For John Alley and Luke Barron, being firefighters and varsity wrestling coaches isn’t simply a matter of balancing two jobs. It’s more like a double-dip in intertwined vocations.
Alley is an engineer for the Westminster Fire Department, while Barron is a firefighter for the Denver Fire Department. They’ve coached at Columbine High School together for six years, the past two as co-head coaches.
The sum of both jobs requires early mornings and late nights, traded shifts at the station and aching muscles from drilling with the Rebels in the wrestling room. But the payoff — building community via fire trucks and takedowns — makes it all worthwhile.
“On the job, most times we see people at their bad moments — they’re going through their worst time right now, and that’s why we’re there,” Barron explained.