Casper/Gould Retirement Marks Another Era of Wrestling Success

By: Jim Douglas

Editors Note: Jim (Pug) Douglas is the son of Coleman's legendary wrestling coach Jim Douglas. Young Jim is a graduate of Coleman High School and lived the Coleman Wrestling History. He currently resides in Minnesota.



Three years ago Kevin Casper was in the deep autumn of a long and storied career.?That's when he decided to retire at the conclusion of the 2021-2022 wrestling season.

It would coincide with his son Karson's graduation in May. Karson plans to attend Augsburg College in Minneapolis, a dominant wrestling haven in NCCA Division 3.?Casper was convinced he couldn't continue to coach and follow his son's college wrestling career simultaneously.

Casper's introduction to championship wrestling occurred at the state meet in 1967 when he was, " I believe about 5 or 6 years old, the year Colin (Kinziger) won," said Casper.?"It (Coleman) was the wrestling capitol of the state", he recalled. It made such an impression on him that he wrestled all four years at Coleman under head Coach Roger Pillath, then continued to wrestle in college, first at UW-Parkside, then at Oshkosh.

When a head coaching position opened at Coleman in 1989, Casper jumped at the opportunity to bring his life long passion home.?" In my opinion", Casper said, "it was an honor and a privilege to coach at Coleman. To make people proud of the community and carry on the tradition and the legacy that Coach Douglas did back in the 60's", he said.

Tracing the roots of Coleman's successes, Casper looked to history.

Conscious of it or not when he accepted the coaching job in 1989, Casper was inspired by the golden era of Coleman wresting; the 1960's. There was good reason for that.

The season Coach Jim Douglas launched wrestling, 1955-1956, the Cougars were as green as first cutting alfalfa and largely unknown in wrestling circles.

As the story goes, in the early 60' a Milwaukee coach was asked about facing a Coleman team at a Milwaukee invitational. Who was Coleman ?, he was asked. "Oh, some little hick town way up north," he responded. Days later, he told his friend that he'd sold the farm boys short.

"Well, that little hick town was Coleman and they kicked our ass", he sheepishly admitted.

In time, however, the school nobody heard of was on a winning track and sports writers took notice:

"Little Coleman Whips "Em All"

"Cougars Finish First In A Field of 93 Teams, Win Third Straight Title".

In all, Coleman won 5 state titles and two runners-up from 1959 to 1966.

Those same writers heralded Coleman and Coach Douglas' success at a time when there were no divisions based on school enrollment. It was a classic David and Goliath story that saw Coleman's dual record reach 124-6-2 in 14 years.

Coach Casper had two objectives when he returned to Coleman: "..... that was the goal, that was the objective, to be half as good as Coach Douglas was," said Casper.

Humbly, he adds that he was also focused on winning; "....to be the best, to be state champions each and every year ".

To that end, he brought Tim Gould aboard as assistant coach in 1993 and they concentrated on taking command of Division Three wrestling in Wisconsin. Gould, who wrestled at Peshtigo High School, then at UW- Eau Claire and the University of New Mexico, was a good fit for Casper.

"I've been very blessed. Very humbled ", Gould said. " Kevin has been an outstanding person to work with. " I couldn't ask for a better head coach to work with".

For Casper, whose 1996 team appearance in the state finals produced a runner-up, coaching has been as much a joy as a job. What ensued is what legends are made of: 6 state team championships in division three, 6 state team runners- up and 20 individual champs.

From day one, Casper repeated a familiar mantra. "When we break practice or at the end of a meet, we'd all get together as a team and at the count of three, its "state champions", he said. "That's always been our goal", he added.

Assistant coach Gould suggested Coleman's perennial successes weren't a fluke. "We were fortunate to have some outstanding kids. All we asked of them is to be coachable".

Professional baseball organizations rely on their farm teams for big league prospects. At Coleman, grade school grapplers are identified and honed for the future. "They start pretty much after they're out of diapers", Casper admitted. They start Kindergarten or Pre-K already, probably". That, he insisted, accounts for Colemans' perennial success.

With the conclusion of the 2021-2022 season, Gould will join Casper in retirement, an agreement they made three years ago. "Its like cutting off an appendage", said Gould from his home in Coleman. "I'm gonna miss working with the kids at different times", he added.

Asked if he would suffer withdrawal symptoms after he retired, Casper said, "Oh, I'm sure I'm gonna miss it". Then there was a pause that allowed him to gather his thoughts. The pause continued for several beats, and with his voice beginning to break, Kevin Casper, acknowledged the pain of walking away from a dynasty, three decades in the making.?" Yea I'm gonna miss it. I'm sure of it".

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