By Kathleen Goddeyne
“Your home for Mesa State sports KMSA 91.3” is the phrase that echoes on the air waves through the Grand Valley. These words are expressed by Caleb Burggraaf and Cole Honstead as they are the voices of the Mavericks for the Mesa State radio station KMSA 91.3.
“KMSA Sports has come a very long ways over the last few years since Caleb and Cole have been broadcasting.” Sports Information Director Tish Elliott said.
KMSA’s sports team consists of eight Mesa State students each bringing their own personalities to a broadcast. Caleb Burggraaf is the Sport director while Cole Honstead is his wing man as the Assistant Sports Director. Four of the six remaining member are in their first year of having broadcasting experience. Anthony Himes and Jordan Long have the most experience of the staff under Burggraaf and Honstead. The Rookies of the staff include Brandon Droz, Mike Chamberlain, Jeff Theole, and Max Freter. The Sports staff covers nearly every Mesa State home game.
“The more sports we can cover the more listeners we can get and the more popular we make KMSA” Cole Honstead said. KMSA broadcasts all major sports including Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Softball on a regular basis. Over the next couple of years KMSA’s sports broadcasts will cover nearly every sport including volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, with the possibility to include club sports such as Rugby and Rodeo. This past fall the whole KMSA station took a hit as the station was moving from its temporary home in Houston hall to the new college center. The sports team had over 15 games scheduled but could only broadcast five due to the move to the new college center.
Not only does the sports staff broadcast home games for the mavericks, seven members hosts three different weekly sports shows covering Mesa state sports to what happens around the world of sports on a national level. The shows are spaced throughout the week so they are all not back to back. Tuesday is the first day of the sports show as Caleb Burggraaf and Cole Honstead host The Mesa State Locker room at two o’clock. The Locker room has a two hour block and has a different look this year. The first half of the show is for Mesa State sports where Burggraaf and Honstead recap the weekend and look at upcoming matchups. Also in that first hour there are phone interviews with coaches from Mesa State as they discuss how their team did and what the look for from their team in the future. The second half of the show takes a quick look into what happens in professional sports and even throw in some top college news.
“Having shows during the week gives all our guys more experience behind the mic” Burggraaf said.
After the Locker room there is the Friday Afternoon Fanatics on Fridays at two o’clock. The fanatic is hosted by Jeff Theole and Anthony Himes and put a new twist on sports shows. Theole and Himes together have such outgoing personalities that their show is Sports Center only with no video. The fanatics cover all things sports and doesn’t matter what the sport is, the Fanatics will cover it. The final show of the week comes on Sundays at ten o’clock. This show is called The Sunday scouting Report with Jordan Long, Brandon Droz, and Max Freter as they put their own scouting report on the world of sports. The Sunday scouting report covers all national sports around the world, everything from football to cricket and other sports that get less than adequate coverage.
KMSA may not be the big name radio station that everyone listens to but their sports broadcasts are some of the best. Burggraaf and Honstead have really jump started this sports team and shed new light on the world of sports. These two together have really become great friends and even better broadcasters since they have worked with each other. The biggest boost to the KMSA sports staff was being able to bring in new talent for the next few years.
“We brought guys like Brandon (Droz), Max (Freter) and Mike (Chamberlain) in because they are freshman and sophomores, and can work in sports at KMSA for three or four years.” Honstead said
This will help the station and help the coverage of sports as these broadcasters grow with the teams they cover. The biggest challenge for KMSA over the next two years is coming up with new staff member to fill the spots of the guys who left.
“After this season our sport team loses Caleb and Jordan to graduation and somehow I need to fill those spots to make sure there is a full staff to cover as many games as we do in a season” Honstead said.
Overall, Sports at KMSA has made some major leaps and bounds over the last few years and Burggraaf and Honstead have been leading the way for the new guys and look to keep the sports program building for the future. So next time you tune in to a Mesa State sporting event remember to tune into KMSA 91.3 and let the words “Your home for Mesa State Sports KMSA 91.3” ring in your mind and you will remember what station to turn to for maverick sports coverage.