Grafel notches 100th victory at CCC

Northwest Kansas native has the most wins in school history

Coach Rusty Grafel earned his 100th career victory at CCC Feb. 3 in a 67-66 win over Pratt at the Colby Community Building.
Coach Rusty Grafel earned his 100th career victory at CCC Feb. 3 in a 67-66 win over Pratt at the Colby Community Building.
February 5, 2019

Colby Community College men's head basketball coach Rusty Grafel picked up his 100th victory at CCC as the Trojans held off Pratt Community College 67-66 Saturday afternoon at the Colby Community Building.

Grafel began his coaching career as an assistant at Fort Hays State University from 2007-09. He came to Colby and served as an assistant under Dustin Pfeifer for three years before taking over as head coach in 2012. Now in his seventh season leading the Trojans, he collected his 91st win Nov. 24 and passed Brian Ostermann (2000-2004) for the most wins in school history.

A native of northwest Kansas, Grafel played at Hutchinson Community College and helped the Blue Dragons to a Jayhawk West Championship in 2004.  The next year he transferred to Fort Hays State where he played three years for the Tigers and was part of the 2006 Rocky Mountain Athletic Association (RMAC) championship team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

On reaching his coaching milestone, Grafel takes it in stride.

"When you enjoy your job, the people around you, and the community you're in, 100 wins is all because of them.  I'm fortunate, and I feel honored every game we step on the floor to be able to represent this school!  Every student-athlete that has been part of this program deserves this honor, and I'm happy I could be along for the ride with them!"

Grafel and the Trojans, now 14-9 and 9-5 in the Jayhawk Conference, are in search of another win at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday as they host Dodge City (7-16, 2-12) at the Community Building.