Les Gatrel
Les Gatrel's Story
Les was born in Nebraska and grew up in Iowa. There, he became involved in the sport of wrestling, placing 4th and 2nd in the Iowa State 3A wrestling championship. He credits starting to work in the family landscaping business at age 10 and playing other sports for some of that early success. Wrestling continued to be a dominant theme in his life. He attended Central Missouri State University on scholarship where he achieved several honors: two time All American, four MIAA titles where he was named “Outstanding Wrestler” three times and also was presented the “Vernon Kennedy Award” for top male athlete his senior year. He is a member of UCM HOF, Indianola H.S. HOF, the Legends HOF, and the Missouri Chapter of the National Hall of Fame. After college graduation, he immediately started his highly successful coaching career, both collegiate and high school, including recognition as NCAA Rookie Coach of the Year in 1982 and HS Coach of the Year in Vero Beach, FL in 1985. Les changed careers in 1985, moving into financial services, specializing in life insurance and annuities, where he continued to earn accolades for nearly 30 years. In April 2012, everything changed abruptly with his MS diagnosis. He became very ill, had multiple ER visits and lost his balance. His wrestling buddies rallied around him to create WrestlingMS. With the discipline that he had to have in his wrestling career, he now turned it to fighting the battle with MS. Les has inspired so many by riding 3,000 or more miles a year since 2013. About 38,000 miles in total. Through all of this, Les says raising his sons is the best thing he has ever had a part of doing. Trey is 38 and Zach is 36. His favorite saying is "I may have MS, but MS doesn't have me". DONATE NOW