The Road to Cedar Rapids - Volume 3

Top 10 reasons to come to Cedar Rapids for the NCAA Division III wrestling championships (March 6 & 7, 2009)
10. To see the Tree of Five Seasons (and learn what the 5th season is).



9. To learn to identify what Quaker is cooking - oatmeal or Cap’n Crunch?

8. To visit Cornell College and see the 1947 NCAA and AAU national championship wrestling trophies – the smallest school ever to win the large school NCAA title.

7. A one hour drive will get you to the re-opened Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum.

6. Local entertainment favorite, Penguin's Comedy Club, will be featuring TC Hatter and Marcianne.

5. The Big Ten Championships are all the way out at Penn State.

4. My Second Annual Division III Wrestling Championships Reception at the Cedar Rapids Marriott – Free food and adult beverages.

3. To help break the all-time Division III Wrestling Championships attendance record.

2. To help a great community recover from the worst natural disaster in its history.



AND the number 1 reason to come to Cedar Rapids for the Division III Wrestling Championships:

To watch some of the most dedicated student-athletes in college sports vie for an NCAA title.



Author’s note: It’s the holiday season and hundreds of families in Cedar Rapids are still without homes. Hopes for a merry Christmas are dim for many of them. You can help in a number of ways.

Many families need gift cards from stores like Lowe’s, Menard’s and Home Depot to help rebuild their homes. These cards can be sent to

United Way of Eastern Iowa
1030 5th Ave SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403

The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation is coordinating several flood recovery funds. Find out more at their website.

The local Salvation Army is working hard to help. You can donate to them at

Salvation Army
PO Box 8056
Cedar Rapids, IA 52408-8056

Me and 15,954 of my closest friends

Wrestling history was made Saturday night and, for once, I can honestly say I contributed. The Iowa/Iowa State dual meet broke the all-time NCAA attendance record when 15,955 people jammed into Carver Hawkeye Arena. That’s about 500 more than Carver can actually seat, but the university got special permission to sell reserved “standing room” along the rail at the top of the concourse.

It was a special moment in college wrestling. I talked with one Hawkeye fan who drove from Colorado to see his first dual in Carver. He had to leave right after the meet and drive straight home. I know of a University of Michigan fan who came in to the meet just to have the experience. At least four or five fans flew in from New Jersey. Press row was completely packed.

If a wrestling meet can be a sporting event of this magnitude in Iowa City (attracting pre-meet attention from USA Today and Jim Rome), why can’t wrestling attract more fans in places like Stillwater or Happy Valley or Ithaca? If we can do it in Iowa – why not elsewhere?

Whenever that question is asked, there’s a fairly stock set of responses.

“Iowa doesn’t have any major professional sports teams, so fans gravitate more toward their college teams – even wrestling.”

“The Hawkeyes have won 21 NCAA titles in the last 33 years – it’s easy to attract fans when you win all the time.”

“What else are you going to do in Iowa in the winter?”

“Our school is a (plug in “football” or “basketball” here) school. If Iowa and Iowa State had better football or basketball teams, they wouldn’t care so much about wrestling.”

These comments are often repeated because there is an element of truth in each one. They don’t, however, really answer the basic questions - Why are so many schools willing to accept empty seats as the norm? Why is the American wrestling establishment content with the current level of fan following? The fault would seem to lie at all levels – administrations, organizations, coaches and fans. Even the University of Iowa can be subject to administrative whim. The Hawkeye athletic department recently scheduled the dual meet with Arizona State at 3:00 on a Friday afternoon. (Note: read Jason Bryant’s commentary in the current issue of WIN Magazine for a better perspective on this).

College athletic directors are faced with the fact that wrestling cannot make money. Recent financial statements from the University of Iowa show that wrestling costs the university about $960,000 a year and generates about $300,000 in direct revenue. Any sane person would ask, “If that’s the case, why SHOULD a college support or promote wrestling?” Alumni financial support is one answer. Wrestling fans and former wrestlers are major contributors at many institutions large and small. Educational opportunity is another. College wrestling is on the resumes of countless government, business, medical and education leaders – even a Nobel laureate.

