The city of Pueblo certainly has the right to be proud of Jerry Sisneros from his high school days in the Steel City through his coaching and leadership. While he was in high school at Pueblo Centennial, he was a quarterback on the football team during his junior season to go along with his success on the wrestling mats. He did switch to the defensive line his senior season. He was also considered a fine basketball player, but one of his coaches, Fred Rodriquez, felt he would be a better wrestler. It was then he chose wrestling and was on his way to a great career on the mats. He would, by the way, also coach one year with Rodriquez at Pueblo Central a year before being hired at South. He was also a fine leader off the athletic fields and was able to serve as the Senior Class President at Centennial. It's interesting to note that he actually was not an outstanding wrestler at Centennial as he was slowed by injuries, including a pair of blown knees. Sisneros, who was born and raised in Pueblo, also worked as a meat cutter to help make ends meet. He has coached Pueblo South to three state team championships and 14 individual state champions, three who won back-to-back titles. He also has been a teacher in the district for 30 years. He also teaches weightlifting at South and is head of the Physical Education department. He was a physical education major at the University of Southern Colorado and also received a minor in Biology. Jerry has also enjoyed great success as the South freshman football coach leading the colts to a 237-48 record over his 30-year tenure with the youthful squad. In his early days he taught half days at South and half days at Pueblo East. He also had teaching assignments Pueblo's Corwin Middle and Beulah Heights elementary. By 1981, he was an assistant wrestling coach and was named the head coach at South in 1987. He would coach his first state team title 1997, followed by championships in 2004 and 2005. His team finished second in 1999, 2006, and 2012. His first individual state champion was Ken Garcia in 1992. Several of the young men that he coached have also gone into the coaching ranks. There are thousands of young men that have been touched by Sisneros. "My main purpose is to make them better men. They work together as a team and learn the team comes first. I teach then the X's and O's, the moves on the mat, but I really teach them about life." He hopes, and believes, he has helped each of them and that is what he is proudest of. Sisneros first role in an individual state championship was with Tim Urenda's title in 1985-1986. At the time, though, he was the assistant head coach to Bobby Martinez. He has obtained many great wrestlers through the years and it is a long list. Urenda, by the way, has been an assistant coach with Sisneros for the past 24 seasons. Travis Medina and Josh Sisneros, the coach's son, are also part of the coaching team at South. Sisneros, who is married to his wife, Janet, is proud of the impact he has had on his students and athletes. "I teach tradition, South tradition. We do things here a certain way. We all respect each other. We respect the way things have been done, the way we do them in the classrooms and on the mats. That's very important to me." He was inducted into the Greater Pueblo Sports Association Hall of Fame in 2002.