DeKalb wrestling community mourns loss of 2 coaching legends on same day

Within an hour last week, the DeKalb wrestling community lost two of its founding fathers.

Arch Richoz, 79, and Wayne Miller, 82, died March 7, each leaving behind a lasting legacy to wrestling locally and statewide.

They each also leave a legacy of helping put the pieces in place to turn DeKalb into one of the top wrestling communities in the state.

Wayne was one of those guys that people would run through walls, jump off a cliff for. He was one of the greatest guys you could ever ask for.”

—  Dan Cliffe, former DeKalb wrestling coach

“Don Flavin is known as the father of DeKalb wrestling, and Arch would be right there with him as a foundation,” said Dan Jones, who coached at Huntley Middle School from 1990 until 2003. “He started the feeder program for the high school. For the high school to get that program where it is today, it was a juggernaut back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Arch was right in the middle of that keeping it going by creating kids introduced to wrestling for the first time. He did an outstanding job of that.”

Richoz began the middle school program in DeKalb in 1968 and had a big hand in developing the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation. He also helped DeKalb and the NIU Convocation Center land the IESA state wrestling championships, which they’ve hosted since 1998. He’s a member of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame.

Miller took over the DeKalb High School program from its founder, Don Flavin. Under Miller, the Barbs won 15 straight regional titles. Miller was instrumental in developing the IHSA Dual Team Wrestling State Tournament, at which the Barbs finished second in 2022. He’s a member of the IWCOA Hall of Fame and National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

“Wayne was one of those guys that people would run through walls, jump off a cliff for,” said Dan Cliffe, the DeKalb High wrestling coach who succeeded Miller in 1983 and led the program for 13 years. “He was one of the greatest guys you could ever ask for. Great teacher, great mentor. He’s the kind of teacher and coach you’d want your kids to be around.”

For the high school to get that program where it is today, it was a juggernaut back in the 60s and 70s, Arch was right in the middle of that keeping it going by creating kids introduced to wrestling for the first time. He did an outstanding job of that.

—  Dan Jones, former Huntley Middle wrestling coach

Jones said Miller and Richoz were close friends, with their tenures at the middle and highs schools overlapping in the 1970s.

“For them to pass on the same day was poetic, I guess,” Jones said. “They worked closely together. They were good friends.”

Richoz coached Sam Hiatt, the current DeKalb High coach. Hiatt was on the Huntley Middle School team that won a state title in 1996. He went on to not only win a state championship as a wrestler at DeKalb but has been the head coach there since 2016.

Hiatt said it wasn’t just Richoz’s coaching stats that were phenomenal.

“He was not only a great coach, but a great person,” Hiatt said. “You can talk to him about anything. He really cared about DeKalb wrestling and was somebody that was a mentor for your whole life.”

Richoz was also a standout educator. He was a finalist for the Teacher In Space Program, current Huntley Middle wrestling coach Patrick Kiley said. Christa McAuliffe ended up winning the spot on the Space Shuttle Challenger, which exploded in 1986, killing all seven crew members.

Kiley ended up taking over the Huntley Middle program from Richoz. Kiley said he was cleaning out a filing cabinet at the old middle school building, which now is Founder Elementary, when he found all of Richoz’s Teacher in Space Program materials.

Kiley said Richoz was a powerful mentor in his life. Jones echoed the sentiment. After coaching at Huntley, Jones became the athletic director at DeKalb High from 2005-12 and coached football, track and wrestling at Huntley and DeKalb.

“Arch always saw what people were destined for or capable of,” Jones said. Since the first time he met me, he kept talking about me taking over the program and being a leader. He saw that in me, and I didn’t see that in me. ... He prepared me for it, and eventually I became that head coach.”