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Manuel Diaz COACH Wrestling 1956-1960; Wrestling Official 1961-1977 |
| As the founding father of Panther wrestling, Manuel more or less created WHS's mat program from scratch. In 1956, the Central Washington State College graduate guided the very first team of grapplers. Coach Diaz's efforts were truly from the ground up because his wrestlers had absolutely no competitive experience on the mat. He had to teach them virtually everything about the sport while stressing fundamentals and conditioning as the foundation of the program.
Wrestling steadily gained popularity at WHS under his guidance and Panther grapplers became increasingly competitive on a statewide basis. After the 1960 season, Manuel turned over the reins of the flourishing program and became a preeminent wrestling official for seventeen years. He is a member of "The Washington State Wrestling Hall of Fame." - Caricatures of inductees as they appeared while involved in WHS athletics and the synopsis of accomplishments are drawn and written by Jeff Mertes.
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