Coaches are another part of the promotion puzzle. Perhaps Tom Brands said it best in his press conference last Tuesday, “Without a product, you don’t generate the excitement. Winning is promotion. I’ve said that from Day One. Winning is promotion. We have to give fans a reason to come, and entertaining wrestling is promotion. Entertaining and winning go hand in hand, and you have a pretty good product. That’s what we communicate to our guys, it’s about how you go out and entertain. It’s not about getting your hand raised, it’s wrestling with a certain energy level, being able to go hard for the entire match, whatever that length is.” Quite simply – you need a great product.

Wrestling fans are a puzzling lot, many clamoring for more and better internet and television coverage, while attending no more than one or two live events a year – if that. We want more exposure for the sport, we want participation to grow and we want more college programs – but only if someone else will do it for us.

Is there anything to be done? This fan hopes so.

Administrators

Understand the value that wrestling can offer your institution. At some small colleges, a wrestling team can increase enrollment. Schools like Jamestown College in North Dakota have realized that adding women’s wrestling can do just that. You also never know when the next Art Martori or Roy Carver or Bill Krause (major donors to higher education) will be wearing one of your singlets or sitting matside.

Aim higher. The standard was set Saturday and you now know what college wrestling can be. Don’t accept 1,000 attendees as the norm.

Become more fan-friendly. Some college wrestling tournaments are notorious for what fans must endure to attend. Limited views, insufficient seating and inadequate restroom facilities are all too common at college wrestling events. In some cases little can be done. In others, a change of venue might be in order.

Promote wisely – but promote! I recently watched the dual meet between Central and Coe Colleges free online. Will that translate into fans attending more events at Central? I don’t know – but it didn’t cost much and it gave their team exposure to a broader audience.

Coaches

I’ve never wrestled and I’ve never coached, so I can’t tell a coach how to win. But – I can tell you what fans like. We like action. We like scoring. We like the Mark Ironside approach to wrestling – score early and score often and winning will take care of itself.

Organizations

It has been said by some (including me) that the way to increase attendance at any wrestling event is to hold it somewhere between Des Moines and Iowa City. While that’s true, it doesn’t really help the sport grow (subliminal suggestion – 2012 Olympic Trials in Cedar Rapids).

The National Wrestling Coaches Association has initiated a marketing study to find ways to increase attendance at the annual All Star Classic. This is a solid first step.

USA Wrestling recently announced the launch of The College Wrestling Network , a partnership of some of the most respected media outlets in the sport. TheMat.com, Intermat, Wrestling 411, RevWrestling, WIN Magazine, Takedown Radio, The Wrestling Mall, tech-fall.com, Buckeyewrestling.com and Michigan Grappler have come together with the goal of making more and better content available on the web. This, too, is a great step forward. I hope they’ll include “more butts in seats” as a part of their mission.

(subliminal suggestion – 2012 Olympic Trials in Cedar Rapids)

Fans

I’m initiating a new movement – “Take a Friend to a Wrestling Meet”. Find a friend that has never attended a wrestling meet and take him/her to the very next meet near you. If you can, take two. I’m guessing that perhaps a thousand or more fans in Carver Saturday night were “first timers”. Many of them will never be back – but some will, and thus college wrestling will grow in popularity. Don’t put this off. Look at the schedule of your favorite team right now and plan an outing with a “newbie”. Don’t sit back and wait on others – take action yourself.

Together we can help this great sport grow.

Oh yeah – Iowa won 20 – 15.

The rivalry

It’s on ESPN’s list of “101 Things All Sports Fans Should Do Before They Die”. It doesn’t have a catchy name like “Bedlam” or “Civil War”. It’s simply the Iowa vs. Iowa State dual wrestling meet – one of the most exciting events in all of the Olympic sports.

In a sport where an attendance figure of 3,000 is considered good, the Hawkeye/Cyclone dual has topped 12,000 twenty-one times and three times has gone over 15,000. Another 30 – 40,000 will watch the live broadcast on Iowa Public Television’s College Wrestling Series.

Why all the excitement over an event that anywhere else in America wouldn’t draw flies? It’s hard to understand – and I’m not sure that I really do. First and foremost – the state of Iowa loves wrestling. Yes – there are other states that can claim to be “wrestling states” – but the numbers don’t lie. Our high school state championships sell out within a few days of ticket availability and the finals are broadcast live on television.

