Last month, a tragic death shocked the community. This was the passing of Clayton Connolly, beloved Spectrum parent and community member. To honor his life and endless support, the Spectrum boys and girls wrestling team have taken a creative approach, starting at the beginning of this year.
Justin Werk, one of Spectrum’s Wrestling coaches, shared the motivation behind honoring his life.
Werk said, “It was parent and senior night and it was during Winterfest so it was a big deal for the kids and Leah and Colin hadn’t been wrestling because their father Clayton had passed away and it was really important that when they stepped out on the mat again that they felt the support of the team.”
Colin Connolly, 11th grade student at Spectrum, shared the idea behind honoring his father.
Colin Connolly said, “My mom always said that there were two sides to my dad. There was the cop side and then there was the John Deere side, where on our property we have a bunch of tractors, a bunch of farm equipment, and he would always wear John Deere. He always had a jacket or a hat.”
Spectrum girls Wrestling captain and 11th grade student at Spectrum, Tegan Erickson, shared what they did to honor this memorable aspect of Clayton Connolly.
Erickson said, “To celebrate him in a small little way, everybody changed their shoelaces to green and yellow. And a couple people also who weren’t wrestling or some of our coaches and some of the wrestlers that weren’t wrestling were wearing John Deere hoodies or John Deere hats or something that was John Deere.”
It has been said that everyone knew Clayton Connolly, and he knew everyone, so getting to honor his life was important to the team.
Erickson said, “Any loss is hard, but then when it’s affecting your teammates, it kind of affects the rest of the team. So, I think everybody had this sort of sense of loss in a way and I think that’s been kind of hard for us as a team. But overall, I think all of us were excited to wrestle that day because a part of it was still like we were wrestling for him. We were wrestling for someone who was always encouraging us and always a big supporter of our team.”
Spectrum boys wrestling teammate of Colin Connolly and 11th grade student, Cooper Reemts, shared his thoughts on the meet.
Reemts said, “I’m glad that we did something because I was thinking about parent night and how that was going to affect his family in particular. And I’m really glad that we all got together like the wrestling team and wrestling team community and did something for their family and for Clayton.”
Clayton Connolly’s permanent mark on the hearts and minds around him reflects in the memories and lessons that can be shared by his loved ones and beyond.
Erickson said, “One of my favorite memories actually of him is during soccer he’d always be the loudest person yelling, trying to coach sort of on the sidelines and it would make our coach so mad. He’d be like ‘he really needs to stop talking’ and it’d be so funny but it was just because Clayton was so into it and he was so passionate about the sport and also encouraging the kids on the team.”
Reemts said, “He was just always funny. If you talked to him you were always laughing like he was just the best, the funniest person in the room. I think that’s what Colin gets it from. Just being funny and just a great guy that everybody loves to be around. Just never a dull moment around him.”
In his absence, his friends and family share how they intend to continue to remember him and honor his life.
Colin Connolly said, “If you never got to meet him, I’m really sorry because he was the most amazing person that I ever knew and I can’t wait to live out his legacy and continue to try to support his image as much as I can.”
While the loss of such a remarkable person is heartbreaking, his memory shines through the care, love, and support that is being shared in a community affected by loss.