By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Many special things had to happen between 1999 and 2006 before Great Bend-native Jeremy Rusco ultimately started Dynamic Discs, his disc golf company. A rare winning season on the gridiron turned to college opportunities. A move across the state ultimately led to the creation of one of the premiere disc golf companies in the world. But it all started in Great Bend when Rusco and the Panther football team struggled to find wins.
"We had some tremendous talent not only in the Class of 2002, but in my brother's class, the Class of 2000, and the Class of 2001," he said. "There was a lot of good talent there. We just could not seem to find a way to put together the wins in the way we needed to."
Losing football games in Great Bend was hardly a new idea. In 20 seasons from 1980 to 2000, the Panthers posted just two winning seasons. Rick Clark won the final two games in 1984 to move to 5-4, and David Webb's team also finished at 5-4 in 1998. Great Bend posted a paltry 11-70 record over a 9-year stretch in the middle of that run.
Everything changed for Rusco's senior year in 2001. Bo Black came up from Texas to take over the program, leading the Panthers to a 6-3 record in his first season. Black would eventually coach Great Bend to eight-consecutive winning seasons, including an 11-2 run in 2006 when the Panthers made it all the way to the Class 5A state championship game.
"He was very motivated, very passionate, loved what he did," said Rusco. "Clearly, he was a great leader and a great coach. I was very fortunate to have played my senior year under Coach Black and the rest of his team and coaching staff. It was definitely fun to be part of a winning team."
Back in that first season, Great Bend sat at 5-2 after a 28-21 win against Hays to open district play. Back then, districts consisted of four teams with the top two from each district advancing to the playoffs. Salina Central was still a powerhouse then, and the Mustangs beat the Panthers 35-28 in week eight of the season. Mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with a game to go, Rusco and the Panthers turned it on in a 56-13 win against Buhler to end the season.
"It would be hard to not remember how much fun we had in that Buhler game," Rusco said. "That was the final game of the season for us. At that point, after we lost to Salina, we knew we were not going to make it to the playoffs. The goal and intentions of that game were to make sure we had as much fun as possible."
Rusco rushed for 397 yards and seven touchdowns that night, both school records that still stand. The big finish put him at 1,719 rushing yards on the season, and 3,164 rushing yards for a career, two more school records that remain to this day.
Rusco was also a star for the Panther track team that spring. He ran with Jermaine Barnett, Graham Neeland, and Cade Butler on the 4x100 team in a school record of 42.50 seconds that still stands. Barnett and Rusco were joined by Tyler Penn and Jorge Ramirez in the 4x400m relay for a school record of 3:21.1 that still stands. Rusco claimed silver state medals in the 400m dash his junior and senior years.
Fort Hays State University offered Rusco a full-ride scholarship to play football and run track. But after two years in Hays, Rusco made the life-changing decision to move his talents east to Emporia State University.
"I was just not really enjoying my time there, and something was pulling me a different direction to go to Emporia," he said. "While I learned disc golf at Fort Hays with some of the football and track guys, if I had not transferred to Emporia State University, I do not believe Dynamic Discs would have ever been a little college hobby formed. I definitely think I'd have a much different career path to this day. So, in so many regards, in almost every regard, I am very thankful and very blessed I did make the career change to Emporia State University."
Unlike today's NCAA, Rusco was not allowed to play football immediately in Emporia. He spent time with fellow GBHS grads and athletes Neeland, Eric Rondeau, Trenton Olivier, Brandon Mauler, and Adam Searle, as well as his cousin Steven Eurich from Hoisington.
"In between football practices or our sporting events, whatever we were doing, we had a disc golf course a couple blocks from the college house," said Rusco. "We would find our way to be competitive out on the disc golf course."
With a little extra time, Rusco's passion for disc golf grew. He purchased 100 discs from a popular company and sold the discs on Ebay. He continued to sell the discs until graduating from ESU in 2006. Searle, his old high school quarterback, helped him transition Dynamic Discs into something bigger.
"Once I graduated in 2006, I really wasn't sure whether I was going to keep Dynamic Discs going, or try to get my master's degree, or go out and get a real job," Rusco said. "Somehow, I landed on being a substitute teacher, mostly at Emporia High School."
Today, Dynamic Discs is one of the biggest names in the sport. The headquarters and warehouse in Emporia sit on a little more than 80,000 square feet. The company has another 6,000 square feet retail store in downtown Emporia. Dynamic Discs employs some 80 people and has stores in Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Alabama. Many of the sport's top professionals are sponsored by DD.
All along, Rusco said the ride has been both enjoyable and stressful. As the company continues to grow, Rusco is letting others help him out.
"I think any entrepreneur would be lying if they didn't say it wasn't stressful," he said. "It certainly is a lot of fun and very rewarding at the same time. It's all about finding that work-life balance. In a lot of regards, that took me way too many years to find. Now that I've got a two year old, I guess I feel like I've found that better work-life balance. I'm putting more emphasis on more time with the family and delegating more things around the business."
For all things Dynamic Discs, visit their website at www.dynamicdiscs.com