Albert Lea's Chuck Jean dies at 72, but leaves tall tales of wrestling lore

Chuck Jean, a Minnesota wrestling legend for the ages, died at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester on Sept. 29. He was 72. A celebration of Chuck's life will be held on Saturday, Oct. 23, starting at 2 p.m. at Albert Lea's American Legion club.

Admission should be charged to hear the stories that Albert Lea long-timers and others might tell at this event.

Chuck was a self-admitted wild man in his younger days who returned to Albert Lea and did his best to become a family man and Dad to his three children..

I went to Albert Lea in February 1997 to write a Star Tribune column on Chuck. He was coerced by me into telling the tale of his most-famous wrestling match. It involved the death of a large deer, and those likely to be offended by gruesome details ... well, proceed at your own risk.

From the Star Tribune archives, Feb. 22, 1997:

Chuck Jean back in the wrestling room at Albert Lea

ALBERT LEA, MINN. —The walls of the wrestling room at Albert Lea High School are covered with lists of accomplishments and photographs from the Tigers' glorious past. Larry Goodnature, the current Albert Lea coach, is one of the wrestlers prominently mentioned on these walls of honor.

"We've had an Olympian in Gary Neist. Tom Jean was a three-time state champion," Goodnature said. "We've had a lot of great wrestlers. But Charlie is always the one who sticks out."

"Charlie" is Chuck Jean, a state champion for Albert Lea in1967, a two-time NCAA champion for Iowa State in 1969 and 1970 and a two-time NAIA champion for Adams (Colo.) State in 1972 and 1973.

Chuck was the oldest of four brothers. "They never lifted a weight, but when a wrestler put his hands on a Jean, it was like grabbing steel," Goodnature said.

Two years ago, Goodnature arranged to have the Albert Lea wrestling boosters come up with a stipend to make Chuck Jean a paid assistant. This winter, he was added as a full-fledged assistant, paid by the school district.

There is some wear in the eyes of Chuck Jean, there is a hint of cauliflower in his ears, but that 5-foot-8, 180-pound body still has the look of steel. There is a slight smile and a look of resignation when Jean is asked about the most famous match of his career.

"Old Sammy was a 14-year-old, 300-pound, 10-point buck," Jean said. "He was kept in a big pen, with a bunch of does, in Boone State Park. Don Gillespie, our 190-pounder at Iowa State, bet me a 12-pack that I couldn't take that buck. Gillespie dropped me off and was going to come back 15 minutes later.

"I jumped in the pen with a big Bowie knife. Sammy and I stared at each other and then he charged. He stuck his antlers right into my chest and the Bowie knife went flying. There was a feeding trough and he carried me 15, 20 feet and slammed me into the trough. I got a lock on his neck and threw him to the ground. All this time, he was kicking me. His hooves turned the backs of my legs into raw meat.

"I had a pocket knife with a small blade on me. I got that out. It took 10 minutes of war before I finished him. Gillespie came back and was screaming, `Let's go.' I said, `I'm getting my buck.'

"I flipped him over the fence. This was a 300-pound buck, sothat wasn't easy. I threw that bloody carcass across Gillespie's new Gran Torino, which made him mad. A few days later, we had a keg party and barbecued Sammy.

"I had that old buck mounted. Last I heard, Sammy's head was in a bowling alley in Trenton, Missouri."

The demise of Old Sammy became an issue in the Ames and Des Moines media.

"The game warden heard rumors and started showing upat wrestling practice," Jean said. "One day, Nick [coach Harold Nichols] said, `They have no evidence, Chuck. They want you to admit to a lesser offense.' I took the deal."

The match with Old Sammy occurred a couple of weeks before Jeanwon his second national title in 1970. That spring, trouble came tothe Iowa State campus in the form of a riot.

"I was identified as being in the middle of it," Jean said. "For about four days there, it was a battle between me and President Nixon for the top of the front page in the Des Moines newspaper."

Eventually Chuck, the school and the authorities agreed his time at Iowa State had come to an end. He spent 18 months in the Army, then went to Adams State in Alamosa, Colo. After winning two NAIA titles, he stayed in Alamosa and bought a saloon.

Jean's first wife was killed in a car accident. His second wife, Julie Rahn, had been a cheerleader with Chuck's sister at Albert Lea High. Chuck and Julie moved back to Albert Lea in 1984,when the oldest of their three children was six months old.

The raconteur of the wrestling room is now a quiet family man. He is a roofer from the middle of March to Thanksgiving, a wrestling coach the rest of the time. It's a two-man crew on the roofs ofAlbert Lea - Chuck and his 75-year-old father, Red.

The Jeans have sons and wrestlers, Justin and Jeremy, in thesixth and fifth grades. Their daughter, Melissa, 8, has spinabifida. She has had eight major surgeries.

"People in wrestling — we think we're tough," Jean said. "Compared to Melissa, we're nothing. If a wrestler could have the spirit and desire Melissa shows every day, he would never lose a match."

The Albert Lea Tigers had headed to the mats. A straggler, a block of a kid named Jeff Long, smiled at Jean and said: "Come on, Chicken Wing. I got something for you today."

Many years ago, Manny Holmes was the 167-pounder for Mason City(Iowa) Community College. The Iowa State freshmen were scheduled towrestle Manny's team. A quote from Holmes in the Mason City newspaper - "It's too bad Jean won't be down to 167 for this match"— made its way to Ames.

"I cut 331⁄2 pounds in three days to get to 167," Jean said. "Manny was down 17-1 when I pinned him."

Please, young Jeff Long, take this advice: When referring to Chuck Jean as "Chicken Wing," never forget to smile.