Sunday Slam: Conant's Kane Found a Home at One-Time Rival
Retiring Athletic Director Also Had Successful Run as Wrestling Coach
A separation of 20 miles, suburbs vs. city and public vs. private high schools would not seem to lead to any kind of high school rivalry between Conant and St. Patrick.
Conant and Hoffman Estates or Schaumburg? Definitely. St. Pat’s and Notre Dame? Absolutely. But there was a wrestling rivalry between Conant and St. Pat’s in the mid-1980s, with battles in sectional competition that was very real.
So much so that St. Pat’s grad John Kane, who finished third in the state at 138 pounds as a senior in 1985, was initially hesitant about making Conant his professional home. After Kane finally did take a job there in 1991, the reaction was understandably mixed among his old friends.
“Our heavyweight state champ (Mike Mroczek), the first time I saw him and told him I was working at Conant, he said, ‘Oh, you’re working with the enemy,’” Kane recalled with a laugh.
Safe to say a place once considered enemy territory became home for Kane as a teacher, coach and administrator. One he will retire from at the end of this school year after serving the last 15 years as the school’s athletic director.
“It’s been a great year with everything back to normal,” said Kane, who was recognized before Conant’s final home football game. “I can’t say enough how I appreciate it more after the last couple of years where it was really so messed up with all the COVID stuff and stops and starts. I definitely appreciate everything for the most part running real smoothly.”
Kane learned about dealing with adversity in his first year as a math teacher and coach after wrestling for four years at Illinois State. He was an assistant football coach at Plainfield High School and coaching a practice on Aug. 28, 1990, a day before school started.
“The sky turned green and we all packed up to go inside and huddled in the main gym,” Kane said. “We were thinking it was a storm but had no idea a tornado was coming.”
It turned out to be the only Category F5 tornado to ever hit the Chicago area as it resulted in 29 deaths and more than 300 injuries. Fortunately the football team, and volleyball players getting ready for a match, moved to a nearby hallway because the gym was ripped apart by the twister.
“We walked out and the school was totaled,” Kane said. “It was a pretty wild experience. It was a little easier for me afterward since I was just a new teacher trying to figure it out.”
Classes and activities were moved to the old Joliet Catholic building where Kane had once wrestled for St. Pat’s in East Suburban Catholic Conference matches. Near the end of that school year, Kane got a call from Conant Hall of Fame wrestling coach Jim Cartrwight.
“We had talked about coaching there … but I wasn’t ready to come over right away (from ISU) because there was a real rivalry between the schools,” Kane said. “He called (spring of 1991) and said there’s a math opening and wrestling coaching job opening, are you interested in interviewing? I was a North Side of Chicago guy and I wanted to move back to the North Side where my family and friends were.”
So, Kane moved to Conant for the 1991-92 school year and became part of a wrestling powerhouse that finished second in the state three times during Cartwright’s 26-year tenure. Kane took over in 2000-01 and won 4 regional titles in 8 years and had a fourth-place team in 2003.
He also had the chance to start out at Conant coaching freshman football with John Ayres in the successful program run by Dave Pendergast. Ayres went 71-44 with five Mid-Suburban South titles from 1975-86 and was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2001.
“I really thought I’d retire as a math teacher and coach,” Kane said. “I learned so much my first two to three years about coaching and how to teach. Our math department was so strong, too. I had so many strong influences.
“I enjoyed the coaching part so much because the positivity gets you through some days.”
Kane was a dean for a year and then an assistant principal’s job opened up. He saw it as an opportunity he couldn’t pass up and he was able to continue coaching wrestling during his seven years in that position.
Then, in 2008, athletic director Washington Bush was getting set to retire. Kane applied and got the job even though he said it wasn’t something he envisioned when he got his administration degree. He also felt fortunate to have Bush and Joe Schlender, who was principal when Kane was assistant principal, as mentors. Schlender was Conant’s AD before Bush and had been a coach.
“When I had a problem I got to see how they would deal with the situation,” Kane said. “I would see how they dealt with things in other sports and with other teachers. It all definitely helped me.
“They were people I could talk to throughout my career and I did. Joe lived down the street from me and ‘Wash’ would call all the time.”
Kane said one of the areas he looks back at proudly is the growth of Conant’s programs during his tenure as AD. The school added boys and girls lacrosse and girls wrestling and has 31 sports with more than 100 coaches. He said nearly one-third of the school’s students are competing in the spring.
“We’ve worked hard to encourage students to get involved in athletics and make sure they have a positive experience,” Kane said. “Our principal, Julie Novak, is instrumental in hiring teachers who impact the school in other ways through coaching or in other activities. Her strong leadership made a huge difference in developing our staff.”
Along with that, one of the biggest changes Kane has seen during his tenure is an emphasis on the kids who are participating to make sure their needs are met. He said the initially brought in a counselor to help athletes with difficult situations but eventually developed their own in-house program that has been effective.
