Congrats to the 2022 Scholarship Recipients!

Kobe Prior of Bayfield High School in southwestern Colorado is the first-ever winner of the Ray Barron Strength & Honor Fund Scholarship. Photo Courtesy of Kobe Prior

The Ray Barron Strength & Honor Fund is proud to announce its first-ever recipients of the scholarships awarded by the fund. Established in 2020 in honor of legendary Colorado wrestling Coach Ray Barron, the scholarship intends to recognize Colorado wrestlers—male and female—who demonstrate strength and honor in all they do, on and off the mat.

 

The $10,000 first-place scholarship goes to Bayfield High School’s Kobe Prior, nominated by his coach, Todd McMenimen. Prior will graduate as the co-valedictorian from his high school, is a multi-sport athlete, and has wrestled varsity all four years of high school. Just a week ago, Prior placed fifth in the Colorado High School Athletics Association State Wrestling Tournament in the tough 3A 170-pound weight class.

 

“Living my life with strength and honor can be described in many ways,” Prior stated in his application. “The strength to get out of bed in the morning after studying late into the night. The honor associated with perpetuating a well-known family name. The strength to empty out one's gas tank late in the third period or overtime to secure a victory over a strong opponent. The honor of getting your name headlined in the local paper. The strength to lose a loved one and learn from their mistakes and living on to honor their loss. Living with strength means finding sanctity in the mundane and being willing to do what others are not. Living with honor means adhering to moral codes and having great integrity. I can stand tall knowing I have dedicated myself to becoming a strong young man because I have been weak. I can hold myself to a high standard of honor because of the great examples that have been set for me in the sport of wrestling and my family.”

 

Corbin Purdum of Heritage High School is the RBS&HF Runner-Up Scholarship recipient of $2,500. Photo Courtesy of the Purdum Family

The fund awards the runner-up scholarship of $2,500 to Corbin Purdum of Heritage High School, nominated by coach Joe Swanson. Purdum has historically participated in many sports—swimming, tennis, fencing, basketball, and soccer—but his high school career has focused on wrestling for four years and football through his junior year.

 

“I learned from Coach Barron that true leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders,” Purdum noted in his application. “This thought process has completely changed the way that I look at what it means to be a leader. As a team captain, I try to implement systems where young wrestlers feel free to critique others in the room, and where we build up our sophomores and juniors to become great team captains to continue developing new leaders in the room.”

 

Prior and Purdum rose to the top of a tough class of 15 applicants who completed the process, each nominated by their coaches. The selection panel, made of former teachers, coaches, and wrestlers, expressed great pleasure in learning about each applicant and noted how difficult it was to select just two individuals. In the end, they examined the top candidates for who most emulated Coach Barron’s character and who became a better person through wrestling.

 

“It’s difficult for me to express how proud we all are—the RBS&HF Board and my family—of this first class of scholarship recipients and all the applicants,” said board president and Coach Barron’s daughter, Jennifer Paulson. “It was a great privilege to learn about each impressive athlete and what they’ve overcome, how they contribute to their communities, and what wrestling has taught them. The future of Colorado wrestling is bright with programs producing individuals of this caliber. My dad would be excited to congratulate each of the nominees.”


Previous
Previous

Sponsor the RBS&HF Golf Tournament

Next
Next

Save the Date!