By Mike Chapman, Column from June 9, 2006
WIN magazineWe all know how difficult it is to win a national title in the sport of wrestling, at any level. But can you imagine winning national titles in both Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling . in the very same weekend tournament?
I'm speaking on the senior level. It's done regularly at the Junior Nationals, where high school champions can win both styles. But to see it happen at the senior level is almost unheard of . at least during the past three decades.
According to a quick review of the record books, the last time anyone won a senior level USA Wrestling national freestyle and Greco-Roman championship in the same tournament (weekend) was in 1985. That honor went to Greg Gibson, who won national titles at 220 in both styles. The last man to win double titles in the AAU was also Greg Gibson, in 1981.
"As far as I can recall, the last wrestler to even gain the finals in both styles was Mike Foy, back in 1996," said Gary Abbott, communications director for USA Wrestling. "He won in Greco-Roman, but lost in the freestyle finals.
"It's an amazing accomplishment to even compete in both styles, let alone make the finals, and then win both styles."
THE FIRST WRESTLERS to win national titles in both styles in the same year were Dale Thomas (191 pounds) and Bill Kerslake (heavyweight), in the AAU national tournament of 1953. They both repeated in 1954.
Kerslake again won both styles in 1955, and three men turned the trick in 1956 - Alan Rice (136), Dan Hodge (174) and Kerslake again. Hodge turned in one of the most amazing feats in wrestling history, winning the freestyle title with six straight pins and the Greco-Roman crown with four straight pins. Just two weeks earlier, he had won his second NCAA title with four straight pins, so he won three national titles in two weeks with 14 consecutive falls!
Kerslake continued winning double titles for three more years, giving him a grand total of double titles six times! That is, of course, the all-time record.
Though he never wrestled in high school and had limited college experience, Kerslake won 76 consecutive matches in national tournaments. He made three Olympic teams, placing fifth in 1952, eighth in 1956 and seventh in 1960, all in freestyle. Until the emergence of Bruce Baumgartner in the 1980s, he was America's most successful heavyweight.
He was more than just a superb wrestler, working for many years as an aerospace engineer for NASA. Kerslake even served as chairman of the national technical committee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
OTHER WRESTLERS who won double titles in the same year were Frank Rosenmayr, Dick Wilson, Gil Sanchez, Lee Allen, Dan Brand (three times), Russ Camilleri (three times), Wayne Baughman (three times), Chickara Murano, Jim Raschke, Mac Motokawa, Larry Kristoff (twice), Henk Schenk, J Robinson, Yasuo Katsumura, Greg Wojciechowski (four times), Mike McCready (four times), John Bowlsby, Willie Williams, Larry Morgan and Chuck Yagla.
Gibson, a former All-American heavyweight at the University of Oregon, had the most success of any American in both styles on the international level. He won a silver medal in freestyle in the World Championships of 1983, and a bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Olympics of 1984. Not only is Gibson the only American to ever win medals in World competition in both styles, but he also won a gold medal in sombo at the World Championships in 1981!
Sombo is a form of judo made popular in the Soviet Union in the 1950s and has just recently been recognized by FILA.
"The last guy who was really good in both styles is Greg Gibson," said Abbott. "Back in the 1950s, guys didn't focus on Greco-Roman wrestling like they do now. Some times guys would just enter the Grecos after the freestyle event, without serious training in the Greco style. But once we had the great performance in the 1984 Olympics, things changed. Wrestlers began to specialize in Greco-Roman."
In the 1984 Olympics, America enjoyed a major breakthrough in Greco-Roman wrestling. Though the Soviet Union boycotted the Games, there were plenty of tough European wrestlers still in Los Angeles and the United States earned four medals: Steve Fraser won gold at 198 pounds, defeating two-time world champion Frank Andersson along the way, and Jeff Blatnick won gold at heavyweight, capturing the nation's attention with his story. Blatnick overcame cancer to make the team and was invited to carry the American flag at the closing ceremony.
In addition, Gibson earned a silver medal and James Martinez a bronze at 149.5 pounds. Greco-Roman wrestling had arrived!
"Wrestlers can still compete in both styles at the nationals, but it would be very difficult to do," said Abbott. "The ruling is that if you're in both, we can't change the times."
He said an athlete could conceivably wrestle back-to-back matches, going from one mat to the other without a break. It would be very tough.
It is doubtful we will ever see a world-class performance like that turned in by Sweden's Ivar Johansson in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He won the gold medal in freestyle at 174, then dropped 15 pounds and won the gold medal in Greco-Roman at 159, all in the same Olympics! He was a 29-year-old policeman at the time of his amazing triumphs.
But we have entered the era of specialization and the days of winning double national tiles in the same year are long gone, it would seem.
Ultimate worker until the end
It is sad to report that Jim Burke, the first wrestler to ever medal in World competition in Greco-Roman, died recently. Burke claimed a bronze medal at the 1962 World Championships at 154 pounds to make U.S. history. A versatile athlete, he also won the national freestyle title at 154 for the San Francisco Olympic Club in 1965 and was NCAA Div. II champion that same year for San Francisco State University.
Burke was a fitness fanatic all of his life, running marathons and lifting weights right up to the end.
"He was working out when he died of a heart attack," said Ron Pineda, a long-time friend and former teammate.
Everybody likes DeAnna
On a much brighter note, Mike DeAnna received a bit of national attention recently when he was mentioned briefly on the Jay Leno Show. One of Leno's guests was Patricia Heaton, the actress who plays the wife of Raymond Barone on the very popular sitcom, "Everybody Loves Raymond." She mentioned she was going to her high school class reunion this summer in Cleveland, Ohio, and Leno asked her if she was going to see the guy who took her to the prom. She responded that it was Mike DeAnna, a big wrestling star at the time.
I have known Mike since his days on the Hawkeye wrestling team, where he won four Big Ten titles and was a four-time All-American. So, I had to call him and ask him if he saw that particular Jay Leno show.
"No, but I've had a couple of phone calls about it," Mike said with a chuckle. With some coaxing, he admitted he dated Patricia on a regular basis his senior year at Bay High School, where he was 83-0 his last three years and won three Ohio state titles. Patricia even drove to Iowa City to watch Mike win the Junior Nationals in 1976.
But they soon went their separate ways. Patricia attended Ohio State and journeyed on to Hollywood, while Mike moved to Iowa City, where he soon met his wife to be, Pam. The day I called they were getting ready to go out and celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary.
Pam was an Iowa mat aide when Mike wrestled at Iowa and now their daughter, Alyssa, has just finished her freshman year at Iowa, and was a mat aide, too. Mike and Pam attended a couple of meets in Iowa City this year, and plan to continue that trend in the coming years.
"Wrestling is as important to Pam as it is to me," said Mike. And now with Gable back coaching, it's come full cycle for the DeAnna family.
"Dan was the assistant coach when I arrived on campus 30 years ago, and now he's an assistant coach again with my daughter there," said DeAnna. "How ironic is that?"
(Mike Chapman is the founder of W.I.N. and has written over 500 columns on the sport of wrestling. He is also the executive director of the International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Newton, IA. Mike and his wife, Beverly, were given W.I.N.'s IMPACT of the Year Award for 1999.)
