Published April 26, 2005
Woodford sidelined by health issues

Dennis Toll Sports Writer
Manhattan Mercury

Manhattan High wrestling coach Lee Woodford is stepping down from his position as the Indians head coach.

"It's a very difficult decision," Woodford said this morning in discussing his decision to retire from coaching. "Leaving something that's been a part of me and my life and my family's life for almost 30 years, it was a difficult thing to do."

Difficult, but necessary for his own health, said Woodford, who suffered a heart attack on Father's Day last June.

"Physically, I didn't think it was fair to the kids," he said. "There were days I went in there and I didn't feel I could give 100 percent. There were days I didn't give 100 percent, not because I didn't want to, but just because I didn't feel well."

Since suffering the heart attack, Woodford has been fatigued and struggled throughout the season with health issues.

"It's hard to go in there and ask the kids to give 100 percent when I wasn't sure I was able to do it," Woodford said.


Manhattan High School wrestling coach Lee Woodford, right.
His career at Manhattan High began in 1986, after coaching for seven years at Goodland.

During his tenure, Woodford led the Indians to 14 I-70 League championships and runner-up finishes in each of his other four trips to the I-70 tournament.

This season, in the Indians' first season in the Centennial League, Woodford led Manhattan to another league title, ending Emporia's 23-year reign as Centennial champions.

In regional action, Woodford-led Manhattan squads won nine championships and were runner-up four times.

In the Class 6A State tournament, Woodford's Indians were third-place finishers on five occasions and runners-up three times, the most recent coming this season.

In 2004, Woodford and the Indians were crowned state champions.

"We'd like to have won some more," Woodford said when considering his state title, "but I'm not disappointed by what we have done."

Woodford has also coached five wrestlers who earned All-American honors, including Scott Coleman, who was twice an All-American and Kera Pemberton, who was four-times a USAGWA All-American.

Under Woodford, Manhattan has had 16 individual state titles, including Scott Coleman, who won three of those titles.

"The camaraderie," Woodford said when asked what he would miss the most. "That and being part of something that was bigger than myself."

Woodford will continue to teach at MHS, but he says he will now have more time for family and trips to Texas to visit his grandson.

"He will be greatly missed for his leadership role in the program here in Manhattan," MHS director of athletics Mike Marsh said in announcing Woodford's departure this morning. "You can take all the accolades and all the trophies for his victories, but the best thing about coach Woodford has been the personal attention for each one of his wrestlers."

The search process to find a replacement will begin immediately, Marsh said. The announcement for the open position will be published quickly and the athletic office will begin accepting applications.

Marsh said he hoped to have a new coach hired by the end of the school year.