The 1981-82 school year was Washington's fourth and final year in the Mid-State 10 Conference.  Due to a myriad of reasons which can be read about here, WCHS was transitioning to the brand new Mid-Illini Conference for the 1982-83 year.  For their farewell season in the MS10, however,  they went out in style;  specifically the boys' teams of football, basketball, and baseball.  

FOOTBALL

The Panthers dominated their previous conference before the Mid State Ten, the Heart of Illinois, for its five years of existence, finishing with six or more wins in every season from 1973-1977.  However, they never qualified for the IHSA playoffs.  Coming off a 7-2 season in 1977, (the final season of HOI) the 1978 Panthers debuted in the Mid-State Ten with a 1-8 record.  Head coach Bill Farrell resigned in June 1979 to take a job outside of education.  The new head coach was John Venturi, who in his first two years at the helm, posted 2-7 and 5-4 records in the Mid-State Ten.  Entering the 1981 season, hopes were high that the Panthers could potentially contend for a conference title.

In a rather public display of the actual private reasons Washington ended up leaving the Mid State Ten, the pre-season coaches poll for the 1981 conference race showed Washington with three first place votes. However, they also received many votes placing them close to the bottom of the conference, and they ended up as the fourth place team in the final pre-season poll.

The season opener set the tone, as the Panthers avenged losses in three previous seasons to the Limestone Rockets with a 40-26 victory led by Ron Lance's 183 rushing yards.  Next came victories over Peoria Richwoods and Peoria Central, and Washington found itself in the odd position of being in the UPI state polls.  In the Central game, Lance rumbled for 230 yards behind Washington's offensive line consisting of Keith Hamilton, Mark Dennis, Darien Miller, Rick Mason, Troy Reed, and Dale Sparks.  The Panthers were 3-0 for the first time since 1959 heading into a week 4 match-up with 3-0 Peoria Manual.

The Panthers jumped out to a 16-0 lead against Manual at the half, but the Rams ran back the opening kick of the third quarter for a touchdown and returned an interception for another, and it was 16-14 before people were even settled back into their seats.  The Panther defense buckled down, and Washington went to 4-0 with a 23-14 victory in front of 4500 fans at Babcook Field.

Then the unthinkable happened.  An undefeated Washington traveled to a winless East Peoria and lost 9-7 in an ugly Saturday afternoon game that honestly, neither team deserved to win.

After the East Peoria disaster, Washington beat Bergan, Spalding, Woodruff, and Pekin to finish the season with an 8-1 record and the first IHSA football playoff berth in the history of the school and a Mid State Ten conference championship.

The Panthers hosted Champaign Central in round one of the IHSA playoffs which didn't start well as Champaign jumped to a 27-7 halftime lead.  Washington did everything they could to mount a comeback in the second half but fell short with a 27-21 loss.

Washington placed five on the Mid-State Ten all-conference first team, including Rick Mason, Keith Hamilton, Ron Lance, Darien Miller, and Dale Sparks.  Junior Mark Dennis, who would go on to play for the University of Illinois and in the NFL, made the 2nd team along with senior quarterback Matt Ernst.  Ernst ended with 724 yards passing on the season, while Joe Bullard led the team in receiving with 259 yards.  Ron Lance was the bell-cow running back rushing for 1006 yards on 169 carries.  Record-setting team!

BOYS BASKETBALL

The 1981-82 boys basketball team entered with loads of experience. The previous season's roster carried only one senior, Jay Essington.  Everyone else returned:  Doug Lee, Tom Numrich, Matt Ernst, Derek Funk, Randy Bukolas, Chris Herman, Todd Bodine, and Jimmy Hardesty.

The Panthers breezed through their tip-off tournament beating Chicago Lindblom, Champaign Central, and Metamora, with Lee and Herman receiving all-tournament team honors.  Washington then blitzed through five conference wins before Christmas, including wins against powers Manual, Richwoods, and Central.  Entering the Pekin Holiday Tournament, Washington lost Chris Herman who left the team. Nevertheless, they won their first two games of the tournament against Urbana and Toluca running their record to 10-0.  Eventual tournament champion Harvey Thornton handed the Panthers their first loss in the semifinals, and Pekin also beat Washington in the third-place game.

After Christmas, Washington rattled off a 10-3 conference record and finished in a tie for the conference championship with Peoria Richwoods, a team Washington beat twice.  Doug Lee's 26.9 point-per-game scoring average looked to secure the scoring title in the final weekend, but a fluke 55-point explosion by Doug Altenberger of Richwoods in his final conference game of the year allowed him to sneak by in the end.  Lee did win the conference rebounding title.

Entering the post-season, the Panthers breezed through the Chillicothe regional with lopsided wins over Streator and Metamora, setting up a match-up at Robertson Fieldhouse against Peoria Central.  In a game for the ages, Central barely survived in two overtimes 70-69.  Doug Lee scored 35 points to end his Panther career which included a memorable last-second shot to send the game into a second overtime from a full-court pass from Matt Ernst.  Washington's amazing season ended with a record of 22-6.  The only team they did not beat at least once in their entire schedule was Harvey Thornton.  Peoria Manual, which Washington split with during the season, made it to the Elite Eight in Champaign.

Doug Lee and Tom Numrich made first-team all-conference, and Derek Funk received special mention.  Lee made the all-state team and signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Texas A&M University.  He later transferred to Purdue and played professional basketball for many years.

BASEBALL

While the basketball team was mostly senior-led, the baseball team relied more on underclassmen for its core.  There was some senior leadership in Tom Numrich, Dave Maddock, and Andy Swanson, but three players do not make a baseball team.  Expectations for the baseball team were solid, but probably not to the conference championship level of the football and basketball level, simply due to the lack of returning experience.  Younger players expected to contribute were Brian Gangloff, Randy Bukolas, Matt Hodges, Jeff Little, J.C. Dempsey, Bob Perkins, Danny Garrison, and Steve Krull.

Washington finished Mid State Ten play with a solid 10-8 record beating league leaders Spalding and Pekin on successive days at the end of the season.

The Panthers completed the season 24-14 tying the school record for wins.  Tom Numrich set the school's career stolen base record while Matt Hodges set the season doubles record, and Randy Bukolas tied the record for pitching wins in a season.

Dave Maddock and Tom Numrich made first-team Mid State Ten all-conference.  Numrich would be one of only four unanimous selections.  Another was Joe Girardi of Spalding who went on to a long career as a player and manager in the major leagues.  Spalding, beaten by Washington once, made the IHSA Elite Eight.

The Mid State Ten Boys All Sports Trophy for 1981-82 was barely won by Peoria Richwoods as they sneaked by Washington in the spring with stronger showings in track and tennis.  The Panthers never finished higher than sixth in the All Sports standings until their final year in the conference.

WCHS entered the Mid-Illini Conference for the 1982-83 season and has been a member of that conference ever since.