In 1972, when Gary Kurdelmeier took over as Iowa head coach, among his first acts were to hire Dan Gable and to schedule the Cyclones for the first time since the 1937-38 season. Before the first wrestler stepped on the mat the rivalry was off to a heated start. Imagine – at the time, arguably the greatest sports icon in Cyclone history – taking a job in Iowa City. When asked by an interviewer from the Des Moines Register, why he chose Iowa, Gable said, “I wanted to stay in this state. I had lunch with Kurdelmeier one day in Ames and he told me what he had in mind. It took Iowa State months to do anything. I was disappointed in the procedures they used.”

Dan Gable’s first season as head coach turned up the heat considerably. Both schools agreed to a “home and home” arrangement for the first time. Iowa State won the first meet of the 1976-77 season when Cyclone heavyweight Bob Fouts reversed John Bowlsby with 11 seconds left in the final match. Later that season the Hawks, trailing 17-11 going into heavyweight, tied the meet when Fouts was disqualified for stalling.

The series has been filled with dramatic moments. If you’re a Cyclone fan, Dave Osenbaugh pinning Lou Banach probably tops your list. Hawkeye fans lean toward Brooks Simpson’s pin of Eric Voelker. Both were major upsets and both decided the outcome of the meet.

There have been many great individual rivalries. Lincoln McIlravy and Chris Bono fought each other tooth and nail. It’s probably my imagination, but Terry Steiner vs. Torrae Jackson always seemed to generate a lot of excitement. My favorite of the individual match-ups has always been Kevin Darkus and Barry Davis. Darkus would go on to win a World Freestyle silver medal and Davis would win silver in the 1984 Olympics.

This Saturday we do it all over again. By anyone’s estimate it will be one heck of a meet matching the two best teams in the country. The message boards will be abuzz. There are still some questions – Is Mitch Mueller completely healthy? Who will go at 133 for the Hawks. Who will pull off this year’s individual upset? One thing is sure – it will be exciting.

The University of Iowa is trying to set the dual meet attendance record Saturday. It would be more than fitting to have the Iowa/Iowa State meet top the attendance list. As of this writing tickets are still available. There would be no greater time to introduce someone to wrestling. This is also an event that every wrestling coach and athletic director in the country should attend – to know what wrestling can be. You can order tickets online at wrestling tickets or by calling 1-800-IAHAWKS.

Iowa Public Television uses this broadcast for fundraising. If you can’t attend the meet and are in the IPTV broadcast area, please watch – and when Gable pulls out his checkbook and makes his donation – please join him. Better yet – send a donation to IPTV today at

Friends of IPTV
PO Box 6400
Johnston, IA 50131

AND

Order your tickets for the meet.

I’ll see you there.

A man on a mission

Johnny Cobb has a mission – to bring intercollegiate wrestling to Texas. Cobb, the wrestling coach at Tascosa High School in Amarillo, is working to establish men’s and women’s teams at West Texas A & M. He is joined in his efforts by one of his former wrestlers – Olympic champion, Brandon Slay – and Amarillo Palo Duro coach, Steve Nelson.

I asked Coach Cobb, a former Oklahoma State University wrestler, when and why he started this journey.

“…Seriously thinking about it 20 years ago when I first took the wrestling program at Tascosa H/S.

I knew we had great Tx. kids, yet many would never have a chance to pursue a college dream because of the cost of out of state tuition. It was also ridiculous that there was not one NCAA college program in the entire state. Tx. has an Olympic champion and this year Mohamed Lawal missed the team by a few seconds and we had a female bronze medallist (Randi Miller). Texas needs a program!”

According to the National Wrestling Coaches Association participation statistics, Texas has approximately 6,700 high school wrestlers. What makes Texas unique is that roughly 1,600 of those participants are girls (that’s almost 30% of all high school girls wrestling in the country). To make the need greater, there are also no four-year college wrestling programs in the neighboring states of Arkansas (which just recently sanctioned high school wrestling championships) and Louisiana.

If the mission of a state-funded college system is to meet the full educational needs of its constituency, then clearly wrestling should be available to Texas college students.

Coach Cobb and Slay first approached West Texas A & M with a proposal soon after Slay’s triumphant return from Sydney in 2000. They recently demonstrated their total commitment by presenting WTAM athletic director, Michael McBroom, nearly $50,000 in pledges and equipment to go toward establishing the two teams. While AD McBroom was impressed, he painted a challenging picture.

