Local sports great Ron Banks died in his sleep of natural causes Thursday.

With his death, a huge heart stopped beating -- both literally and figuratively. Banks, who stood 6-foot-4 and topped the scales at 295-pounds, was 57.

Banks is widely regarded as Helena's greatest wrestler.

An all-around athlete, he earned nine letters at Helena High from 1968 to 1971; three each in football, wrestling and track and field. His best sport by far was wrestling.

After placing fourth at the state wrestling tournament in the heavyweight division as a sophomore, the 250-pound Banks completed one of the most dominating wrestling seasons in state history. He pinned his first 14 opponents, and finished with an undefeated 20-0 record on the way the 1970 state championship in the Helena High gym.

Banks stapled 17 of 18 opponents (two wins were forfeits), with all 17 pins taking place prior to the third period.

He successfully retained his crown as a senior, again going unbeaten. His final two years, Banks was 39-0-1 with 30 pins. The only blemish being a 1-1 tie with two-time Class A champion Buddy Walsh of Butte Central.

His career winning percentage of .889 (48-6-1) still stands as a school record, and Banks remains the only Queen City grappler in history to achieve back-to-back undefeated seasons.

"He was a phenomenal wrestler, I always thought Ron had world-class ability. He was just so powerful," said Carroll College head football coach Mike Van Diest, who played with Banks on Helena High's football team.

As a senior lineman, Banks was selected to the 1970 All-State teams on offense and defense. Another member of those HHS grid teams was Pat Donovan. Donovan became an All-American for Stanford, and an All-Pro with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

"Ron Banks was one of the most naturally strong individuals I've ever known, at any level," wrote Donovan, in an e-mail eulogizing his former teammate. "It wasn't just his size, but his amazing power that impressed friends and foe alike.

"When we played for the Bengals, there was no team willing to go straight at him," Donovan continued. "They might have been able to go around him, but that two square yards of field belonged to Ron -- he was the anchor we could always count on."

Collegiately, Banks wrestled and played football at both Western and Eastern Montana Colleges, earning two Frontier Conference heavyweight wrestling crowns.

While serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, he took up running marathons. Since returning to Helena in the early 1990s, Ron power walked in almost every Governor's Cup 26.2-mile event except the last one, which he missed due to health problems.

Banks dedicated his first Governor's Cup to his late HHS wrestling coach, Jack Cohn. This became a yearly ritual for the big man, with each of his marathons being devoted to someone different.

Donovan and Van Diest both felt that Bank's compassion and benevolence matched his athletic prowess.

"For a guy who grew up mostly in foster homes, without most of the possessions that are so important during those years, Ron was unfailingly generous with anything he had," Donovan wrote. "He was always giving of himself, whether cheering for our high school basketball team, serving his country in the Marines, or his efforts at Fort Harrison's V.A. Hospital. And it is that generosity of spirit that I will miss most about him."

"One year he dedicated his marathon to my dad, another time he walked for the memory of Narles Layne," coach Van Diest recalled. "He was just a very caring person. Helena is going to miss Ron Banks."

Reporter Curt Synness: 449-2150 or curt52s@bresnan.net