Jewelry store owners Kim and Russ Kathol frequently purchase costume and vintage jewelry to offer for sale in their Main Street Jewelers store in Plattsmouth, a community just south of Omaha. Among the treasures they acquired in a recent purchase was a UNO wrestling team ring with the name Greise engraved on it. With the help of the Internet, they traced the ring to Jesse Greise, who drowned while kayaking near his home in 2004.
The Kathols found that Jesse's parents, Pat and Cindy Greise, still lived in the Omaha area. After the Kathols left a couple voicemail messages, the Greises responded ... and, just last week, were reunited with their late son's ring from his days as a Maverick wrestler.
Jesse Greise drowned while kayaking with a friend in West Papio Creek in Papillion, Neb. in July 2004. According to his obituary, the kayak was upended when it went over a small waterfall; the friend was able to jump out of the watercraft just before it hit the drop, but Greise didn't see the drop, and disappeared under the water. After extensive searches conducted by first responders and friends, his body was discovered about a day-and-a-half after his disappearance. Greise was 21 years old.
According to his UNO bio, Jesse Greise launched his collegiate career in 2001. During the 2001-02 season, Greise was a redshirt freshman, building an 8-7 record by wrestling unattached in tournaments at 157 pounds. Injuries cut short his mat career in 2003. At the time, the UNO wrestling program, led by Mike Denney, was an NCAA Division II powerhouse, claiming a number of individual and team titles. However, the night the Mavericks won the 2010 NCAA D2 team championship, administrators called Denney to tell him the program had been eliminated, effective immediately. Denney and a number of his wrestlers moved on to Maryville University in the St. Louis area.
Prior to enrolling at Nebraska-Omaha, Greise wrestled at Omaha Skutt High School, where he was a three-time Nebraska state finalist, winning the state title in Feb. 2001.
To honor their son and his love of the outdoors, in 2004 the Greises established the
Jesse Greise Do-It-Right Foundation. In the bio at the Foundation's website, the 21-year-old environmental science major was described as "living life in high gear. The great outdoors was his passion. He had a great understanding for nature and an appreciation for it ... He chose to share those values every day with all that crossed his path. He would extend a hand like he would cast a line, with great enthusiasm and desire to embrace the fullness of life that God had provided him. He was a 'fisher of men'."
The website goes on to state, "Funds that are donated to this non-profit organization will be used to help children by providing scholarships, introductions to the stars, the weather, the environment and sports. All to spark interest for future careers as well as providing resources and avenues to achieve them."
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