“It’s a little more kid-focused now with more awareness of some of the social and emotional parts of it,” Kane said. “There definitely is more awareness of kids who are struggling and the multiple angles we can come at the problem with. What can we do to help this person learn from it and become a better person. You try to use sports as the angle to make changes in people.”
Kane said he has been fortunate to have great support from assistant AD Erik Hauser and his sports coordinators and administrative assistants. They help make the grind of 14-hour days and spring’s weather craziness easier. He also enjoyed the camaraderie and ability to share ideas and questions with the other ADs in District 211 and the Mid-Suburban League.
Kane said his post-retirement plans include taking some time to rent an RV and tour national parks across the United States. He wants to do some volunteer work with his wife Julie and daughter Hannah, who work with special needs kids as social workers, and spend more time with his family that includes his sons Cormac and Patrick. He has also continued to stick to his roots by helping coach some kids club wrestling.
And there are a lot of aspects of the job he will definitely miss.
“Of course I will miss the coaches,” Kane said. “I had such a great staff and they are super supportive. They support athletes being multi-sport athletes.
“Watching kids compete is always a great time. I’ll miss that. That’s always been the fun part for me.”
Even though he wouldn’t have envisioned them wearing Conant uniforms nearly 40 years ago.
Conant’s Carpenter Also Recognized
Retiring Conant head athletic trainer Roger Carpenter was also recognized for his career at the final home football game. Carpenter came to Conant as an English teacher in 1989 and has been a big part in helping two generations of athletes along with fellow head athletic trainer and science teacher John Shoro and assistant athletic trainer Bruce Popp.
Carpenter taped his first ankle in 1977 as a freshman at Winterset High School in Winterset, Iowa. After attending an athletic trainers camp and learning the dangers of salt tablets, even though he knew he would be reprimanded, he returned to the high school and threw them out in an effort to protect the athletes.
He started his athletic training education at Dakota Wesleyan in 1981 and after graduation he served as an athletic training graduate assistant at Bradley. Carpenter was hired at Conant after meeting Joe Schlender at an employment fair.
Mucha Receives Illinois Baseball Coaches Honor
St. Viator assistant coach Brian Mucha received the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA) Assistant Coach of the Year honor. Mucha was part of last year’s 35-3 finish and was an assistant to Mike Manno for the 2017 Class 3A state champions and 2016 3A fourth-place finisher.
Mucha was a Daily Herald All-Area basketball and baseball star at Buffalo Grove and graduated in 2002. He also played baseball at Elmhurst University and head coach of the Elk Grove American Legion program.
Surprenant’s Super Success In Western Illinois
Grant Surprenant, a three-year starter for Ed Molitor at Palatine and Daily Herald All-Area player in 2005, has built quite a girls basketball program at Illini West in Carthage, about a half-hour west of Macomb. Illini West is 234-68 in 10 years under Surprenant entering this year with six Class 2A regional titles and no losing seasons.
Illini West was 30-3 last year with a regional title and won 45 of its last 49 games going into this season.
O’Hara Honored for FCS Power Sacramento State
Rolling Meadows product Asher O’Hara was a first-team all-Big Sky Conference selection as an all-purpose player for unbeaten Sacramento State, which got the No. 2 seed in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. O’Hara has 797 yards rushing and 19 TDs and is 62-for-80 passing for 632 yards with 8 TDs and no interceptions.
O’Hara’s brother Jace has 18 tackles and 1 sack for Sacramento State (11-0), which got a first-round bye in the FCS playoffs and hosts Richmond in the second round next Saturday.
Highland Park Star, NCAA Champion Veltra Dawson Passes Away
Veltra Dawson was part of one of the greatest upsets in sports history as a reserve guard on Villanova’s 1984-85 NCAA basketball champion that knocked off Georgetown and Patrick Ewing 66-64 in the title game. The Highland Park graduate passed away last week.
Dawson scored 16 points in 18 games for Villanova in 1984-85. He transferred to Evansville and averaged 5.6 and 6.9 points a game in two seasons. Dawson also helped Highland Park reach the 1982 Class AA supersectional and scored 10 points in a 68-59 loss to Arlington. Larry Tellschow scored 24 points to lead the Cardinals to their only Elite Eight berth before the school closed in 1984.
Sunday Slam: Conant's Kane Found a Home at One-Time Rival
I have known and wrestled with John Kane, and state champion Mike Mrozack. since they were 10 years old and me 12 and TEAMMATES on the ** MIGHTY& MIGHTY MATBURNS wrestling club. and was coached by HEAVYWEIGHT STATE CHAMPION MIKE MROZACK*S father Jerry and wrestling legend chuck prettyman in 1978 and 1979...and i was an accomplished and 4th state place finisher...and was undefeated my last year.....and let me say....nobody gave me more trouble on the mat than JOHN KANE did during practice...one tough cookie...much love and respect to you John and Mike and enjoy your retirement old friend... GARY HIGGIN
Marty, this is beyond cool!