Former OSU mascot makes grand return after 30 years

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) - During the fourth quarter, Rick Wilson was exhausted but he had to get through the pain.

His legs, knees and back weren’t in as good standing as they were the last time he was standing in this spot at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The occasion was the Oklahoma State women’s basketball game against Iowa State on Dec. 29. Wilson it, though one might not have known it. With the Cowboy football team taking on Colorado in the Alamo Bowl 530 miles away, the school’s two Pistol Petes were indisposed.

Which brought up why the 54-year-old Wilson was wearing the lauded but hefty head of OSU’s gunslingin’ mascot. Time to time, such predicaments happen where the current Pistol Petes can’t make it to an event, it is then up to Beki Jackson, the school’s Pistol Pete coordinator and pom coach, to find a replacement from a long list of former Petes.

Usually, Jackson tries to get somebody in recent memory, but as she kept going down the list, either people were in San Antonio or since it was a Thursday, couldn’t make it back to town for the 5 p.m. tip, the Stillwater News Press (https://bit.ly/2k1igYQ ) reported.

Over in Sapulpa, Wilson was going through his emails when he saw the message from Jackson and his former Pistol Pete partner, Scott Petty, who is also the executive director of Stillwater Medical Center.

“I was just watching that email thread and I responded to it and said, ’Heck, I’ll do it.’” Wilson said. “Scott Petty said, ’Are you crazy?’ I didn’t realize at the time that it had been 30 years since I put the head on. I said it had to be mind over matter. Anybody can do anything for three hours.”

So it was that Wilson became the man for the job that late Thursday afternoon. Wilson, who now lives in Sapulpa, said every Pete remembers his first and last time as Pete. The first time came in 1984 at an event at Will Rogers Elementary School. His last came in 1986 at the annual Guthrie Parade.

Wilson described it as a hot event in an extremely long parade. As Pete, he had been designated to ride in a Model-T Ford that broke down halfway through the parade. Wilson said it gave him an added reason to remember his last time wearing the head before Thursday.

Wilson said though it had been so long since he had worn the outfit, he actually started to get worried when the day got closer and closer. Finally, it came, but when Wilson put the head on, he lost all his nervousness.

“When I put the head back on, it felt like coming home,” Wilson said. “It felt like walking through the front door of your home. You’re just thinking, ’Wow, I remember this, the smells and everything.’ I don’t remember the head being as heavy as it is. You know the legs are weaker, the knees are weaker, the back is weaker and your neck. I was in there about two minutes and I suddenly remembered that man, it’s heavy. But to me it was just normal as putting on a coat and putting on a hat.”

Wilson got back into his routine pretty quick, adding in something that a lot of people hadn’t seen Pistol Pete do before. Back when Wilson was trying out to be Pete, he said he would give it everything he got and add his own flavor to it.

At the time, Wilson was adept with a bullwhip and rope so he decided to add it to his repertoire.

Every Pete had his own talent in those days and that was Wilson’s. It eventually helped earn him and OSU an All-American rating for his services. So when he went back out on Eddie Sutton Court, the first time he had been on the court under that name, Wilson brought the bullwhip and rope back as well.

Jackson said it was cool to find out he could do that and it helped make the event even more special for a guy who was getting the rare chance to relive his college days. She was ecstatic that somebody his age had taken the reigns when no one else could answer the call.

“It’s priceless,” Jackson said. “People don’t really understand everything that Pistol Pete has to do until he doesn’t show up somewhere and then you get fans who want to know why he wasn’t there or they drove all this way to take a picture with Pete and he wasn’t there. People don’t even realize what a big part he is of our university and athletic department until he doesn’t show up. It’s priceless that Rick or any of our alumni Petes do agree to this and come to this when we absolutely can’t be there. I appreciate that they take that responsibility seriously.”

Wilson was enjoying going back into the character, even having old friends come back up and recognize that it was him because of how he portrayed Pete. However, when that fourth quarter rolled around, Wilson said he was starting to feel the effects of the costume that he didn’t feel when he was 20.

Despite the pain, he powered through it. Wilson only took two 10-minute breaks throughout the whole game because he knew he might never have this chance again.

“At the end of that three hours, I was spent,” Wilson said. “I was using that as motivation to get through, thought. . During that fourth period I kept thinking, don’t take a break because you’re never going to get to do this again.”

In days after the game, Wilson sent a card to Jackson thanking her for the opportunity to be Pete once again. When asked if he ever got the chance, if he would do it again, Wilson said he didn’t know but thought that game Dec. 29 would probably be his last go-round.

“I was blessed with an opportunity to do something that I thought I would never ever ever get to do again,” Wilson said. “. I don’t know if I will ever do it again, but I won’t say never. It was awesome, it was painful.”

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Information from: Stillwater News Press, https://www.stwnewspress.com