The Wichita Wild were a professional indoor football team based in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. They were members of the

Champions Professional Indoor Football League The Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) was an indoor football minor league based along the Midwestern United States region. The league began play in February 2013. In August 2014, the CPIFL and Lone Star Football League (LSFL) ...

(CPIFL). The team was founded in 2006 as an independent indoor football franchise. In 2008, the team joined

United Indoor Football United Indoor Football (UIF) was an indoor football league in the United States that operated from 2005 to 2008. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion (the Dayton Warbirds, which never played a game in UIF ...

(UIF). They joined the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

(IFL) during the UIF and

Intense Football League The Intense Football League (IFL) was a professional indoor football minor league that began operations in 2004. Its focus was in Texas, but it was notable for being the first professional football league to place a franchise in Alaska. History ...

merger of 2009. In 2012, the team left the IFL to become charter members of the CPIFL. The Wild's home games were played at

Hartman Arena Hartman Arena is a privately managed 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Park City, Kansas, United States. It is located northwest of I-135 and 77th Street North in the north Wichita metro area. History Ground was broken on March 25, 2008, and th ...

in nearby

Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...

. When they lost their lease with the Hartman Arena, they folded..

History

The Wild joined the CPIFL after playing in the

for the past 4 seasons. The IFL was formed in 2008 through a merger between the Intense Football League and the United Indoor Football (UIF) league. Both leagues had been in business for four seasons before the merger. The Wild host their home games in

Park City, Kansas Park City is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States, and a suburb of Wichita. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,333. History The first Park City was founded in 1870. Located to the northwest of Wichita, it w ...

at the

. The owner of the team is

Wink Hartman A wink is a facial expression made by briefly closing one eye. A wink is an informal mode of non-verbal communication usually signaling shared hidden knowledge or intent. However, it is ambiguous by itself and highly dependent upon additional ...

. Ken Matous was hired as Head Coach of the team on July 28, 2008. Matous came to the Wild from the Columbus Destroyers of the Arena Football League (AFL) where he served as Offensive Coordinator, Special Teams Coordinator, and directed player personnel for three seasons. After an 0-5 start to the 2011 season, Matous was fired. Wild assistant coach, Morris Lolar, was then designated the Interim Head Coach for the last nine games of the Wild’s 2011 season where he inherited an 0-5 team, but lead them to a 6-3 finish to earn the full-time position. In 2012, Lolar led a young Wild team all the way to the IFL conference championship game, but they ultimately fell to the Tri-Cities Fever 51-30 to end their season. Lolar then returned for the 2013 season with a more experienced team heading into their inaugural season with the newly formed Champions Professional Indoor Football League, where they finished with a 12-2 record, a championship win against the Salina Bombers, and a 7-0 record at home to close out the season. Lolar’s leadership in the 2013 season earned the team several league awards and an honorable mention as CPIFL Coach of the Year. After winning their second consecutive CPIFL Championship, owner Wink Hartman put the team up for sale on July 2, 2014. The Wild effectively folded after not joining the new

Champions Indoor Football Champions Indoor Football (CIF) is a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team from ...

league after its merger with the

Lone Star Football League The Lone Star Football League (LSFL) was a regional professional indoor football minor league that played three seasons from 2012 to 2014. All of the LSFL's charter teams were based in the state of Texas, with five teams coming from the Southern ...

Season-By-Season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Wichita Wild (Independent) , - , 2007 , , 9 , , 0 , , 0 , , -- , , -- , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Wichita Wild (UIF) , - , 2008 , , 2 , , 12 , , 0 , , 4th East , , -- , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Wichita Wild (IFL) , - , 2009 , , 8 , , 6 , , 0 , , 3rd United Central , , Won United Conference Quarterfinal ( Bloomington)
Won United Conference Semifinal (

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

)
Lost United Conference Championship (

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera that was first broadcast on BBC One Scotland on 24 September 2002. ''River City'' follows the lives of the people who live and work in the fictional district of Shieldinch. In November 2017, a s ...

) , - , 2010 , , 9 , , 5 , , 0 , , 2nd Central West , , Won Round 1 ( Bloomington)
Won United Conference Semifinal (

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

)
Lost United Conference Championship (

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

) , - , 2011 , , 6 , , 8 , , 0 , , 3rd Great Plains , , -- , - , 2012 , , 8 , , 6 , , 0 , , 3rd Intense , , Won Intense Conference Semifinal (

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...

)
Lost Intense Conference Championship ( Tri-Cities) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Wichita Wild (CPIFL) , - , 2013 , , 12 , , 2 , , 0 , , 3rd League , , Won Semi-Finals (

)
Won Champions Bowl I ( Salina) , - , 2014 , , 10 , , 2 , , 0 , , 1st League , , Won Semi-Finals (

Dodge City Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

)
Won Champions Bowl II (

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

) , - !Totals , , 72 , , 44 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Past seasons

2007 season

They began play in 2007 as an independent organization playing all games at home against semi-pro opponents from the midwest. They played their home games at the

Kansas Coliseum Kansas Coliseum was an entertainment complex in unincorporated Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. It was located north of Wichita, Kansas, Wichita at the intersection of I-135 and 85th Street North. It hosted sporting events, concerts, show ...

