Muchnick was born in Ukraine to a Jewish family, but moved to the United States in 1911. He grew up in St. Louis, and his name was changed to Samuel when his father decided that Jeshua (Jesus or Joshua) was an inappropriate name for a Jewish child. In 1926, he joined the sports staff at… Read more »
News
Sport: Wrestling
Oak Grove High School Wrestling Program
The old practice room at Oak Grove High School probably sums up the Panthers wrestling program the best: It resembled an Army concrete bunker, wedge into a roughly 38 foot-by-38 foot area and no apologies. “You could build up heat and humidity in five minutes,” longtime assistant coach Clif Cromer remembered. “And it was funny… Read more »
Platte County High School Wrestling Era 1999-2010
Former Platte County wrestling assistant coach Rick Frazier noticed a difference in how head coach Phil Dorman ran his program when he joined the Pirates in the fall of 2002. “The first year I coached at Platte County, we had two individual state champions, but as a team we finished just off the podium,”… Read more »
1986-1996 Era Pleasant Hill High School Wrestling
You want blue-collar? A rags to riches story? In the town of Pleasant Hill, just southeast of Kansas City, high school wrestlers practiced in the basement of an elementary school after several years of calling the stage of a gymnasium home. And in the late 1970s, an assistant coach who had no wrestling background would… Read more »
Harley Race
Harley Race’s legendary wrestling career spanned nearly four decades. During that time, Race won eight National Wrestling Association (NWA) World Championships, plus dozens of other regional titles and managed two wrestlers to the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) World Championship. “Handsome Harley” Race was also involved in operating the NWA territories in Kansas City and St.… Read more »
Randy Roark
On late winter afternoons, with rays of sunlight beaming through the west windows of the old junior high gymnasium, you’ll find … wrestlers. Yes, wrestlers. The main gym? That’s for duals for the varsity teams. See the black and yellow posters of the success hanging nearby? They’re of 100-match winners and state medalists. Beyond is… Read more »
Brian Smith
Years ago, back as a pre-teen, you could say Brian Smith had sort of an allergy. To the sport of wrestling, that is. He had wrestled at an early age, but it didn’t interest him much. Not until relocating to Florida to improve his lung health – on doctor’s orders – and not until his… Read more »
Lou Thesz
Born on April 24, 1916 in a tiny village in Michigan, Lou Thesz spent his childhood and teen years in St. Louis. He fell in love with wrestling at an early age and wrestled in area amateur matches as a schoolboy. Beginning in 1937, Thesz held the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) world title on six… Read more »
Vernon “Hap” Whitney
Never tipping the scales at more than 127 pounds, Vernon “Hap” Whitney was the first high school wrestler to win 4 state championships. His wrestling prowess took him to Purdue University where, at 130 pounds, he won the 1955 National AAU Championship and a Big 10 wrestling title. Taking over as head coach of Missouri… Read more »
Eddie Williams
Eddie Williams started his wrestling career as an amateur matman at Central High School in Springfield, Missouri. He began his professional career in 1933 at the age of 20. As a professional wrestler, he earned the titles of World Light-Heavy Weight Champion and Pacific Coast Light-Heavy Weight Champion
“Red” Williams
Lorenz C. “Red” Williams was SEMO’s first full-time athletic trainer, serving from 1967 to 1983. Williams worked in that position for 16 years supporting nine men and women’s athletic teams. He mentored and supervised 63 athletic training students during his tenure and was awarded National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) honors for both 20 years and… Read more »