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Former Buster Spresser dies in Weskan grain elevator accident
Published 6/30/2010 in Sports
By MIKE KESSINGER
mkessinger@gctelegram.com
Former Garden City Community College football player Brett Spresser died Tuesday morning in a grain elevator accident at the United Plains Ag Co-op in Weskan.
Wallace County Sheriff Larry Townsend said Spresser, 21, was working at the Co-op when he stepped through a hole in the top of the elevator and fell 50 to 60 feet into the bin filled about halfway with grain.
The accident happened shortly after 8:30 a.m. Mountain time. Wallace County Fire Department and EMTs, along with the elevator rescue teams from United Plains Ag, Greeley County and Wichita County were there to aid in the emergency efforts.
"He was a really good kid," GCCC football coach Lucas Aslin said Tuesday night. "He came into the office two weeks ago to come talk to me and coach (Jacob) Cox and coach (David) Snodgrass. He was a simple kid who wanted to start a family."
Spresser, from Gem who went to high school at Golden Plains, played defensive tackle for the Broncbusters in 2007 and '08. He started both seasons and led the team in sacks as a freshman with 4.5 in 2007. He finished with 42 tackles as a freshman and had six tackles for losses. As a sophomore, he had 27 tackles, along with eight for losses. Spresser finished with two sacks. In his two years at GCCC, the Broncbusters were 7-3 and 6-4.
After his two years at GCCC, Spresser signed to play at Fort Hays State University, but Aslin said he decided not to play. A year ago he married Nikki Welsh, who is from Sharon Springs. She had played basketball at Colby Community College from 2007 to 2009. They are the parents of a three-week old baby girl. The Spresser's live in Sharon Springs.
Aslin found out about the accident at about 1 p.m. Tuesday when he received a text message from former GCCC safety Taylor Elder, asking that everyone keep the Spresser family in their prayers. Elder is from Sharon Springs.
"He was a good kid. He was a big commodity for us," Aslin said, remembering his recruitment of Spresser. "At the time, coach (Brian) Hill and I were recruiting him. We needed him. He was a big guy from an 8-man program. He was our leading tackler on the line his freshman year. He worked hard and he didn't put up with a lot."
Spresser's death was the second accident at an elevator in a week in western Kansas. Thursday in Russell, a bin with wheat in it collapsed as workers Sean Banks, 19, and Max Greve, 21, were unloading a truck next to the bin. Banks had just finished his freshman season at Hutchinson Community College where he played baseball. Greve was a student at Fort Hays. He played baseball for Colby Community College in 2008-09.
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