“I am interested in wrestling. (College president) Dr. O’Brien is interested in wrestling, but only when we have the facilities and funds to support it appropriately.”

An expansion of athletic facilities is the first hurdle. The university has proposed just such an expansion, but the national economy is making it more difficult.

AD McBroom estimates that it will cost just over $300,000 a year to fund wrestling. His numbers:

Head Coach: $60,000 (includes benefits)
Graduate Assistant: $10,000
Scholarships: $105,000
Athletic Trainer: $40,000
Sports Information GA: $10,000
Team Travel: $60,000
Recruiting Travel: $10,000
Supplies/Equipment: $15,000

He states that the annual expenses can be met in two ways – attract enough new students that the increased athletic participation fees generate enough revenue or FULLY ENDOW the program. The latter option would require raising $5 million.

There’s a real Catch 22 involved with raising that kind of capital. You have no wrestling alumni because you don’t have a wrestling program. You have no wrestling program because you don’t have the primary type of donors that can fund one – wrestling alumni.

So - Coach Cobb and Brandon Slay are doing it the hard way – knocking on doors, writing letters, looking to the wrestling community for support. They have the backing of some major names in the sport. What they haven’t found yet is someone like Art Martori who was instrumental in saving Arizona State wrestling.

I don’t personally know all those that read this little blog – but I know some – and there aren’t many that have an extra $5 million lying around. However, in the time that I have been writing the blog I HAVE been introduced to people who are very generous to the sport – who work hard for the sport. Most of them do so without much fanfare.

Just Friday I read a set of testimonials from several individuals who have succeeded in all walks of life. All credited their college wrestling experience as a building block of their success. I suspect that there are hundreds – maybe thousands – more who have used the lessons learned from wrestling to excel. Are all of them still connected to wrestling in some way? I don’t know. But if they’re not we need to re-engage them with the sport.

We’re just a bunch of fans – what can we do to help. Well first of all, you can email a pledge of financial support to Johnny Cobb at johnnycobb3@yahoo.com. Just as importantly, perhaps, is to show the rest of the world what wrestling means to us – show up at meets, do what we can to attract new fans, tell anyone who will listen the Henry Cejudo story, email links to videos of the inspirational heroes of our sport like Anthony Robles or Kyle Maynard. The more we ourselves support wrestling the more likely we are to attract the kind of support that can help people like Johnny Cobb achieve his mission.

The Road to Cedar Rapids - Volume 2

Last year when Brandon MacWhinnie became the first wrestling All-American in the history of Stevens Institute of Technology it was more than a personal triumph. It was also a victory for Athletic Director Russ Rogers and a group of enthusiasts who were instrumental in returning wrestling to varsity status in 2004.

Stevens dropped wrestling from its roster of varsity sports in 1992. I asked AD Rogers about the resurrection.

“We had a very active club that was eager to take the program to varsity status. Our thought process at the time was centered around trying to meet our students' interests and provide them with the best possible experience. We also felt confident that we could carry a strong program. New Jersey is a great state for wrestling and our institution offers a high quality education.”

Reinstating a program requires commitment from many people. One of those is Stevens head coach Mike Clayton. Coach Clayton was hired last season and was named NCAA Division III Rookie Coach of the Year after the Ducks finished 23rd in the 2008 Championships in Cedar Rapids.

A native of Brooklyn, IA, Coach Clayton wrestled at the Naval Academy, where, after graduation, he was an assistant coach. During his time in the Navy and then, after leaving the service, he coached at the Apprentice School in Virginia. In 2004 he became the head assistant at the US Military Academy.

As we’ve seen all too frequently in the past few years, a wrestling program can be dropped almost instantly. Bringing one back takes a lot more time. Building numbers “in the room” is one of the key challenges. As Coach Clayton noted in a pre-season press release, “We’re excited to see our roster up from 17 wrestlers last year to 27 this year.”

I asked Coach Clayton about the outlook for the 2008-09 season.

“This season we return 9 of 10 starters but will sit one starter out to rehab an injury at 125. We are pretty solid from 133 up through the line-up and for the first time at Stevens actually have depth at several weight classes that will help our dual meet success. We are young and still building. We’ve started the season out ranked #27 in the pre-season coaches poll. This is the first time in school history we’ve earned a coaches’ poll ranking so it’s nice to be recognized by our peers for the hard work we’ve been putting in.”

