The inaugural honorees of the Caldwell County Grapplers Hall of Fame were obvious choices.
Three-time state wrestling champion David Richey was recognized prior to Saturday’s Armstrong Classic dual tournament as the first inductee.
Former wrestler, longtime coach and supporter Mickey Walls and his wife, Marilyn, were also honored with induction.
The formation of the Grapplers Hall of Fame and the identification of the first inductees were kept under wraps until Richey and Walls were called onto the mat before Saturday’s tournament.
David Richey
Richey was undefeated on the mat during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons at Caldwell County
As a sophomore, Richey won his first state championship, going 39-0 with 35 pins.
Richey repeated as state champion as a junior, going 36-0 with 32 pins.
Richey won his third-straight championship as a senior in 1986, going 25-0 with 21 pins.
Richey was the Most Valuable Wrestler at the regional tournament as both a junior and senior.
He was voted Most Valuable Wrestler at the state tournament in 1986.
He was a 1986 All-American.
Richey began his high school career as an eighth grader, going 24-6 with 16 pins and placing third in the state.
As a freshman, Richey went 25-3 with 17 pins. He again placed third at state.
His high school record was 149-9 with 121 pins. In his three state championship matches, he pinned all three opponents.
Over his final three seasons, Richey had only four matches go the full three periods.
Richey began his wrestling career while in the second grade with the AAU program. He excelled at the sport right away. From winning the National Tournament, Jr. Olympics and the State Championship in two different styles of wrestling, Freestyle and Greco-Roman.
By his sixth grade year, he had attended the Jr. World Team Camp, and traveled to New York for the Jr. World team trials. He compiled over five state championships, in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman.
As a seventh grader, he was asked to join the Caldwell County High School collegiate (also called folkstyle) wrestling practices.
Following high school, Richey went into the US Army. He earned a spot on the All-Army Wrestling Team (which is part of the World Class Athletes Program).
He was on the All-Army Wrestling Team for three years, until his Army contract was fulfilled. He won the Inter-Service Games in 1988 and was voted Most Valuable Wrestler for the US Military, which qualified him as an Olympic Team trialist. He attended the Olympic Training Center
Richey also went undefeated at all of the open college tournaments.
He has 26 years in the US Army active duty and the Army Reserve. He spent one year in Afghanistan.
Mickey and Marilyn Walls
The Wallses have been a part of Caldwell County wrestling for 33 years.
In that time, Mickey Walls coached 62 state medal winners, 204 state qualifiers, six state champions and 11 state finalists.
Walls coached four regional runner-up teams and had six teams finish in the Top 10 in the state tournament and three place in the Top Four at state duals.
Walls had a dual meet record of 342-126 at Caldwell County.
2 Responses
I’m so proud of both Dave and Mickey Walls! Most don’t realize the sacrifices wrestlers make and especially the coaches who themselves were former wrestlers! Most importantly are the wives of those coaches! Marilyn was the ultimate wife and fan!!
Well said Cathy Wells