Two women grappling.

Head and shoulders image of Ches Anderson, coach of the Huskies men's wrestling team.

Bio/Historical Note: Chesley (Ches) Anderson was born in 1928 in Danville, Virginia, and moved to Maryville, Tennessee, at an early age. He later studied art and physical education at Maryville College. After serving in the United States Marine Corps and completing more studies and work in physical education, he came to Saskatoon in 1958 to teach at the College of Physical Education at the University of Saskatchewan. Anderson balanced his teaching and painting careers with extensive involvement in the Saskatchewan sports scene. As Huskies wrestling coach for 13 seasons, Anderson made history with a series of Saskatchewan firsts: he took the first Saskatchewan team to the Canadian University wrestling championships, coached Saskatchewan's team at the first Canada Winter Games in Quebec City in 1967, was the first chairman of the Saskatchewan Amateur Wrestling Association, and organized the first high school wrestling tournaments in Saskatoon. Anderson was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. Anderson's watercolour paintings depicting rural and urban Saskatchewan scenes reflect his fascination with the beauty and history of the prairies. In 1992-1993 he traveled around the province looking for unique wood and stone round barns, which inspired his series “The Round Barns of Saskatchewan.” Anderson retired from teaching in 1990. He died in Saskatoon in 2018.

Head and shoulders image of Bob Laycoe, Huskie football and wrestler.

Bio/Historical Note: Robert (Bob) Laycoe and his parents, Hal and Marjorie, and the Laycoe family were amongst a group of Canadians who came to Portland in the summer of 1960. Hal Laycoe coached the new Portland Buckaroos hockey team for 9 years. Laycoe attended Cleveland High and played football and wrestled. Linfield College in McMinnvill, Oregon, and played football and wrestled. Upon graduation in 1968 he moved to Vancouver, earning an MA (1969) in Kinesiology and playing another year of football for the Thunderbirds at the University of British Columbia. He also won 4 Canadian titles in wrestling. Laycoe was an assistant coach with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football and wrestling programs from 1969-70 to 1971-72 and was head coach of both teams in 1972-73. Laycoe served as interim athletic director at the U of S when Don Burgess was on sabbatical in 1971-72. He coached football with Frank Smith at UBC from 1973 to 1987, winning two Vanier Cups (national championships). Laycoe was in Vancouver while his father coached the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL. Eventually Laycoe went to Toronto to coach the University of Toronto Varsity Blues from 1988-2002. He won a third Vanier Cup in 1993. When Laycoe’s neurological disorder forced his early retirement, he moved to the Okanagan in British Columbia. Hall of Fame awards followed Laycoe from Cleveland High to Linfield College, to the University of British Columbia and to the University of Toronto. The Frank Smith and Bob Laycoe Varsity Training Facility was established at UBC. Bob Laycoe died suddenly 28 December 2020 at age 73 from complications from cumulative traumatic encephalopathy and secondary Parkinson’s disease which developed over decades.