Buck Pride Wrestling was started earlier this year with the help of a donation from the friends of Osage filmmaker David Bishop. Bishop passed away in 2023 and was a 1990 state champion wrestler for Pawhuska when he was in high school.
The goal is to let youth from 5-15 years of age have new experiences and honor a sport Bishop loved. Buck Pride Wrestling has been a hit, and so far 35 children are involved. Out of the 35 wrestlers, 16 are Osage.
“We were contacted by April Williams and Chip Hill, and they said they would like to help,” Buck Pride Wrestling Coach Blake Bohner said. “They knew our program was getting started and understood the cost it was going to take to make it ready for the season.”
The Hominy school board approved a space to be used for Buck Pride Wrestling. Bohner with the help of the wrestling board fixed up the space with the funds given to them by the friends of Bishop. The wrestling area needed to be repainted, have new lights, safety pads and other equipment installed so that it could be safe for youth wrestlers.
“The generous donation helped our program tremendously,” he said. “When that donation was presented to us, we couldn’t be any more appreciative of the family and friends of Bishop’s kindness. It was offered to us at a perfect time. It was like an answered prayer.”
Bohner and Aaron Caughlin, both head wrestling coaches for Buck Pride Wrestling, used to wrestle together for the wrestling club in Cleveland when they were younger. In December 2023, both men and their wives discussed the possibility of a youth wrestling program.
“It came full circle for Aaron and I,” Bohner said. “December of 2023, when we got to talking and it was more of a ‘what if’ or a bunch of ‘maybes.’ From where we’ve started to where we are now, I could not be any happier.”
Wrestling is a staple in Oklahoma. Oklahoma State University has the most national titles for wrestling out of any school in the U.S., currently holding 34 NCAA championships.
Bohner hopes Buck Pride Wrestling can give youth an incentive to participate throughout middle school and high school, and eventually wrestle at any college level. He also acknowledged the growing interest in girls’ wrestling.
“This sport right here includes everybody,” he said. “It’s giving another opportunity to kids that may not flourish as much in football, basketball or baseball. This gives them another opportunity to show their worth and have a chance of getting a scholarship to go to college and see a little life outside of Osage County. This sport is great for kids of all sizes and ages.”
Russ Mashunkashey works in the Hominy Public School District and has helped coach youth sports in Barnsdall and Hominy. Mashunkashey went to high school with Bishop and was his teammate when they wrestled together for Pawhuska. Both Mashunkashey and Bishop were on the 1990 state championship wrestling team.
“What was special about that team was that we were led by six Osages,” Mashunkashey said. “Three of them were state champions that year. David was a part of that team, he was the 108-pounder, and he placed 4th at state that year for us.”
Mashunkashey remembers Bishop being fueled by the sport.
“Wrestling did for him what wrestling does for a lot of people,” he said. “He became a filmmaker, but he always credited wrestling for helping him make that jump to be able to push himself to do what he was able to do.”
Mashunkashey helped Bishop with his last documentary, which premiered on the Smithsonian channel weeks after his passing. The documentary was over the Osage Reign of Terror. Mashunkashey worked with Bishop for the year prior to his death and composed the background music for the film.
Mashunkashey has previously helped the wrestling programs in Pawhuska and Barnsdall. He entered the picture for Buck Pride as a representative for Bishop and help develop a connection to his legacy.
“My part came in to help represent David through this foundation because our kids down there in Hominy, they don’t have a legacy tradition of wrestling like we did in Pawhuska,” he said. “Even when I was in high school, we knew who wrestled in the 70s, we knew who the state champions were before us. These kids didn’t have that. They don’t have that. They’ve never seen that, they don’t know what the work in that wrestling room can do for someone if you give them a chance.”
He and others wanted to honor Bishop’s legacy by bringing in some of his memorabilia, including the state banners, his jacket and a plaque.
“They didn’t just want to take this money, they wanted to be thankful for it because with that donation, we were able to get the wall mats,” Mashunkashey said. “Everything we got came from donations. The [floor] mats I believe came from Jenks and Perry; we recently got a new one from Pawhuska. These are $20,000 mats. With David’s donation, we were able to get the wall mats to put around the room so it’s like a safety guard. We were able to complete that room, and now there’s a legit place for these kids to go and learn to wrestle in Hominy.”
April Komonce was a friend of Bishop’s in high school and helped get together the group that raised money for the scholarship to start Buck Pride Wrestling.
“The parents had already started getting the program going,” she said. “They needed help paying for basic equipment; having pads and a place to work out that’s safe and having a good building.”
She has high hopes for the future of this program and what it will do for youth wrestlers.
“I hope that this program just takes off,” she said. “I hope they do amazingly well. I hope that this is something from here on out this will be another sport in Hominy that they’re really well-known for.”
Bohner wants youth to come out and test the waters with wrestling to see if it would be a good fit for them in the sports world.
“If you want to try it, come in here and please do,” he said. “You never know if you like it or not until you try it. I think wrestling is a very good sport; it helps with bringing kids out of their shell, builds confidence, helps them physically and mentally with day-to-day life, or even with other sports they participate in.”
Wrestling is an individual sport, and each wrestler can always work to become better.
“There are dual state championships and there are teams, but at the end of the day they are individuals,” he said. “How much you put into the sport is how much you’re going to get out.”
To get a youth wrestler involved, it costs $130. The fee covers insurance, OKWA and OKUSA membership card, Hominy singlet and Hominy Buck wrestling T-shirt.
If there’s any financial constraints, Bohner asks parents that need help to reach out.
“We’re very fortunate that we’ve had some really nice donors in our program that have sponsored some of the youth,” Bohner said. “If there’s any child or parent or any financial needs, they just have to let us know and we will figure it out. We’ll never turn away anyone because of financial needs.”
The Osage Nation financial assistance office offers the Tsi Wa Zhu Pi program that can be used to pay the $130 fee and help out with any equipment needed for wrestling.
“We are very thankful and gracious for what we’ve received from the Bishop family and friends, and our donors,” Bohner said. “We’re blessed that we have a lot of support from a community that has never had wrestling. There are Osage children that are going to finally get to experience wrestling in Hominy and wrestle in a Hominy singlet.”
