About K.J.

I began my career with The Gazette in 1999, earning my first beat in 2002 when I was given the opportunity to cover prep baseball. Since then I have been the regular writer for girls’ swimming, boys’ and girls’ spring golf and, my favorite of all, amateur wrestling (prep and some college).

I’m 34 years old and have been involved in wrestling as a competitor, fan and writer the last 27 years. I wrestled as a prep for Cedar Rapids Washington (1989-1993) and in college at Buena Vista University (1994-1998). The latter for legendary coach Al Baxter. He taught me why not to drink the water in Florida (If you want to know, email me and I can share the adult version with you).

While at Washington, I participated in football, wrestling, track and baseball. I love sports. I’ve played them all my life and had teammates who went on to earn an NFL Super Bowl ring and pitch at New York’s Yankee Stadium. I’ve had the honor of wrestling with three NCAA Division III national champions. Of course, I’ve had a great opportunity to cover some amazing athletes in Eastern Iowa, too. My highlight has been the chance to cover all the talented, and even better people, at a level where sports are still as pure as possible.

Personally, I love competing and playing any kind of game. I can be hypnotized by a deck of cards. Texas Hold ‘Em, Euchre, Cribbage, Pepper (Spent most of my time at BV playing this game with teammates, who continued to lose to myself and partner Matt Jensen. We called ourselves Jake and the Fatman. You can guess who was who), Spades, Hearts, etc. I also love spending time with my family. Things I can’t stand are losing, whiners and the Scrubs storyline where J.D. and Kim end up having a kid. Ridiculous…

My family includes wife, Kris, and daughters, Katelyn (left) and Keely (right)

My wife, Kris, and two daughters, Katelyn and Keely, have had their fair share of exposure to wrestling. All have made their mark on my state wrestling tournament experiences. Kris was in attendance at the 2008 tournament to join me during the awards ceremony to accept the IHSAA Media Award. Keely watched with her grandparents from the stands. One year earlier, Katelyn was born during the 2007 tournament. She decided it was time during Wednesday night’s Class 2A session. I left immediately, making the trip from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids in a little more than 80 minutes.

That’s a bit about me and this blog is my attempt to be witty with tendencies to hear myself talk. Please read and respond. There are only three rules: No swearing, no saying bad things about my family and absolutely NO WHINING!

To contact me:

K.J. Pilcher
Email: kj.pilcher@gazcomm.com
Phone: (319) 368-8679
Fax: (319) 398-5861