Editor's Note: The following is the 20th installment of the Stories That Live Forever series. The series originated in 2007 to commemorate Memorial Day and honor the names listed on the Washington State University Veterans Memorial at the WSU campus. Beginning Veterans Day 2008, the scope of the series was expanded to include Washington State student-athletes who have served, or are serving, the United States in the military. To access the entire series, please click HERE.
The "Stories That Live Forever" series' 20th chapter is about a Washington State Athletic Hall of Fame coach who served in the European theatre of World War II. This past summer, athletes who wrestled for Coach Bill Tomaras came together for the 60th anniversary of the “Rockheads” reunion and remembered a coach who still makes a difference in their lives.
By Jason Krump
During a February winter's night in 1952, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, the Washington State wrestling team lost a dual match to Wyoming.
It would be over three years until they lost again.
Two days after the loss to Wyoming, the Cougars defeated Montana State, 23-3, to begin a run of 23 consecutive dual matches won, a streak that continued into the spring of 1955.
And during that time, the Cougars, under the guidance of coach Bill Tomaras, captured four straight Pacific Coast Conference titles.
"There was not a more successful string of athletic championships than what Coach Tomaras put together during his nine years here," said Alden Peppel, who wrestled for Tomaras from 1952-54.
"We're pretty proud of it."
Memories of the wins and the coach who led them are always foremost in the thoughts of the athletes who wrestled for Tomaras.
The 1954 Washington Stated wrestling team. (Photo courtesy Washington State Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections)
"He is very special to us," said Skip Pixley, who played three sports, football, wrestling and track and field (shot-put) at Washington State from 1953-55. "Every once in a while you get these coaches who have the ability to coach kids and have this charisma you identify with."
A countless number of those memories were recounted by Tomaras' athletes during the "Rockheads" reunion last summer.
The reunion, named after a favorite saying of Tomaras, has occurred biennially for over four decades.
Rockheads
Legend has it, sometime during the '50s, the Cougar wrestling team was traveling by car from Pullman to a meet at Oregon.
The athletes in the lead vehicle pulled over, positioned themselves out the windows and laid down on the ground to simulate the aftermath of an accident.
Tomaras, who was in the back vehicle, arrived to the "accident" scene and panicked, thinking his athletes were seriously injured.
Until they started laughing.
"You (expletive) Rockheads!," Tomaras is remembered to have said, according to a Kitsap Sun story.
Peppel, who was not at the scene, recalled Tomaras used the term frequently.
"He didn't learn to drive until out of the army," said Peppel. "He was short and smoked a big cigar and wore a fedora hat. He could barely see above the steering wheel."
Bill Tomaras (Photo courtesy Washington State Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections)
One trip California Peppel remembered in particular.
"We often would stop at the Oakland YMCA because one of his teammates ran it and we would workout there," Peppel continued. "California had a a lot of one-way streets which he wasn't used to. He'd be going the wrong way on a one-way street and people would be yelling at him and he would say 'You Rockheads!'"
Stories about the War
Traveling by car was the method of transportation for the team. And it was Coach Tomaras who did the driving.
"We did everything by car in those days," said Vaughan Hitchcock, who, like Tomaras, is a member of the Washington State Athletic Hall of Fame. "Coach took us to the national championships in Oklahoma and we drove all the way in his car from Washington to Oklahoma and back."
And to pass the time, stories were shared by Tomaras. Frequently the topic was about his time serving in World War II and his experiences in the European theatre, including on Omaha Beach just after D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.
A wrestler at the University of Illinois, where he placed third in NCAA Championships as a senior at 121 pounds, Tomaras had his collegeite career interrupted serving in the Army during the war. While stationed in England, he met his future wife Dolly, whom he married in England.
The April 9, 1944 edition of the Daily Illini featured a letter written by Tomaras. In it, he described the church he and Dolly were married.
"The church is quite interesting , I think, Tomaras wrote, "It dates back to the twelfth century . It is constructed of stone which is beginning to show the signs of its age . The ceiling ; as in most English churches , is of wood , and is supported by great wooden rafters . From these rafters hangs a double row of wooden , hand-carved faces of saints , attached to carved wooden wings . This is really a work of art.
"Well , I must close for now and write a letter to Dolly, " Tomaras concluded. "We dont get to see each other too often because of our duties at our respective camps." (See the enitre letter HERE)
Tomaras would frequently recite stories to his athletes of the happy times with Dolly and the darker instances of war.
"He hit the beach running," recalled Hitchcock of what Tomaras told him about his World War II experiences. "He told us all about when he came in on the landing craft. People were dropping all around him. He ended up on top of a hill under a tree."
Growing the Sport
Hitchcock earned seven varsity letters while attending Washington State, three in football and four in wrestling. He captured the 191-pound Pacific Coast Conference wrestling title as a junior and senior, and was voted Washington State's athlete of the year.
He remembered Tomaras as intent on growing the sport within the state. Even in the midst of a season, he would conduct clinics throughout the state; for example, one in Moses Lake a week before Christmas, 1954, in which the Evergreen explained, "the purpose of the clinic is to get the schools in Eastern Washington interested in the sport. Tomaras hopes to see teams established in more schools."
Coach Bill Tomaras athletes reunited last summer with Tomaras' widow Dolly for the 60th "Rockheads" reunion.
"He would travel all over the state and gives clinics and lectures to promote wrestling in the state of Washington," said Hitchcock.
In his efforts to grow the sport, Tomaras organized the state's first state high school wrestling tournament, the first taking place in 1953.
Tomaras also enlisted his athletes to help in the state tournament efforts, even if they had to compete later that day.
It was placing responsibility that helped the athletes after their days at Washington State were over.
"The fact that Coach Tomaras gave me responsibilities that required, for example, he put me on as a referee for the state high school wrestling championships," said Hitchcock, "Things like that he would do when I was a student that helped me assume responsibility and get the job done."
Growing the sport, and the adventures in the car, were just two examples of stories shared by Pixley, Hitchcock, Peppel and the others at this summer's reunion, which included Tomaras widow Dolly
Stories that helped shape their lives.
"He took kids from all over the state and got them interested in the sport," said Peppel. "As people graduated a lot of them were physical education majors who got jobs teaching and coaching."
"Being able to attend Washington State to get an education and participate in athletics made a difference in my life," said Pixley. "The people I remember so well are the individuals who were instrumental in my life, like Bill Tomaras."
