Three generations of wrestlers: Jack Hornbuckle, grandson Roderick and son Dewayne pose for a photo at the Oklahoma wrestling tournament earlier this year. Photo Provided
Tough, Tough Choctaws
By Zach Maxwell
Choctaw Nation
Poteau, Okla. - Success is piling up for the Hornbuckle family of Poteau.
The Hornbuckles claim both Choctaw and Cherokee descent, as well as three generations of award-winning wrestlers. The Hornbuckle children, Roderick and Kyra, are both athletes at Poteau High School and participate in stickball as well as Choctaw cultural activities.
As another season of youth stickball gets under way, Dewayne Hornbuckle is one of the coaches for the new Yvnnvsh Homma (Red Buffaloes) team. Son Roderick, a Poteau junior, plays center defense for the new team. Kyra is on the squad as well.
Roderick also just completed a third-place finish at the 4A state wrestling tournament, going 3-1 to complete his second straight 30-plus win season at 39-9.
But it’s in the blood: Dewayne and his father Jack are both wrestling coaches at Poteau, and Jack is still winning world titles in 50-plus competitions in Europe.
Wrestling fans will recall Jack’s accolades at OSU, where he was part of a wrestling team that won two national titles and made it to Olympic trials.
“He’s the one with all the credentials,” Dewayne said of his dad. “And he started the wrestling program at Poteau in 1977.”
Now, Roderick is following in the footsteps with his award-winning moves on the mat. Not only did he make it to State this year, but he also made the all-conference list and is a three-time wrestling champion at the Jim Thorpe Games.
“It’s fun, but it takes commitment and determination,” Roderick said. “It takes mental strength, too.”
Some of the skills help him with tackling in adult-level stickball games; tackling is frowned upon at the youth level. His dad grew up playing the Cherokee “fish game,” a softer, one-pole version of the sport known as a social game throughout most of the Choctaw Nation.
Roderick is looking forward to taking his wrestling talent to the next level, perhaps at a small school such as Bacone College. He wants to stay close to home. And, he is not confining his native cultural interests to the stickball field.
“I’m starting to learn social dance songs,” he said, adding that he has a CD of songs by B.L. Joe that he keeps playing. “I jam out to those in my truck.”
He is also trying his hand at artwork, inspired by art classes at school. He is sampling beadwork as well as sculpting, in a style his dad describes as “abstract art.”
Dewayne has taken his children to see artists including Bunkie Echo-Hawk (Pawnee-Yakama) and exposed them to music from native groups such as A Tribe Called Red.
“This lets them explore as much of these things as we can,” he said. “It’s so kids can have more pride and not be ashamed to learn their native culture and language.”