Legendary Central Maine High School Coach Passes Away

If you were involved in high school or college sports, there is a good chance that you had a favorite coach.

This man or woman likely pushed you hard and, at times, made you really mad.  However, at the end of the day, you knew that person just wanted you to do your best.  They were a mentor and you looked up to them.

If you went to Winslow High School in the 1950s or 1960s, there is a good chance that for you that coach was Wally LaFountain.

Sadly, he recently passed away at the age of 99.

According to an article in the KJ, LaFountain passed away on Friday.

The article goes on to explain that LaFountain coached the Winslow High School football team from 1958-68, founded the successful Maine-Nebraska Friendship Series wrestling exchange, and did so much for local youth sports.

A native of Woodstock, Vermont, and a Springfield College graduate after serving in World War II, LaFountain’s early football coaching career took him throughout the Northeast.  Before eventually arriving in Winslow, he spent time in New Jersey and New York.

Winslow was the Class B state champion in LaFountain’s first season in 1958. He won another in 1960. LaFountain was also a prominent figure in Maine high school wrestling. Upon arriving at Winslow, he started the school’s varsity wrestling program.

He was a longtime wrestling official, serving as president of the Maine Interscholastic Wrestling Officials Association for 16 years.  He founded the Maine-Nebraska wrestling exchange in 1985, along with Mick Pierce, a high school wrestling coach from Nebraska.

LaFountain spent 10 years directing the program, which sends wrestlers from Maine to Nebraska or vice versa in alternating years and is one of the marquee events on the high school wrestling calendar.

In 2019, LaFountain was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.