Sports : The Adam Gassman 75 Minute Snatch Challenge

By Joe Hadechek

I have a long relationship with Adam as I recruited him from Western Dubuque High School when he was a young man. He was a great student and very respectful. We reconnected in the fall of 2007 when Union had a math opening and Adam came over from Vinton-Shellsburg.
He was one of the first guys we hired on the staff. He had been an amazing leader in the school, the community, and his church. Adam was a great father and husband and never complained to us (football staff) about anything. Just the opposite he reminded us how lucky we were to live on this earth.

The fundraising idea came after my wife, Gloria and I, visited Adam and Jen in the hospital in Iowa City. I felt we could do something but wanted it to be something Adam would smile about. He dominated kettlebell classes at Joe's Gym in Dysart with Kendall Kriz as his instructor and everyone always raved about his strength. For those that don't know Adam he doesn't say a whole lot but just leads by example.

I also knew Adam loved the number 75. He wore that number when he played at Drake University for the Bulldogs as a defensive lineman. He was a gutsy competitor and underweight for his position but to no surprise made up for it with heart and guts.

So we came up with the 75 Minute Kettlebell Challenge. Coach Don Sallee and I rode our motorcycles down to see Adam last Sunday and we asked Jennifer and Adam if they were ok with the idea first. Adam gave his standard smile, and said yes! We decided to get it rolling on Monday. Gloria organized all the volunteers and park facility for the free-will offering meal. There were so many people that stepped up to donate food and drink, time to work and grill, and help it was crazy.

The community gathered around over 150 kettlebellers at 6:00 pm and we started. Coach Denner and Pospisil had great buy-in from the high school athletes, we had a team of wrestlers here from UNI, and many more. We had teams of 10 and you could use any size kettlebell you wanted but you had to go for 75 seconds straight and then rotate. Basically, each person was able to get in six rounds of kettlebell snatches in the humidity. Many had calluses come off and had to get assist from Taylor Vaske, our trainer at Union. She was pretty busy. But everyone pushed through. EVERYONE did it for Adam and the family.

We had a total of over one million pounds snatched, not including a big group of young ladies that did presses and another group of youngsters that jumped rope. It was perfect. Outside of Adam not being present to watch, I truly believe God had his hand in all of this. What a performance and turnout by our communities. Adam had his entire family here and also some classmates traveled from Epworth. If someone would still like to contribute they can still do so at www.adam75fundraiser.com.