Stagg Cheerleading Coach Gets the Big Ask during Big Show

PALOS HILLS, IL — A Stagg graduate and former cheerleader who now coaches at the school recently found herself in the spotlight on the field once again.

Allison Culver, 25, coaches the JV cheer squad. It was senior night Oct. 14, and the JV and Varsity teams had planned a joint half-time performance—but Culver had no idea just how special.

"At the end of their dance, the JV team went behind one of our banners, and I thought nothing of it," she said.

"They pulled the banner apart, and that’s when I noticed they were holding something up. I thought they were going to get in trouble!"

The girls were holding up letters that spelled out "Will You Marry Me", and standing right there with them was her beaming boyfriend of seven years, Ryan Tietz.

"I didn’t even know he had purchased a ring!" Culver said. "I had no idea he had talked to my dad. I didn’t know anything. I had no clue. I thought he didn’t have a ring, or a plan."

But Tietz, a Carl Sandburg High School alum, had been working on it for a while, he said. He had brainstormed proposal ideas since the summer, but hadn't decided to incorporate her passion until September.

"Allie absolutely loves cheerleading," Tietz said. "She was a cheerleader at Stagg for all four years and she cheered at Illinois Wesleyan University, the school we both attended. After we graduated she began coaching at Stagg and she has loved every minute of it. Taking all that into account, I decided it would be special for her if I included her cheerleaders in the proposal. She has a great group of girls this year, really a tight-knit group which made it ever more special."

It took a proverbial village to get the proposal done, he said. He turned to varsity coach Bridget Guzior for her help, and then began to scheme up how to work in the cheerleaders. Security made it so Tietz could arrive in secret and pull up close to the field. Even the principal was in on it.

"The cheerleaders helped make the signs and there was a lot of work that went into the actual proposal," he said. "More people were involved than I had originally planned for, which made it all the better. Plus everyone involved was able to keep it a secret so that Allie was truly surprised!

"I couldn't have done it without Bridget, she was a huge help," Tietz, 26, said.

The evening of the big game—and the big ask—Tietz's nerves set in.

"I arrived to the game at the end of the first quarter, so I spent the entire second quarter behind the visitor bleachers pacing back and forth in anticipation of the big moment," he said. "Luckily, my older brother, Brad, who was there for the proposal (and for moral support) came over and killed some time with me, which helped calm some of my nerves. I also prepared some words to say during the big moment, so I was rehearsing that as well."

Culver of course said yes, right there at the 50-yard line.

"We had talked about it in the past, stuff like that comes up all the time," she said. "He asked my dad the first week in August!" she added, stunned that she had no idea.

Tietz even picked out the ring on his own.

"He did great—it’s perfect," Culver said. "I love it so much."

The two hope to marry in 2017.

Photos by Gary Allen, for Varsity Views