03/04/2026
The Stucker Stories
Written by Hall of Fame Coach Mike Henry
The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword - Part 1
In the first week of March in 1989, everyone connected with Shawnee Wrestling was feeling pretty good...and why not ? They had just won their third state title in four years which included back-to-back championships along with the inaugural State Dual Meet Tournament. There had been numerous other accolades along the way including the first out-of-state squad to capture California's prestigious Five Countries Tournament in 1988.
It all began 24 years earlier when two local residents, who were wrestling fans but never competed in the world's oldest sport, had a vision of building a program in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Slowly but surely Ray and Mary Jo Stucker began putting together the foundation from the ground up. In 1999, they became the first couple to be inducted into the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The Stuckers also started the original Shawnee Takedown Club along with help from dependable lieutenants like Don James, Clint Williams, and Larry Ober.
In 1975, after numerous encounters with school officials and board members, a breakthrough took place when the Wolves officially fielded junior high and high school teams for interscholastic wrestling competition.
However, after four seasons (1976-79) and a disappointing record of 4-51, it was time for a coaching change and principal Danny Jacobs decided to take a chance on a recent college graduate with only a year of coaching experience (that was at the junior high level) and make him the Wolves new head coach. Like the Stuckers, Mark Leen had a plan on how to build a program because he came from a place that was known for quality wrestling - Blackwell, Oklahoma.
Seven years later (1985-86), Leen not only had the top team in his state but they were rated number one in the nation. With a workout room filled with college prospects, the future seemed bright in Shawnee even though their leader departed for the college ranks in the summer of '87.
What Leen had nurtured and left behind continued to flourish with back-to-back state titles in 1988 and 1989. On the surface, everything seemed to be going well but there was an ongoing facility problem since the program's inception. It clung like a malignancy on the program but because of the team's success, most of the public was unaware of the situation.
That was until Tuesday following the 1989 State Tournament. It was then that a huge wake-up call went out over the community via the local press - primarily in the form of the town's newspaper, The Shawnee News Star.
During Leen's early years as the head coach, he engaged in a constant battle with the local press about getting coverage for his team. In those days, long before the advent of social media, there wasn't anyone in the sports department who knew anything about wrestling and furthermore, they weren't interested in learning about it.
In 1977, the paper hired an aspiring young sports journalist named Fred Fehr. Being the bottom man on the ladder, he started out covering the lower profile sports such as wrestling. However, by 1984, wrestling had become a state contender and Fred was the new sports editor for the local paper. To say that coverage of the mat sport picked up would be an understatement.
A few short years later, he was recognized by Wrestling USA Magazine as one of the nation's premier wrestling writers. It wasn't long after that Fred placed himself in the middle of the facility firestorm.
Following the trophy presentation at the '89 state tourney, the journalist joined Mike and Pam Henry for a post celebration meal at a Stillwater eatery where he conducted a season ending interview. It was the usual topics that were discussed including the team's success and the outlook for next season.
After those items were addressed, the coach wasted little time launching into a blistering account of the facility problem primarily centered around the Wolves practice area, aka ' The Dungeon '. He gave Fehr an insider's perception into what his squad had to overcome while continuing to maintain its elite status. At no time, did he make an effort to excuse the problem or use the well-known escape phrase, " This is off the record."
The sports editor wrote the words as quickly as Henry could verbalize them. When the trio departed into that cold February night, no one knew that within hours, the worst kept secret surrounding Shawnee's championship program was about to become the school system's latest black eye.
Next time - Part 2.
(Below) Former Shawnee News Star sports editor Fred Fehr.
Congratulations to Shawn Rounsaville, Jr. of Tuttle who was the 4A state runnerup at 190 pounds. He was also a member of four State Championship teams. His dad was a member of Shawnee's 1988 and 1989 State Championship squads.
