrke has cleared 16 feet in competition in making marked improvement in vaulting this summer.

“Going to a longer (and heavier) pole and working on my form really have helped me increase my height,” Gehrke said.

Dustin Crowder, a former Grove vaulter, is Gehrke’s position coach in football and works with him in vaulting.

“He was out a month this spring because of a sciatic nerve. There’s no doubt in my mind he could have been a consistent 17-foot jumper right now if not for the health issues,” Crowder said.

Brotherly love

Fifteen months separate the sons of Cindi and Mel Gehrke.

Dad has worked mainly in construction and farming. The family lives on a farm of about 85 acres outside Grove.

“They always have been competitive,” Cindi said. “They fought and they argued growing up. Now, though, they’re buds.

“Colton is sports, sports and more sports,” Cindi said. “Dusty also likes hunting and fishing with those sports.”

Said Colton: “We get along so well ... now. He’s easily my best friend. I physically matured quicker. But I can’t beat him up anymore, He’s about my size.”

Colton, the Ridgerunners’ star running back, tore an ACL in their second scrimmage last year and was lost for the season.

“It was hard for him because it was his senior year,” Dusty said. “It put a little more pressure on us. We just had to work harder.”

The future

Dusty, a member of the Grove First Baptist Church, hasn’t established individual goals for 2008-09.

‘I just want us to be successful ... do our best,” he said.

“College? I’m keeping my options open.

“Colton has signed with Central Methodist University (of Fayette, Mo.) and is interested in becoming an athletic trainer. I want to become a federal game warden.”

The Eagles are looking at Colton as a free safety. He also hopes to compete in the sprints in track.