I had the privilage of wrestling for Cornell College in 1967 when we won the NCAA Mid-West Championship and I won my weight division as a Sophmore, beating a Senior who had finished 2nd twice before. So I was glad to see this article (below) about the 1947 team.
The "keep plowing along" lesson was still being taught in 1967. I learned it, perhaps to a fault. My friend Hugh McCool says wrestlers are all that way, we never know when to quit.
Tiny Cornell College Talk of Tourney--
Won 1947 NCAA Wrestling ChampionshipStillwater News Press
…Paul Scott was in charge of Cornell College (wrestling), and the man large in know-how but small in stature was building a team that could challenge the big boys of college wrestling.
“Two-thirds of the guys on that team had never seen a wrestling mat,” said Richard Small, one of the 10 Cornell team members honored at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Honors Weekend for 2007. “We had a nucleus of three guys who came from Waterloo West, but most of us were just hard-nosed country boys.”
…The NWHOF inducted four distinguished members — Barry Davis, Greg Gibson, Larry Kristoff and Bill Weick — but the Cornell reunion was the talk of the weekend. Friday night’s festivities included a video and the story of Cornell College is being turned into a book. Someday perhaps wrestling’s version of “Hoosiers” will be produced…
“What (Coach Paul Scott) taught you was to keep plowing along. When you work out with national champs every day you have to be stubborn, never give up. He gave you that drive, that attitude to keep fighting when things were tough.”
“He was head and shoulders above every wrestling coach at the time,” said O’Dell. “Even though he was just 5-foot-4, he’d get you ready to go out and wrestle a 250-pounder when you weighed just 190. You take that into your life.
“There isn’t a college course you can take to compare to the types of things (Coach) taught you.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My post this morning on Cornell College alumni website:
I just got an email from Cornell with link to this. Looks like the new football coach Matt Dillion is doing a fantastic job.Great story posted about the 1947 wrestling team, which I just posted to my blog. Who's coming back for homecoming?
Sorry to see in the 1968 Class Notes section that Chuck Field has died. John Arthur ('68) who I went to high school with and was one of the reasons I came to Cornell died a few months ago. Life is short.
Driving across Iowa or Illinois years and years ago, out in the middle of no-where I suddenly realized the gas gauge was below E. so I pulled into a little two pump station. As I filled up, looked at the guy across from me using the other pump and realized it was George Jacques, who I hadn't seen since he and I and Chuck Field wrestled and played football together. "George?" We talked, filled up, and then drove on. I haven't seen him since. Will you be at the reunion, George?
Posted By: John Wren Class Of 1969 On: 9/15/2007
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eleemosynary by Lee Blessing opened Friday, September 14, at the Playwright Theatre, 2119 E. 17th Ave. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $20, $18 for students and seniors, and $15 for groups of five or more. For reservations and more information contact 303-499-0383 or go online to www.playwrighttheatre.com.
Don't miss this incredible production! Mary and I were blown away by Annawyn, Ellen, and Tessa's outstanding performances, order tickets now, should be SRO! The script is powerful, this is a poetry perfect play for a jewel of theatre.
Line after line is etched into our minds in a story that rivits our attention from start to life-affirming finish. Here's a small sample, like butterflies pinned on cork, a faint image of hearing them delivered live by these skilled actors:
"A smart girl can hide what she knows so there is still a chance for happiness." "This one will fly." "Life is a long appology." "She chose to be an eccentric like others choose to be a Lutheran." "She dedicated her life to theories that are hard to prove." "It's a terrible desire to want to know everything." "There are words I'd give my life for."
My old neighbor Annawyn Shamas, her daughter Ellen Shamas-Wright and Tessa Nelson, star in this funny, poignant production about three generations of intelligent women and the actions they take when their personal desires conflict with external expectations.
The play probes the delicate relationship between Dorothea, the grandmother, who has sought to assert her independence through strong-will eccentricity; her brilliant daughter, Artie, who has fled the stifling domination of her mother; and Artie’s daughter, Echo, a child of exceptional intellect and sensitivity, whom Artie has abandoned to an upbringing by Dorothea.
Don't miss this! And pass the word to your friends who enjoy good theatre. It would be a shame for one seat to go unfilled.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comment or question here is very welcome! Or to keep it confidential email me at John@JohnWren.com After you post or send it is very helpful if you then call me at (303)861-1447 to make sure I take a look at your comment here or your email. Thanks!