He’s also excited about the recent hiring of former Division III All-American, Danny Song, to be his assistant. Song has been competing the last couple of years with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club while completing graduate work at the University of Iowa. According to Clayton, “(Song) really brings a great work ethic and strong background to the room having trained with Hawkeye Wrestling Club for the last 2 years.”

In addition to coaching, Clayton is a tireless promoter of his team, his school and his sport. He’s started both a fall clinic and a summer camp and writes a regular blog.

Ducks Blog

As at most Division III schools, academics are first and foremost. According to AD Rogers the wrestling team GPA last year “was almost a 3.2.”
Coach Clayton also talks about the education available at Stevens, “We are listed as one of the top 100 colleges in America each year. Our engineering and business technology departments are excellent as well as offering great opportunities in pre-medicine, pre-law and computer science.”

Coach Clayton is looking forward to returning to Cedar Rapids for the 2009 Championships and continuing the successful rebirth of Stevens wrestling.

Cedar Rapids update

Flood recovery continues. Downtown is now sprinkled with red and white “We’re Back” banners marking businesses that have re-opened.

One of the treasures of downtown Cedar Rapids has always been Penguin’s Comedy Club. Unable to re-build in their old location, Penguin’s has relocated to the Clarion Hotel. They have booked TC Hatter and Marcianne for the weekend of this year’s Division III Championships. It’s a unique act that is “family friendly”. Shows will be Friday at 8:00 and Saturday at 7:30 and 10:00. The late show Saturday will be a perfect way to finish the night after finals. The Clarion is convenient to all of the “southwest side” hotels. For more information visit

http://www.penguinscomedyclub.com/

Make your trip to this year’s championships even more fun – take in a show.

Wrestling Heroes - Volume 3

Tommy Norris was twice an ACC wrestling champion for the University of Maryland. After graduation he enlisted in the Navy in hopes of becoming a pilot. Unfortunately, vision problems kept him from flying. Instead – he became a SEAL.

Lt. Col. Iceal (Gene) Hambleton was an intelligence expert who was flying a reconnaissance mission over Viet Nam in April, 1972 when his aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile. Lt. Colonel Hambleton was the only one of the six-man crew able to eject. The rest were killed.

Hollywood made a movie “based on a a true story”, called Bat 21 about the rescue of Iceal Hambleton.



Because the real story of this mission remained classified at the time of the movie, Lieutenant Thomas Norris and his Vietnamese “frogmen” get no mention in the movie. Lt. Norris and his small team twice went well beyond enemy lines to effect the rescue of, first, Lt. Mark Clark and then Lt. Colonel Hambleton. For his actions, Lt. Thomas Norris was awarded, against his own objections, the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Six months later, Tommy Norris would again be sent on a rescue mission behind enemy lines. This time Lt. Norris would not escape unscathed. Suffering a severe head wound, Lt. Norris was given up for dead by all but SEAL team member, Michael Thornton. Thornton refused evacuation from the enemy ambush – “not without my lieutenant”. Thornton found Tommy Morris with a part of his head blown away by enemy fire and carried him to his rescue. For his actions on that October day, Michael Thornton became the first person to be awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing another Medal of Honor winner.

The complete story of these actions can be read at homeofheroes.com.

Since Milo of Croton, wrestlers have been among those that have answered the call when a nation has needed it’s warriors to fight for freedom. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is filled with Distinguished Members who have served the United States when most needed. J Robinson, Josiah Henson, Bill Smith, Gerry Leeman, Greg Gibson and many others came to our country’s aid in times of war.

The Hall of Fame has begun work on an exhibit called Glory Beyond Sport: Wrestling and the Military which is scheduled for launch in February, 2009. Plans are for the exhibit to travel for a year and then become permanent at the Hall. Executive Director, Lee Roy Smith, has asked for your help with this project. If you know of anyone who has distinguished themselves both in wrestling and in the military, please contact the Hall of Fame at www.wrestlinghalloffame.org.

When we send young men and women off to war we owe them – at least our respect and our thanks – and perhaps so much more.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes during this week to remember those that have sacrificed so that we may have our freedom.

