Wade Gerstner is the 2024 Oscar Stauffer Sportscaster of the Year award recipient. Presented annually by the Kansas State High School Activities Association, The Oscar Stauffer Awards recognize excellence in the fields of sportscasting and sportswriting. Wade received his award during the high school state basketball tournament.
Wade graduated from WaKeeney-Trego Community High School in 1994 and obtained a degree in Mass Communications with a broadcasting emphasis in 1998 from Pittsburg State University. While at PSU, Gerstner provided play-by-play for KSEK Radio and play-by-play on the Local TV Access Channel.
After college, Gerstner worked for ESPN Radio 1620 in Omaha where he hosted a local scoreboard show and an evening sports talk show. He was also a sideline reporter for the Omaha Beef arena football team.
Wade was the basketball play-by-play voice of the Iowa Western Reivers for 2 seasons before becoming the sports director at KMZA radio in Seneca in 2001, where he did play-by-play for area high schools plus Highland Community College and hosted a variety of sports shows. In 2003, Gerstner was a fill-in producer and co-host of the Kansas City Royals pre & post-game shows on the weekends.
Wade moved to north central Kansas in 2006 to become the General Manager of KD Country 94 & Z-96.3 The Lake in Glen Elder, where he does sales and provides play-by-play for Beloit Trojan football, volleyball and basketball. He hosts a daily morning show and a daily sports talk show. In 2008, he created nckssports.com, a local sports website covering area schools and leagues.
Since 2013, Gerstner has been a fill-in play-by-play voice on the K-State Sports Network covering K-State women’s basketball, men’s basketball and baseball.
Wade has previously been honored for his on-air work by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters in multiple categories, including play-by-play, DJ personality, sportscast, sports feature, news feature, public affairs, special program, commercials, editorial/commentary and severe weather coverage. Gerstner has been married to his wife, Mandy, since 2002 and they have 3 sons.
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