Del Wilkes obit

Del Wilkes, former Gamecocks football star and pro wrestler, dies at 59

 

He was not on the list.

Former pro wrestling star and University of South Carolina football All-American Del Wilkes passed away early July 1 at the age of 59 of a massive heart attack.

One of only four consensus All-American football players in program history – George Rogers, Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney are the others – Wilkes bolstered an offensive line that in 1984 helped set school records for touchdowns (49), points (371) and total offense (5,095 yards).

Heavily recruited as an offensive lineman at Columbia’s Irmo High School, Wilkes was USC’s most decorated player in 1984 when the Gamecocks finished 10-2.

Wilkes broke into the wrestling business in 1988 following a failed attempt in the NFL. The Columbia native found a wrestling school not far from his home.

The facility was run by legendary women’s wrestling star The Fabulous Moolah (Lillian Ellison), who had been responsible for training the majority of women wrestlers during the ’60s and ’70s.

“It was geared more toward women than it was guys,” said Wilkes. “But we paid our money and went through the school and basically started out at the very bottom level of pro wrestling.”

As The Patriot, he became a top international star, especially in Japan, where fans marked out for his sculpted physique and colorful mask.

Wilkes retired from the wrestling business in the late 1990s due to a triceps injury.

He is not in the University of South Carolina athletics Hall of Fame because of a run of trouble that included serving nine months in an Aiken prison  facility in 2002-2003 after charges of fraudulently obtaining prescription painkillers piled up. Wilkes was arrested 20 times in and around Columbia from 1998 to 2007 while trying to support what became a 150 pills-a-day habit.

Wilkes said he got hooked during his 1988-1997 professional wrestling career. He pled guilty to a domestic assault charge in 1999.

Wilkes had worked for the past 16 years as a car salesman in Columbia.

“Del Wilkes would become a name that those in college football knew quite well. He would make his name familiar in the world of pro wrestling as well. However, regardless of the accolades or fame he may have achieved, to me, he was best known as a friend. Del overcame his struggles in this life and became an inspiration to many. Our loss is Heaven’s gain,” said Clearwater Beach, Fla.-based pastor Andy McDaniel, who hosted a podcast with Wilkes.