By Brandon Bean
Sports Writer
Head Wrestling Coach Vernon Burden has finally met his match.
He has proposed and is engaged to marry Amanda Hamilton, a woman whom he has known for three years.
Despite his busy schedule of coaching three different sports, teaching math classes and serving as an assistant principal, he still found the time to court his bride-to-be.
Senior wrestler Jason Holmes jokes, “He might be going soft on us now, and this is a problem because he was already pretty soft to begin with, but I’m extremely proud of him,” Holmes says. “He’s moving in a positive direction with his life, and I hope he is happy,” Holmes says.
Burden says he and his fiancée share many similar interests, One of his favorites is their love for sports. Hamilton, just like Burden, was an athlete, participating in high school volleyball and swimming. “She’s a competitor, just like me,” Burden says.
Burden has also recently retired from playing professional football for the Saginaw Sting, a football team in the Arena Football League.
Is Burden’s retirement and engagement his way of giving into Father Time? “Yeah, it’s a lot to deal with,” he says with a smile on his face. “Maybe it is time to settle down a bit.”