. The Wichita Wild went undefeated with a record of 9 wins and no losses.

2008 season

In 2008, they competed in the UIF. The UIF the next season merged with the Intense Football League to form the

. They played their home games at the

2009 season

The Wild's breakout year came in 2009 when the Wild established themselves as top tier indoor football franchise. The Wild won the IFL's Central Division and fell in the Conference Championship game to RiverCity. Following the season, Wichita was recognized as the IFL's Franchise of the Year. Running back Darius Fudge set league records for rushing touchdowns and rushing yards, which still stand today. Fudge was named the IFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year.

2010 season

For the new season the Wild have returned last years stars in Dixie Wooten, Clinton Soloman, and Darius Fudge. The Wichita Wild Season opener was February, 26 at the

. The 2010 season was the most successful season in franchise history in terms of success on and off the field. The team went 9-5 in the 2010 regular season and went on to win two playoff games before falling to Sioux Falls in the United Conference Championship. The 11 total wins for the Wild in 2010 was the most in franchise history. The team also set a record for total attendance by seeing almost 30,000 fans attend Wild home games in 2010. A crowd of 4,755 attended and watched the Wild snag their first win of the 2010 season. After an 8-4 start to the 2010 Indoor Football League season the Wichita Wild Clinched their second playoff berth in franchise history.

2011 season

The previous season's success did not carry over to the 2011 season. Starting 0-5, the Wild matched their worst start in team history (they had previously started 0-5 during their inaugural UIF season). Their start lead to the firing of head coach Ken Matous, and Morris Lolar was named the interim head coach. Although the Wild bravely rallied and went 6-3 the rest of the way, their 6-8 finish and third place standing in the Great Plains Division was not enough for a third consecutive playoff berth (the first time since 2008 that the Wild had missed the playoffs and finished with a losing record).

2012 season

The Wild would return to their winning ways in 2012. Like the previous season, the Wild had started 0-4; what was different, though, is their 8-2 finish was able to pull them into third place in the Intense Conference with an 8-6 record, returning the Wild to the playoffs. After an upset road win over the

Allen Wranglers Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univ ...

in the conference semifinals, the Wild would once again fall short of the United Bowl, losing to the

Tri-Cities Fever The Tri-Cities Fever were a professional indoor football franchise based in Kennewick, Washington. The Fever joined National Indoor Football League (NIFL) in 2005 as an expansion team. The Fever were owned by Teri Carr. From 2005 to 2016, the Fe ...

in what would be their final game in the IFL before moving to the CPIFL the following season.

2013 season: Switching leagues and winning a championship

The 2013 season was a year of firsts for the Wichita Wild. They competed in the

from 2009-2012. During their tenure in the IFL, the Wild made it to three Conference Championships, but couldn't finish and get to the United Bowl. In 2013, the Wild left the IFL for a new league that was created with former members of the American Professional Football League and a few more from the IFL. Together, the new league consisted of 10 teams in total. Every founding member of the league was close to one another in geographic proximity. The Wild opened the season on a strong note, with four straight wins over the

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, Salina,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, and Bloomington. They suffered their first loss of the season in a close game to the

Kansas City Renegades The Kansas City Renegades were a charter member of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League based in Kansas City, Missouri. They played their home games at Kemper Arena. The Renegades were the second arena/indoor team based in Kansas Cit ...

. The Wild finished with a franchise best record of 10-2, heading into the 2013 playoffs. In a three-way tie for the best league record, The Wild were slotted as the #3 seed in a four team playoff. In the first round of the playoffs, the Wild faced a familiar foe from their prior IFL days, the Omaha Beef. In a tightly contested match up, Wichita was victorious on the road, outlasting their rivals by a score of (31-25). With the win, Wichita secured their first ever trip to a championship game. Their opponent was the #4 seeded

Salina Bombers The Salina Bombers were a professional indoor football team based in Salina, Kansas. The team was founded by Chris Vercher, Jake Leighty and Jake Sharp in 2012 as charter member of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL). The Bo ...

who they would host at their home venue,

. The Bombers, a brand new team, also enjoyed a magical first season finishing at (8-3) and were fresh off upsetting the #1 seed and two time APFL Champion

Sioux City Bandits The Sioux City Bandits are a professional indoor football team based in Sioux City, Iowa, and compete as a member of Champions Indoor Football (CIF). The team was founded in 1999 as the Sioux City Attack. In 2001, the team assumed their current ...

in their 1st round of the playoffs. In convincing fashion, Wichita dominated the Bombers in the first ever Champions Bowl, as they jumped out to an early three possession lead and never looked back. Wild quarterback

Rocky Hinds Rocky Lee Hinds (born February 13, 1986) is an indoor football Quarterback for the Wichita Force of Champions Indoor Football (CIF). Rocky was the starting quarterback for the UNLV Rebels after transferring from the University of Southern Cali ...

was named the game's MVP, completing 18 of 22 passes for 163 yards and four touchdowns. The final score was (47-34). With the win, Wichita secured their first ever league title of any kind and became the first ever champions of the

2014

vs opponent

* = was called the Bloomington Extreme prior to 2012 ** = was called the Odessa Roughnecks prior to 2010

References

External links

Official Website
{{CPIFL 2006 establishments in Kansas 2014 disestablishments in Kansas