98 Pounds - A True Story

It was about this time, 60 years ago, that CHS P.E. Teacher Mr. Richard Felber got a bunch of guys together and started training them to be the first and sustained Colfax High School wrestling team.

He picked or let volunteer guys who he knew would listen to him and were just ornery and inquisitive enough to go one-on-one and most important, each guy had to want to win. (How many of you guys reading this ever heard of Mr. Felber ever have to tell a person something twice?) A start-up team has several disadvantages in that some (or most) of its opponents had JV teams where they had learned holds, moves, techniques, strengthening, etc., while, as I was telling this year's wrestling coach Casey Jones, the original Colfax guys learned on the mat! The practice mat, the home mat and the away mat, but we also had Mr. Felber and wrestling (control and conditioning) teaching, which by year two, started to really pay off.

It must have been about mid-January 1964 when I entered the picture. I had just gotten out of the shower following boys P.E., and had grabbed a towel when Mr. Felber came over and asked how much I weighed. I told him I didn't know so he escorted me over to the scales, weighed me, and while I am still on the scales (minus towel) asked if I had ever wrestled before. I said that I had come from the Academy and the only thing close to wrestling had been the pounding I had taken from the Byrne boys (Jerry and Tony) and the Miller boys (Jerry and Tommy). He kind of chuckled and said this league was 1 on 1 as he kept talking. My feet started to hurt because I was still on the scales. He made me feel that if I did not say yes, that I would be letting him down, the team, CHS, Colfax, etc. So naturally, I said "yes" and away I went.

I had two matches that year. The first was with a poor kid who knew less than I did and I pinned him in 10 seconds, all while thinking, "Boy, that was easy," until my second match when I was pinned in five seconds. I just thought, "Boy, I'm glad this season is over."

I learned quickly that for some of us, being one of Mr. Felber's "boys" could be very beneficial. I stated above that I had graduated form the Academy and that seemed to get the attention of some of the senior boys who thought my initiation should go on longer and be more severe than others. The one group I remember most was Roger "Whip" Wilhelm and a couple of his associates. They just never let up until the morning after my first match and all that stuff just stopped, period. He did me a couple other favors later on in school that were also very helpful.

Oh! I should stop here and tell those of you readers who are still reading that might not like Mr. Felber, or are getting tired of reading about him, that you should probably quit, because after these many years I still have a few tidbits of memory (like all who wrestled at CHS have their own memories).

It was a snowy, windy and dark afternoon when we piled into that old bus and headed for Ritzville. The roads were not too bad until we turned at Washtucna and hit that thin, winding, unplowed road to Ritzville. Somehow, Mr. Felber made it (he always drove), but after the match the weather was worse. Somehow I got seated in front and the only way that I think we got home safely was those words that I heard Mr. Felber utter now and then.

Speaking of away matches, I always thought that it was great when Mrs. Felber would go with us. Her, in that bus full of lugs, was a great treat.

I did not realize it that at the time, but as Mr. Felber was letting me off the scales after I said "sure" he had allowed me to join the best sport in the world and to always say with pride that "I am a wrestler".

I want to sincerely thank the guy who was my practice partner for three years, and who took time at the beginning of our second season to explain to me what I had missed of Mr. Felber's wrestling plan, because of my late first year entry. His name is Don Grimm, and Don, thank you for all you did in those years that helped me put it together. Don and Junior Hensley were both awarded letters as Freshmen and they deserved it.

I saw Rich Magnussen put such a tight-waist on a kid once, that I thought the kid was going to cry. Of course you had to know Rich to understand and to know him was to love him! What about Jason Avery's remarkable string of straight wins that he made it look so easy? Jason was a great wrestler and is an even greater person.

One of the best matches I ever saw was one where almost everybody in the gym knew that a certain wrestler was going to lose, but they had not told him. This involved a match between Jennings Elementary and of all places, Potlatch - the toughest, most tenacious, little town to try and win in that I know. That same year, Potlatch's team featured an unbeaten 8th grader.

