LIFETIME SERVICE TO WRESTLING

1976-2012: Olympia High School

Rockey Isley was a student/athlete at Walla Walla High school before attending Columbia Basin Junior College on an athletic scholarship competing in football and wrestling, then transferred to the University of Nevada-Reno to continue his college career. Isley enlisted in the Air Force where he wrestled for the Air Force and was the Air Force champion in 1971 and 1972. He placed second in Greco and third in Freestyle (1971) and third in both Greco and Freestyle (1972) at the All-Inner Service games before enrolling at Central Washington University where he wrestled for Hall of Fame coach Eric Beardsley. Rockey was a 2-time Evergreen Conference Champion and placed second in the national tournament as a member of the 1974 CWU National Championship team. 

In 1976 Isley began his 35-year teaching and coaching career at Olympia High School. As the head wrestling coach, he coached more than 1200 young men and had wrestlers compete at the state tournament all but two years. Coach Isley had more than 50 state placers and two state champions at Olympia High School. Three of his wrestlers went on to wrestler at the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy or West Point. In 1994 He was one of the first coaches to have girls on the Olympia High School wrestling team. 

Coach Isley worked extremely hard to be the best coach possible. He earned silver Greco-Roman and Freestyle coaching certificates and coached cultural exchange teams to Poland and New Zealand. He was on the coaching staff of the 1993 and 1994 U.S. Sports Festival Goodwill Games. Isley arranged several wrestling trips to Reno, Las Vegas, Hawaii and the Air Force Training Center for both clinics and tournaments. Coach also organized local training camps and clinics for wrestlers in Thurston County. Rockey was one of the vocal and active state wrestling coaches who worked many years to finally allow wrestling coaches and wrestler to be able to compete in freestyle wrestling during the high school off-season. 

Rockey has been selected as the Black Hills League Coach of the Year and was honored as the 4A State Coach of the Year in 2012. In 1985 he was inducted into the Walla Walla High School Hall of Fame and in 2009 Isley was inducted into the Washington State Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame. Coach was inducted in 2015 into the CWU Athletics Hall of Fame with the 1974 National Championship team. In 2019, Isley was honored as the Sports Legend of the Year by the Olympia and Beyond Sports Commission.

Rockey Isley and his wife Dotty currently reside in Lacey, Washington. They are proud parents to two adult children, Katie (50) and Jamie (47). They also have three grandchildren, Kaylee, Jacob, and Sarah.