Veteran Puyallup Wrestling Coach to be Inducted into National Wrestling Hall of Fame

By Susan Gifford, for the Puyallup School District Community Connections newsletter:

Veteran coach George Wilfong will be inducted in May into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for lifetime service to the sport of wrestling — service that spans five decades in Puyallup.

“Times change, coaches come and go, and high school kids go through different fads and phases, but George Wilfong has remained the one constant figure in Puyallup High School athletics,” said Jim Meyerhoff, head of the nominating committee for the Washington chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Wilfong and nine other coaches will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on May 19 at a banquet and award ceremony in Olympia.

He will become the third Puyallup wrestling coach to receive the national recognition and joins Meyerhoff, inducted in 2003, and Ray Barnes, honored in 2011. Their names will be on permanent display at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, Okla.

“It was a total surprise,” Wilfong said of being selected for the national recognition. “I didn’t expect it at all, and I am honored.”

Wilfong came to Puyallup in fall 1962 and spent six years as a P.E. teacher and a football, wrestling, and track coach at West Puyallup Junior High (now Aylen Junior High). 

He moved to Puyallup High in 1969 and continued to coach every football, wrestling, and track season — 99 straight seasons — until his retirement in 1995. He has volunteered as a football and wrestling coach ever since.

That longevity, as well as the numerous other awards and recognitions he has earned over the years, are key factors behind his selection this year into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Meyerhoff said.

Wilfong was inducted into the Washington State Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1997 and named Coach of the Year on six different occasions by various athletic organizations.

His wrestling teams captured 11 South Puget Sound League titles, including a stretch of eight consecutive wins from 1980 to 1987. They also placed among the top 10 teams at the state tournament 10 times, and three wrestlers claimed individual state titles. 

Wilfong said he is especially proud of former Puyallup Vikings who wrestled under him in high school and have gone on to coach others in the sport. Six of those have been named Coach of the Year at the state level: Jim Meyerhoff (both father and son); Wilfong’s son Tom, who is athletic director at Stanwood High; Bryan Bartleson, wrestling coach this year at Edgemont Junior High; Mike Sowards; and Paul Greeley.

Meyerhoff played football under Wilfong in ninth grade at West Puyallup Junior High, became a colleague when hired as the Ballou Junior High wrestling coach in 1970, and competed against his former coach three years later as head coach of the Franklin Pierce High School wrestling team.

Meyerhoff’s son Jim, who wrestled under Wilfong all three years at Puyallup High, is head wrestling coach, girls golf coach, and a photography and yearbook teacher at Emerald Ridge High. He describes his former coach as someone who had a profound effect on his life.

“The quality of coaching I received in high school from Coach Wilfong is one of the reasons that I became a wrestling coach,” he said. “His ability to motivate us, and the way he treated us firmly, but fair, have helped shape me into the person and coach that I have become. These qualities have influenced my own coaching and teaching styles. Coach Wilfong is a great role model for all of his athletes.”

Kalles Junior High head football and girls soccer coach Kelly Susee also wrestled under Wilfong’s leadership all three years at Puyallup High.

“It is very difficult summarizing in a sentence or two the impact George had on my life as an athlete — mostly because the work ethic he instilled and demanded of me was paramount to my success,” he said.

Susee continued, “He was not only a motivator and had expectations that were very high, he was also a father figure and role model to encourage and lift me up when performances were less than standard. I have engrained many of the qualities into my adult life and continue to use the same standards for the athletes I coach.” 

Wilfong is also well known statewide for his continued contributions to the sport. 

He coached the Washington Cultural Exchange Wrestling Team during its travels to Germany in 1980 and to Australia in 1983, served as the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Region III representative from 1980 to 1990, and coordinated the annual state wrestling “Mat Classic” tournament from 1996 through 2004.

“This is the ultimate award for individuals who have devoted their life to our great sport,” said Meyerhoff (senior). 

Rick Wells, director of athletics, health, and fitness, added, “George's induction into the Hall of Fame is a remarkable tribute to the quality of coaching he provided to athletes and the Puyallup School District. It is a great testimony to the hard work ethic and expertise he brought to the sport of wrestling.” 

A former high school wrestler himself, Wilfong said the sport teaches students self-confidence, fitness, weight management, and “a lot of self-satisfaction.”

“There is so much to it technique wise,” he said. “You learn something new every time you go to the mat. It is the oldest and one of the greatest sports around.”

The Puyallup School District featured George Wilfong in December, 2010 for dedicating 50 years to helping student athletes. Click to read the article.