Well, from the first whistle, it was obvious that the 8th grader could not put everything that he had together at the same time, while the JES wrestler kept pounding him and kept him more confused and unable to set-up anything. Of course as the match progressed with little improvement by the Potlatch wrestler, he became more and more frustrated, some of of his usual patterns of wrestling didn't work, he got mad, and kept losing clock and strength. At the time I believe that the JES kid had won by two points. The loser slapped at, rather than shook, his hand (which was a one point penalty against Potlatch), although I never saw it come up on the board! He then stomped off the mat, the floor and into the locker room. The winner had his hand raised by the referee, then turned and walked back to the JES bench. He was right!

In 1985, my second daughter, red-headed Amber Louise was born. She is a good kid. Also in that year on a windy, dark, Autumn night, some wrestler dads, a couple coaches and a few old wrestlers got together at what was then the Wheat and Barley, to try and figure out why (and then hopefully alleviate) the sluggishness and low-funding apparent with the CHS wrestling program that was causing harm to the program's foundation. After a couple more meetings, we finally hit the jackpot when we agreed to form the Colfax Wrestling Club.

This club almost immediately started serving breakfast, featuring Ron Taylor's delicious sausage (the tons that we served and of which I know he never made a dime from), plus all of the other great stuff earned us the money to be able to form the crucial Little Guy's Wrestling Club, by which kids from Jennings and other surrounding schools could send kids who did not want to do, for instance, basketball, but they still wanted to participate in a sport. Little Guy's Wrestling Club gave those kids the opportunity to try a new sport. It certainly succeeded, as week after week our sponsored tournaments would fill the CHS gym. The laughter and conversations of the kids, moms and dads; and grandparents from all over was music to our ears. I can remember Medical Lake pulling up every year with two long buses full of young wrestlers who were ready to go. Of course, these two clubs were to go on and produce a string of Colfax champions, plus just as important, the thousands of kids who went all the way through and ended up as lovers of wrestling. The Little Guy's Wrestling Club is still vibrant being known today as the Little Kids Wrestling Club.

Also in 1985, Mike Pick - a fifth degree black belt - came to Colfax and until 1987 taught Kempo Karate. Through Mike's school we learned self-defense, which brought mental rest, at least to me. By the way, there were a lot of local people there and I was in 1986 honored by being allowed to teach a morning kid's class for ages (approximately) 10-12. It was fortunate, at least for the Little Guy's Wrestling Club, that Mr. Pick left when he did, because up until that point my Saturday class really started to grow. With him gone in 1987, almost all of those kids would switch to Little Guy's Wrestling. To me, some of them who had both the physical and mental training of the Kempo system for a couple of years seemed to have a step up on their opponents on the mat, because of what they had learned in Kempo.

My thing about wrestling and Kempo is that it kind of completes the closing of a circle. Whereas, wrestling is one-on-one in a limited, controlled area, Kempo is usually a one-on-one affair in a worldly area, but still controlled by you due to your learnings. I always thought going out on the mat, that I was going to win, but contrary to the other guys I never had an easy match. We all know the world is the same, although different to us all. I've tried to win them all, but life doesn't always allow that, but with the help of God and long-ago training of Mr. Felber (plus the sereneness instilled in me mentally by Kempo), I keep on going.

I'm happy to let those know, who might not already, that Mr. Pick and his great wife Mary Susan and their family, have returned to the Palouse. I feel that this is a boon for us all.

In retrospect, to what we called "B" teams in our second, third and fourth years, we had six, 12 and 18 wrestlers in those years. In the last three years we won second place in the league consecutively, despite going up against those AA schools that all the boys played against at Colfax.

I guess here would be a good place to remind those who did and did not do it, why I still jump a little when I hear somebody say 'TAKE ---" just a little too loud. Take was both a conditioning and at times, a disciplinary word. During practice, usually toward the end but not necessarily, Mr. Felber would all of a sudden yell, for instance, "Take three", which meant that all wrestlers stopped what they were doing and sprinted right to the stairs of the balcony, across the balcony, down the stairs, across the outside gym floor (round-ballers were fair game) and up the stairs to the practice room. Since he said three, you had two more to go. As far as disciplinary, if Mr. Felber thought a kid was dogging it, or had not performed as well as he could have in our last meet, that meant more "takes". My short legs grew to hate those stairs, but it was great conditioning and I know at least two matches our senior year that we won by out-muscling the other team. I know it.

