If the walls of Ron Wright Memorial Gym could talk, what rich stories they would tell.
Since opening its doors in the fall of 1967, the Montezuma-Cortez High School gym, with its yellow brick walls and white ceiling tiles, has become a landmark in the local community.
State champion wrestlers and a state championship basketball team have called the gym home, as have the scores of gymnasts, volleyball players and physical education students.
So, on Feb. 14, when the gym hosts its final scheduled athletic events before the new high school opens next year, emotions figure to run high and memories figure to permeate countless minds.
M-CHS will honor former and current coaches who coached in the facility between the boys and girls basketball games on Feb. 14, and coaches will tour the new high school on the afternoon of Feb. 13.
In advance of this weekend’s games and events, below is a look back at the history of the Ron Right Memorial Gym.
The early days
Throughout the summer of 1967, excitement in Cortez was running high. A new high school facility had been built along Chestnut Street and Seventh Street, and among the buildings many amenities was a completely new gym.
“I can remember coming to the new gym with my dad and playing on Sunday afternoons,” said M-CHS athletic director Stacey Hall. “Parts of the building were still under construction, but us kids were able to run around and explore the new halls.”
Equipped with seating for roughly 1,000 people, the facility contained gymnastics equipment, a trampoline and basketball hoops. Medal bleachers with wooden foot holders surrounded the court.
“The old bleachers were rickety,” said Hall. “Everything slipped in between them.”
After hosting basketball and gymnastics practices throughout the fall, Ron Wright hosted its first official athletic event on Dec. 2, 1967, when the M-CHS boys basketball team faced off against Moab.
Jerome Walton served as the head coach for the senior-laden team, which was led by starters Cliff Neely, Brad Wayt, Eric Porter, Mike Byers and Gary Tanner.
Although the Cortez Journal did not report the final score of the game between M-CHS and Moab, the paper said that the Panthers “won comfortably.” Wayt scored the first hoop in the new gym, and Porter scored a game-high 23 points.
“There seemed to be mixed feelings from the fans who attended the Cortez-Moab game on the folding bleachers in the new gym,” said the Dec. 7 edition of the Journal. “Some liked (the bleachers), while others complained about no seat backs and no aisles.”
The middle years
In the two decades after Ron Wright Memorial Gym opened, the facility hosted a number of significant events, including the first varsity girls basketball game and the first girls volleyball match in 1971.
Larry Pickens took over as head coach of the boys basketball team before the start of the 1970-71 season and began what turned out to be a string of successful seasons.
In the spring of 1977, the RE-1 Board of Education approved a resolution drafted by the Student Senate asking that the gym be named after Ronald L. Wright, who had been a educator in the Cortez school district. Wright was M-CHS’s head wrestling coach when the gym opened in 1967.
“Be it resolved by the Board of Education of M-CHS District RE-1 that the M-CHS Gymnasium be dedicated and named in memory of Mr. Ronald L. Wright and his dedication to young people and their education,” the RE-1 resolution read.
Tom Hayden officially announced the gym’s new name via a speech written by Dick Ehlert at the baccalaureate exercises on May 25, 1977.
The glory years
By the late 1980s, Ron Wright Memorial Gym looked almost the same as it did the day that the doors opened. The overall atmosphere of the gym was about to change, however.
In 1989, M-CHS hired Wade Mortensen as head boys basketball coach, and over the next 15-plus years, the Panthers basketball team grew into a perennial league and state power.
During the same period, Mortensen’s wife, Lindy, was hired as head coach of the girls volleyball team and brought a similar level of success to the Lady Panthers.
Shane Carver won the 145-pound state wrestling title in 1989, and Gene Lively followed with a state title in the 112-pound division in 1990. Jerry Wynes, Shelby Buffington and Cole Allison all won multiple state titles over the next decade.
Marcus Mortensen was named Colorado’s Class 4A basketball player of the year in 2002.
All the while, excitement surrounding M-CHS’s athletic programs grew, and Ron Wright Memorial Gym became known as one of the loudest in the Southwest.
“The first playoff game that I ever broadcast…the people were lined up from the ticket office to the corner of Oak Street,” said longtime radio broadcaster and coach, Don Story. “Nate Jarvis scored the opening bucket, and the gym went crazy. After the game, the opposing coach said that at that point, with all the noise, his kids were beat.”
“I think it was a nice home-court advantage because of the fans,” said Wade Mortensen. “We didn’t lose many games in (Ron Wright). The players, fans and students had a lot of pride, and it was one of the toughest environments to play in the state.”
New plastic bleachers were installed in the gym in 1999, and excitement surrounding the M-CHS athletic programs reached a high point during the 2001-2002 season, which saw the boys basketball team go undefeated at home and capture the Class 4A state title.
Nearly every home game that season was sold out in advance, and tickets were in high demand.
“I can remember a playoff game when we hosted Air Academy,” said Hall. “We presold tickets, and we sold out in 24 minutes. It didn’t matter who we were playing, we sold our gym out.”
More recent times
After Wade and Lindy Mortensen stepped down following the 2005 season, the excitement surrounding the basketball and volleyball teams diminished, and crowds at Ron Wright Memorial Gym slowly shrank.
Successful athletes, including state wrestling champions Casey Lynn and Seager Oliver, did compete in the gym during the last decade however, and games against Durango High School continued to draw large crowds.
In the final games against Durango at Ron Wright Memorial Gym on Feb. 10, the boys and girls basketball teams scored impressive victories, much to the delight of a large crowd that had come to see the Panthers face the Demons at Ron Wright one last time.
“It was the last year of this high school, and this was the last time we were going to play Durango at home,” said M-CHS senior Walter Parker. “We had to make a statement, and (the environment) was just insane.”
With the final home games set to take place on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. and on Feb. 14 at noon and 1:30 p.m., M-CHS administrators are hoping to fill the gym one last time.
“This weekend’s games will be kind of emotional,” said Hall. “I’m very excited about having the new building, but there are a lot of memories at (Ron Wright). “Hopefully this weekend’s games will draw a crowd and we can send the gym out on a high note.”