Todd Hendrickson excitedly sprinted across his house.
The moment his son, Wyatt Hendrickson, uttered the words, “Dad, I got a letter from the Air Force Academy,” Todd beamed with joy.
Until he realized Wyatt had tossed it in his bedroom trash can.
Wyatt, then a junior at Newton High School in Kansas, analyzed his letters from a wrestling standpoint. Todd, however, encouraged a big-picture perspective.
“I ran in there and I told him, ‘Hey, let’s look at this, wait a second,’” Todd said. “I grew up in Colorado. I knew it was a great school to go to.