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his weight class in Indianapolis. Sieracki won the Olympic Trials twice, but never competed in an Olympics. “It makes me who I am now. I try to turn it into a positive. I ask would I have had my two boys and one on the way, and the life that I have now? I am glad things worked out for me in my life. But as a wrestler, it kills me to think of not having that opportuni- ty to step onto the mat at the Olympics,” said Sieracki. Sieracki made the 2001 World Team, winning his first two matches at the World Championships then losing to a tough Hungarian who knocked him out of the tournament. “It was nice to get a few wins at the World Championships. I felt that it was a great first run. I was looking forward to my next chance to win at the Worlds, but for some reason, I couldn’t get out of the U.S. That reason was T.C. Dantzler,” said Sieracki. During the latter part of his career, Sieracki had a fierce rivalry with the talented Dantzler, and competed against him at many major events. But it was Dantzler who ended up coming out on top at the World Team Trials, making five U.S. World Teams before earning his spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. There was something different in his final quest for the Olympics, the four-year cycle leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games. His brother, Aaron, left the U.S. Air Force, and joined the U.S. Army, becoming Keith’s teammate in the Army program. “Mentally, I had to work hard to keep fresh and stay motivated. What helped me was having him come into the Army. He pushed me hard and kept me positive. It was an awesome way to end a career,” said Sieracki.
Keith placed third in the 2008 Olympic Trials, and retired. Late in his military career, Sieracki moved to the small moun-
tain town of Woodland Park, Colo. While still in the Army, he applied to serve as the high school wrestling coach there, but did not get the position. Once he was out of the Army, the coach there asked him to come on as an assistant coach and he jumped at the chance. When the head coach took another posi- tion in New York, Sieracki was hired as the head coach for Woodland Park High School.
“I wanted to be involved in coaching, and as an assistant, I could learn the ropes. I am now in my second year as head coach, and I love coaching in high school, just as much as I loved competing. I have the same feelings with the wins and the losses, and the tough decisions that my young wrestlers have to make. Woodland Park is such a small community, and it feels like a family,” said Sieracki. Keith also started a wrestling club with his brother named Sieracki Mat Masters. The club started in Colorado Springs and it was quite successful. After a while, Keith decided that he didn’t want to travel to the Springs as much. Aaron ran the club at Palmer Ridge High School in the Springs community, and Keith focused on coaching the club up in Woodland Park. Both loca- tions now have between 20-30 athletes training under the Sieracki brothers system. “We talk about dedication, discipline and love of the sport. This is on our club t-shirt. We first try to find the love of the sport. You have to have passion before you can have dedication and disci- pline. When I wrestled, at times, I forgot to love the sport. Once you fall in love with wrestling, there is no going back. It helps you as a person, well into your future,” said Sieracki. Sieracki hopes to develop athletes for USA Wrestling teams. “Every time I coach a wrestler, and send them into freestyle and Greco, I tell the kids that my brother and I came from a small town. We were just ordinary kids who enjoyed the sport. With persistence, luck and guidance, we got where we are at now. I want to pass on that same opportunity to them. If they want to do it, I will help them,” said Sieracki.
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