Written in memory of Korean War veteran Sgt. Arthur Brown Jr. Thanks, Dad.

If there were a Wrestling Fan Hall of Fame

Cael Sanderson greets you when you enter Smitty’s Shoe Repair. No – the Cyclone legend is not actually there – it’s an autographed life size cut out of the Olympic champion – holding a giant can of Hy Vee Chunky Vegetable Soup.

Calling Rich Foens, the owner if Smitty’s, a wrestling fan is a classic case of understatement. The walls of his shop on the square in Marion, IA are covered with wrestling memorabilia (and pictures of his grandkids). There are autographed photos and posters from Sanderson, Dan Gable and Tom Brands. You’ll also find the team pictures of the 1954 and 1956 Davenport High School state championship wrestling teams. Rich was on those teams. He finished fourth at 95 pounds in the Iowa state tournament in 1955.

Ostensibly, I had gone in to Smitty’s to get new heels on a pair of shoes. I really went in to ask Rich a question. Last week wrestling history buff, Mark Palmer, posted a video of the 1962 NCAA finals. One of the finalists was identified as “Frank Freeman” from Iowa State Teacher’s College (now UNI). I asked online viewers if this was the same Franc Freeman who coached Bettendorf (IA) High School wrestling for many years – including a couple of state championship teams in the early ‘80s. I got no reply – so I went in to ask Rich. “Yep, Francis O’Grady Freeman – we’ve been friends since the third grade.” Rich took me over to the 1956 Davenport team picture and pointed to a very young Franc Freeman.

Even though we’re from the same home town and attended the same high school, I didn’t meet Rich until about 20 years ago when my wife and I started dating. Romantic devil that I am one of our early dates was an Iowa wrestling meet. We ran into Rich and his daughter there. My wife had taught elementary school in Tipton, IA and had been a neighbor to Rich and his wife. A strong friendship developed. Coincidentally, my wife moved back to Cedar Rapids and Rich bought Smitty’s and moved to Marion. It has now become ritual that Rich and I chat before every Hawkeye meet.

Rich was coached by an Iowa high school legend – Jim Fox. Coach Fox is in the Iowa High School Football Hall of Fame and is in the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame as both a coach and official. He coached two state championship wrestling teams, two “mythical” state football championship teams (before Iowa had playoffs) and three “official” championship teams after playoffs were instituted. He also coached a US Congressman (Jim Leach) an Olympian (Gayle Hopkins) and six athletes who played at least four years in the NFL – including Roger Craig.

I asked Rich about wrestling for coach Fox. “He was young then – and hated to lose”. In 1956 the Davenport Blue Devils crossed the Mississippi River to wrestle the Rock Island (IL) Rocks who were coached by Bill Smith – now a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. The Rocks won handily. “He worked our tails off after that”, Rich said about coach Fox’s reaction to the loss. Both teams would finish 1956 by winning their respective state titles.

Simon Roberts was Rich’s teammate in 1954 when Si became the first African-American in the country to win a state high school wrestling championship. Rich remembers, “Si was wrestling Ronnie Gray from Eagle Grove in the finals. Si was a senior and Ronnie was a junior. Ronnie had won in 1952 and 1953 and most people thought he was going to become Iowa’s first 4-time state champion (note: Gray would win again in 1955). When Si beat him most people thought it was a fluke. We didn’t. Then when Si (competing for Iowa) beat Gray (of ISU) to become the first African-American NCAA wrestling champion he proved it wasn’t a fluke.”

If you ask Rich about his favorite wrestlers, Gable and Sanderson come up. Ask him to name an all-time Hawkeye wrestling team, however, and he won’t do it. “How do you say Tom Brands is better than Randy Lewis or Mark Ironside? It can’t be done”, says Rich. Yet – if you talk to Rich long enough it becomes apparent that he does have a favorite Hawkeye, “Don’t get me wrong - I know he wasn’t a great wrestler – but I loved to watch Ryan Fulsaas. So many times he would get behind but he never knew how to quit.”

Rich recently celebrated 50 years of owning a small business and 25 years as the owner of Smitty’s. If you’re in the Cedar Rapids/Marion area stop in and say, “Hi”. However, if you mention wrestling – you’d better be ready to hang around for a while.

By the way – if any of you readers know Mark Ironside, remind him that he still owes Rich that autographed picture for his wall.