Amick honored at North Mason with wrestling room

Organizer hopes to see many people at event

Matt Baide | Aug 17, 20230

North Mason High School is renaming the wrestling room to honor former coach Ed Amick with a ceremony 3 p.m. Saturday in Belfair.

Amick was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, for a lifetime of service to wrestling in Washington. He coached North Mason wrestling for 42 years from 1964 to 2006, compiling a record of 409-179-4. North Mason was a state participant for 36 years in a row during that span, with more than 100 wrestlers competing in the state tournament and four state champions.

One of those state champions, Milo Smith, who wrestled his junior and senior year at North Mason and was the 1975 state champion, is leading the efforts to get the wrestling room named after Amick.

“What I’ve told people why I’m pushing for this is, and I’ve been pushing for it since 2018, was the three men that molded my life were my father, coach Bill Hawkins and coach Ed Amick,” Smith told the Journal.

“Without them, I would have not become a state champion. I didn’t even plan to go on to college and by surprisingly, reaching the goals that they drove us to set, changed my whole life. I went to college, became an independent business owner. These people helped me make the decisions to become a successful human being and very happy human being and so by getting the name on there, hopefully the plaques and the different things will inspire a kid or two to walk the same pass and become successful on their own.”

A logo has been made for the Amick Wrestling Center that will be displayed on the wall mats, which need to be replaced. The sign for the center is already on display at North Mason High School.

Amick has advanced Parkinson’s disease, according to Smith, and they are trying to get everything done while he is still able to recognize and see everyone at the ceremony Saturday. Smith said he hopes to have more than 100 people at the event on Saturday.

“There’s a ton of alumni in Shelton or Olympia that might not know about this and there are tens of thousands of kids that the teacher, Ed Amick, touched,” Smith said. “Many of the contributions we have received in this process came from some girl that was in his sixth-grade class that he changed their life forever. He is just an inspirational man.”

To donate to the group’s efforts, go to http://www.gofundme.com/f/ed-amick-wrestling-center.