And no, I'm not talking about Chris Jericho or Triple H. Or even Preparation H.
These guys are the real deal.
Organizers were able to bring in Gene Davis, the two-time Olympian who wrestled at Missoula County High School from 1960-63, and Bill Zadick, a two-time U.S. national freestyle champ who starred at Great Falls High from 1987-91.
Davis and Zadick represent, arguably, the very best of their respective generations.
You'd get a strong argument that Zadick's younger brother, Mike, would give his sibling a run for his money, but we'll never know the answer to that question.
In January 2000, the brothers - both four-time state title winners - refused to wrestle one another in the finals of the Midlands Wrestling Championships in Chicago, instead opting to be declared co-champions.
It was a gesture that exemplified their character and their love for one another.
“We decided we're brothers ... and it's best for us to keep getting along rather than going out there trying to pound each other's heads,” Mike said at the time. “It would be kind of hard to do.”
While Mike, who recently competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is continuing with his career, Bill, now 35 and five years older, has announced he's going to step away from competition.
“It was a very tough decision, but I'm getting old,” said Bill, taking a short break from working with the younger wrestlers at the clinic Saturday.
For Zadick, that likely means a move into coaching, possibly with USA Wrestling, where he's applied to be a developmental coach with the program.
He certainly has the resumé. Zadick won the gold medal at the 2006 World Championships, and was a two-time All-American at the University of Iowa, earning the NCAA title in 1996.
The struggle to hang up the singlet for good is something Davis understands.
“It's no small decision to stop doing something you really love and something you're really good at. It's very difficult to do that.
“(Zadick) will be a great coach. He does a great job as a teacher and a technician,” Davis said. “He can enjoy some of the benefits of all his years of dedication, and still pass that on to others.”
Davis and Zadick have been close for the past four years. Both live in Colorado Springs, Colo., the home of the Olympic Training Center.
While Zadick has been competing, Davis has been the heart and soul of the Athletes in Action wrestling team - a group he's directed since 1968.
The Christian organization brings in grapplers from around the world. They compete in tournaments and put on clinics, using them as a platform to share their beliefs.
Zadick said he has come to admire and respect his fellow Montanan through the weekly Bible studies Davis conducts and their many one-on-one counseling sessions.
“We talk quite a bit,” Zadick said. “We've spent a lot of really good time together.”
Davis' contact with the Zadick family goes back much further - to his days wrestling for Jug Beck in Missoula.
In fact, Davis' final match of his 66-0 prep career was a state title victory over Fred Zadick, a relative of Bill, in 1963.
“I've known the Zadicks for a long time,” said Davis, who after speaking at a Missoula church Sunday morning, spent the next couple of days at the Zadick family cabin in Lincoln catching up on some hunting and fishing opportunities. “We still talk about that match, but there certainly are no (hard feelings).”
Davis, a member of the USA Wrestling Hall of Fame, started wrestling by learning three moves from his older brother Jerry on the front lawn of their home at the end of Third Street near Clements Road.
Gene would go on to win an NCAA title at Oklahoma State in 1966 as a junior. Six years later, which included one season as the head wrestling coach at the University of Montana, he qualified for the 1972 Olympics. At the '76 Games in Montreal, Davis won a bronze, the only Olympic medal ever won by a Montana wrestler.
And it was during the mid-70s, as Gene and his wife Frances bounced around the West with Athletes in Action, that Davis received some terrible news.
Jerry, his only sibling, had been killed in a sledding accident on Blue Mountain at the age of 35.
“It was a big loss,” Davis said. “The memories with my brother are great. He was so supportive of my wrestling career ... everything. He was so helpful.”
Brothers can be that way.
Columnist John Smithers can be reached at 523-5257 or at jsmithers@missoulian.com.
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