04/01/2026
The Stucker Stories -
The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword - Part 2
Written by Hall of Fame Coach Mike Henry
On Monday following the 1989 State Tournament, the Shawnee Wolves wrestling team partook in their usual post championship schedule just as they had in 1986 and 1988. They held a team meeting to discuss ordering their championship rings and then took the official championship team picture. That evening, the squad appeared at the school board meeting for a photo op even though, as usual, none of the members had attended the tournament.
Meanwhile, there was no edition of The Shawnee News Star because Monday was their off-day.
However, that didn't mean that sports editor Fred Fehr wasn't busy. He had written extensive articles during the tournament providing his readers with updated information, before the days of the internet, about the team but he was now putting the finishing touches on the season's wrap-up article.
On Tuesday morning, the public got more than the usual litany of winning teams and scores from the sports section. On its first page was Fehr's column entitled, "Matmen Reach Top from Modest Facility." The opening half of the article paid tribute to the mat squad and their achievements. It told how many of them had spent their time waiting for an opportunity to move into the starting lineup and when it came, they seized it.
The second half of the story dealt with the facility problem as the respected journalist didn't pull any punches. His observations included:
" If there is a negative note to an otherwise extraordinary four year period of accomplishment, it is my following editorial comment. "
" Ironically, Shawnee's most visible high school sport - in terms of success and state limelight - has pathetically poor practice facilities."
" Miraculously, no wrestler has yet to be seriously injured during practice sessions at what has appropriately dubbed 'The Dungeon.'"
But perhaps Fehr's most telling words came from a paragraph near the column's conclusion, " Shawnee's wrestling squad has brought this city an enormous amount of positive publicity over the past few years - years in which strife and discontent were the order of the day."
Three years earlier, former coach Mark Leen faced down the administration over his public protest against the OSSAA. Could his successor and friend, Mike Henry, now be facing another potential backlash from the upper echelon or the local school board ?
Fehr had never quoted Henry by name in the article thus keeping the coach directly out of the line of fire. But for those who knew him, the words were easily recognized as those from the Wolves opinionated mat leader.
" It never crossed my mind at the time that I might have gone too far, " stated Henry. " I had a great athletic director (Mike Sperry) who understood the dilemma that we faced and did everything that he could to help us. As for (superintendent) Jim Archer, he stayed away from the entire situation. He had only been on the job a few months and didn't want another Edna Manning episode on his hands."
That was a reference to the famous grade center controversy during Manning's tenure that triggered protests and an avalanche of negative statewide publicity. None of the decision makers wanted a replay of those days and so everyone went silent and the matter quietly went away.
" I'm a student of American history and the article was strictly a first amendment question which made it a non-issue. Case closed," stated Henry.
In May 1990, the community passed a major school bond issue, its first in more than a decade. The measure was greatly needed as several of the buildings required necessary repairs which they received but there was no money provided for improvements for The Dungeon.
However, Fred Fehr's editorial had awakened the community along with the school system's power brokers, that neglect doesn't fix problems, it only worsens it. The Wolves went back to work but the ongoing debate over the facility was far from over.