Speaking of muscles, when I was counting the "B" squad for 1967, my eyes wandered over to the "A" squad. I saw a kid next to me who appeared to have a little muscle, but that can't be since I remember him as just a skin and bone, kinky-haired kid - and I'm not talking about Don Grimm. Boy, would John Ellis love this.

It was a long time ago that a lot of people from this and other areas headed to Pacific Lutheran University on the other side of the hill and gathered in great anticipation to see Mr. Felber be inducted into the Washington State Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame. Three other coaches from the west side were there to be inducted and they had probably one-third of the number of supporters that Mr. Felber had. In his short acceptance speech, Mr. Felber thanked a few people and his wrestlers, his "boys" who had done all the "work" to get him inducted.

As I stood in line to shake his hand for what I knew would be the last time, I thought of standing on those scales in 1964 (minus towel since it would increase my weight) and thanking God for helping me make the right choice. As I shook his hand I thanked him for all he had done for me. He really surprised me by what he said, "Well Champ, you came a long way today." The "Champ" name he had given me in early '64 wasn't a comment on my wrestling (it was BAD then), but to keep my head up and keep going, which I did. To have him remember that name after all those years really made me feel great and I told him I would have come a lot farther to see him inducted where he belonged.

Mr. Felber had a good friend named Earl Enos, who he called "Eenie", and would invite him to practice once in a while. Eenie's job was to wrestle our heavier weights. He was not a real large man, but he was exceptionally strong and we other wights would hear lots of moaning and groaning from our heavies when Earl would put a tight waist or some other pressure hold on. It was good for them though, because it got them ready for the next match. I still see Eenie and his wife at the library. They are wonderful people.

Colfax High School's Current Wrestling Team

Ty Scott – 106 lbs

Cameron Mathia – 113 lbs

Grace Jones – 115 lbs

Walker Montgomery – 132 lbs

Dillon Gassenberg – 138 lbs

Wyatt Southern – 144 lbs

Alton Burt – 150 lbs

Joel Burris – 157 lbs

Steve Campbell – 175 lbs

Issal Nelson – 190 lbs

TJ Fox – 215 lbs

Tristen Burd – 285 lbs

Current coaching Team:

Head Coach – Casey Jones

Assistant Coach – Albert Francois

Assistant Coach – Tony Byrne

Assistant Coach – Cliff Knauf

Assistant Coach – Jack McBride

Looking at the CHS coaching team, the wresting team members have a great opportunity this year, if they will listen and do what they are shown, to progress and thus win as the season goes on. I am really surprised that coach Jones was able to assemble these high-quality coaches in this small of an area. No doubt a lot of it is their seeing who the head coach is and their belief in his ability and style of wrestling.

If you are like me and it is a Saturday morning, you might think there is possibly a CHS wrestling meet today, but you are not sure, the school is closed and for some reason you can't remember the names of your friends that you usually sit with (oh yeah, it's coming). Well, please feel free to head up SR 272 toward Palouse for about a mile, take a left at Hauser Heights. continue due west and before you hit the "Big Blue" water tank, you'll find the entire CHS schedule painted by those great artists at Signs and Designs on the sign boards attached to my wooden fence. Get the info you need and please support the team. That's why I put the schedule up. Oh! If you have time, you are certainly welcome to read the smaller signs on the fence. They are very informative also!

Finally, to my old first team wrestling mates and Mr. Felber, I know some of us have passed away, so what I'm hoping for is a gathering of us all in a more celestial setting where our arthritis, cancer, ect., is gone and we are 100% healthy, like all those in paradise. Then we will be able to remember everything that happened during those first four seasons. I am sure the setting for us all will be great, as long as we are not sitting on a wrestling mat!

Sincerely,

Denny McDonald

Proud member

of the first

Colfax High School

Wrestling Team

CHS Class of 1967