Working his fly rod to settle a fly on the surface of a lake on Colorado’s Grand Mesa near his home in Cedaredge or on a deep pool in the Gunnison River as it flows through the Black Canyon has become life’s excitement for Jack LaBonde.
But the solitude of the surroundings and the concentration on a small speck on the water doesn’t totally occupy the mind. In contrast, LaBonde’s thoughts could turn to a different excitement — the takedowns, escapes, pins and roars of a crowd that invigorate followers of the sport of wrestling.
LaBonde experienced the excitement of wrestling as a competitor at Denver North High School, Colorado A&M and Colorado State Teachers College in Greeley. His coaching stops were at Brush and Montrose high schools before moving to the college ranks at Colorado State College. His investment in wrestling was recognized last April when he was inducted into the Colorado chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
“It gives you a chance to think and remember,” LaBonde said of his quieter time on a lakeshore or the banks of the Gunnison River. “I miss the wrestling, but even more so my time with baseball. I still follow baseball very closely.”
LaBonde has great name association with some of wrestling’s legends in Colorado. At North, he wrestled and won a state championship in 1946 at 133 pounds for coach B.O. Moles, who guided the Vikings to nine state championships in 11 years, from 1939-41 and 1944-49, and is considered the father of wrestling for the Denver Prep League.
After North, LaBonde first attended Colorado A&M (now Colorado State University), where his wrestling coach was Julius Hans Wagner, who LaBonde thinks has been overlooked for post-career acclaim. He went to Fort Collins with an academic interest in forestry but decided he wanted to be a coach and transferred to Greeley.
At Colorado Teachers (now the University of Northern Colorado), his wrestling coach was the legendary John Hancock, who along with his credentials as a college coach was recognized as the father of the state high school wrestling tournament, which began in 1936 in Greeley.
In college, LaBonde was a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion in 1951. He also moved to the baseball field and played three years for coach Pete Butler.
“Everybody in the sport of wrestling looked up to John Hancock,” LaBonde said.
In his last coaching stop, LaBonde followed Hancock as the CSC wrestling coach in 1966. He joined the Bears’ staff as an assistant in 1959. From 1966-80, his teams posted a 154-68-2 record in dual meets, won five Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles and finished second at the 1969 NCAA College Division championships. As an assistant coach, he had Division I national champions Jack Flasche and Len Lordino, and Division II national champions Len Groom and Larry Wagner as the head coach.
While coaching at Montrose, LaBonde guided wrestler Bob Thompson to a national and a state milestone. Thompson was the first wrestler in Colorado to win four state titles, and LaBonde learned it was a much more far-reaching accomplishment.
“A national wrestling publication called and said he was the first high school wrestler in the country to win four state titles,” LaBonde said.
His Montrose teams won state titles in 1957 and 1959. He also started a baseball program at Montrose, and the Indians were state runners- up in 1958 and 1959.
“It was rewarding taking players from scratch and almost to the top,” LaBonde said.
LaBonde grew up in a Denver of another time and age. He played for coach Cobe Jones in youth baseball programs. His father took him to The Denver Post Baseball Tournament at the old Merchants Park on South Broadway and to the week- long National AAU Basketball Tournament at the downtown Auditorium.
LaBonde’s ride ended after the 1980 season, when he retired from coaching. The administration at Colorado State College decided to go a different direction and cut support for the wrestling program.
“When I look back, I regret that I retired when I did,” LaBonde said. “I definitely would have been there longer if the program had stayed the same.”
LaBonde bio
Born: Dec. 3, 1928, in Denver
High school: Denver North
Colleges: Colorado A&M, Colorado State Teachers College
Family: Wife Fay; sons Jack, Jerry, Brian and Brad; daughters Janie and Jill
Hobby: Fly-fishing
Desire: To maintain connection with his athletes, he sent out more than 100 Christmas cards.
