An accomplished wrestler and coach at the collegiate level, Mike Bammes is in his fifth season as the lone head coach in Barton wrestling history, beginning the program from its inception in 2015.

Two All-America performances highlighted this past season in keeping Barton’s streak of multiple award winners as the Cougar squad placed 15th at the NJCAA National Championships to finish among the nation’s top twenty-five for the fourth straight season. Gage McBride’s medal effort in reaching the 174 division championship semifinal round eventually placed 4th overall to close out his Cougar career while freshman Kolby Droegemeier battled through the 149 division to finish 7th overall giving Barton multiple All-Americans for the second consecutive year.

The 2017-18 season was historical for both individual and team accomplishments. The 6th ranked Cougars captured its 3rd straight Region VI Championship and piled up a program best 173.5 points to finish runner-up at the West/Central District Championship behind what would be the eventual national champions. Five Cougars earned their way to the District Championship match with Gage Gomez and Kade Sander joining two-time District Champion David Kelly as the top in their class.

Barton qualified nine of its wrestlers for the 2018 NJCAA National Championships, coming away with three All-Americans including Sander etching his name into history as Barton’s first individual champion by winning the 157 division national title leading the Cougars to a program high 9th place at the Championships. Two other Cougars left the meet with school history under their belt, with Gomez earning the program's second highest ever finish capturing 3rd place in the 133 division while Kelly would grab 5th place in the 174 division.

For Bammes and the program’s second season of competition, the Cougars returned just three from the inaugural season, capturing its second straight Region VI title and second straight runner-up placing behind the defending national champions at NJCAA West/Central District Championships. Ten Cougars qualified for the National Championships two weeks later finishing with the program’s second straight Top-25 finish. Barton had four survive the afternoon rounds of the championship with three of those coming up one win shy of the All-American rounds as the Cougars would conclude the season 24th.

Bammes and the Cougars made a big splash in its first season of competition in 2015-16 on not just the region, but on a national scale, sending all ten athletes to the NJCAA Wrestling National Championships bringing home a No. 15 national finish. Six Cougars came within a win from the All-American rounds with sophomore Will Bardezbain breaking through for a fifth place 120 pound finish to earn Barton’s first wrestling All-American honor.

Arriving from his alma mater Fort Hays State University, Bammes had spent the previous two years as a Graduate Assistant Coach for the Tigers.

Prior to joining the Tigers, Bammes served as a high school head coach on two different occasions, Lakin High School in 2010-11 and Dodge City High School from 2006-08. Bammes has also had assistant coaching stops at Garden City High School, Manhattan High School and Salina South High School, along with a middle school in Salina, Kansas, and head middle school coach in Emporia, Kansas, and Hays, Kansas.

A native of Manhattan, Kansas, Bammes began his collegiate wrestling career in the 142 weight division at Garden City Community College during the 1991-92 and 1993-94 seasons where the Broncbusters captured two NJCAA National Championships. Following Garden City, Bammes was a member of the varsity squad in 1995-96 and 1998-99 in the 150 and 165 pound weight divisions winning a regional and conference championship in 1998-99. Voted a team Captain in his final season in a Tiger uniform, Bammes was ranked nationally and qualified for the NCAA National Championships.

Bammes received his bachelor's degree in Physical Education from FHSU in 2000, adding his Sports Administration master’s degree from FHSU in 2015.